Mother Tongue: How Humans Create Language. Birch Lane Press. PDF
Preview Mother Tongue: How Humans Create Language. Birch Lane Press.
MOTHER TONGUE ^i^^2^ JOE li DAVIS ISBN 1-55972-206-1 U.S. $21.95 (Canada $26.95) ''Comprehensive report by veteran science writer Joel Davis on the glories and mysteries oflanguage. Afirst-rate over—view/' Kirkus Reviews — ''Highly recommended." Library Journal In this fascinating inquiry into the mysteiy of human language, science writer Joel Davis presents the latest and most controversial research from the origins of language itself to the way the human brain makes and stores it, as well as how infants create it. Mother Tongue draws upon the most recent work of linguists, biologists, psychologists, brain experts, and other scientists to reveal such startling discoveries as: • Instead of one part of the brain dealing with the use of language, the braincontains millions of ''convergence zones'' that handle different parts oflanguage. • Infant babbling is a lot more than random noises, and even deaf children babble with their hands. • From birth until age two, an infant's brain is capable of learning any language, with any combination of sounds. • Your first language is ''hard-wired"; any other languages you learn are more like "software" downloaded into your "computer." • Idiots savants and stroke victims can teach us a lot about how the brain learns, loses, and relearns language. • Even adults can sometimes "switch sides" of the brain involved in learning language. Mother Tongue also offer answers to such fundamental questions as: What is language? And how did it come to be? Why are there so (rontini/pdnn hark Ihin) 2, <> <- \ MOTHER Tongue Mother Tongue How Humans Create Language BY JOEL Davis A Birch Lane Press Book Published by Carol Publishing Group Copyright © 1994 byJoel Davis All rights reserved. No part ofthis book maybe reproduced in any form, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewerwho wishes to quote briefpassages in connection with a review. A Birch Lane Press Book Published by Carol Publishing Group Birch Lane Press is a registered trademark ofCarol Communications, Inc. Editorial Offices: 600 Madison Avenue, NewYork, N.Y. 10022 Sales and Distribution Offices: 120 Enterprise Avenue, Secaucus, N.J. 07094 In Canada: Canadian Manda Group, P.O. Box 920, Station U, Toronto, Ontario M8Z 5P9 Queries regarding rights and permissions should be addressed to Carol Publishing Group, 600 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022 Carol Publishing Group books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases, for sales promotion, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can be created to specifications. For details, contact: Special Sales Department, Carol PubUshing Group, 120 Enterprise Avenue, Secaucus, N.J. 07094 Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davis, Joel, 1948- Mother tongue : howhumans create language /byJoel Davis. p. cm. "A Birch Lane Press book." ISBN 1-55972-206-1 1. Language and languages. I. Title. P106.D295 1993 400—dc20 93-11341 CIP For Ryan Patrick Nash
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