Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity

Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity

Author: John H. McWhorter

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 1934078379

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This series offers a wide forum for work on contact linguistics, using an integrated approach to both diachronic and synchronic manifestations of contact, ranging from social and individual aspects to structural-typological issues. Topics covered by the series include child and adult bilingualism and multilingualism, contact languages, borrowing and contact-induced typological change, code switching in conversation, societal multilingualism, bilingual language processing, and various other topics related to language contact. The series does not have a fixed theoretical orientation, and includes contributions from a variety of approaches.


Book Synopsis Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity by : John H. McWhorter

Download or read book Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity written by John H. McWhorter and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This series offers a wide forum for work on contact linguistics, using an integrated approach to both diachronic and synchronic manifestations of contact, ranging from social and individual aspects to structural-typological issues. Topics covered by the series include child and adult bilingualism and multilingualism, contact languages, borrowing and contact-induced typological change, code switching in conversation, societal multilingualism, bilingual language processing, and various other topics related to language contact. The series does not have a fixed theoretical orientation, and includes contributions from a variety of approaches.


Language Complexity

Language Complexity

Author: Matti Miestamo

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 9789027231048

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Language complexity has recently attracted considerable attention from linguists of many different persuasions. This volume – a thematic selection of papers from the conference Approaches to Complexity in Language, held in Helsinki, August 2005 – is the first collection of articles devoted to the topic. The sixteen chapters of the volume approach the notion of language complexity from a variety of perspectives. The papers are divided into three thematic sections that reflect the central themes of the book: Typology and theory, Contact and change, Creoles and pidgins. The book is mainly intended for typologists, historical linguists, contact linguists and creolists, as well as all linguists interested in language complexity in general. As the first collective volume on a very topical theme, the book is expected to be of lasting interest to the linguistic community.


Book Synopsis Language Complexity by : Matti Miestamo

Download or read book Language Complexity written by Matti Miestamo and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2008 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Language complexity has recently attracted considerable attention from linguists of many different persuasions. This volume – a thematic selection of papers from the conference Approaches to Complexity in Language, held in Helsinki, August 2005 – is the first collection of articles devoted to the topic. The sixteen chapters of the volume approach the notion of language complexity from a variety of perspectives. The papers are divided into three thematic sections that reflect the central themes of the book: Typology and theory, Contact and change, Creoles and pidgins. The book is mainly intended for typologists, historical linguists, contact linguists and creolists, as well as all linguists interested in language complexity in general. As the first collective volume on a very topical theme, the book is expected to be of lasting interest to the linguistic community.


Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable

Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable

Author: Geoffrey Sampson

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2009-02-26

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0191567663

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This book presents a challenge to the widely-held assumption that human languages are both similar and constant in their degree of complexity. For a hundred years or more the universal equality of languages has been a tenet of faith among most anthropologists and linguists. It has been frequently advanced as a corrective to the idea that some languages are at a later stage of evolution than others. It also appears to be an inevitable outcome of one of the central axioms of generative linguistic theory: that the mental architecture of language is fixed and is thus identical in all languages and that whereas genes evolve languages do not. Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable reopens the debate. Geoffrey Sampson's introductory chapter re-examines and clarifies the notion and theoretical importance of complexity in language, linguistics, cognitive science, and evolution. Eighteen distinguished scholars from all over the world then look at evidence gleaned from their own research in order to reconsider whether languages do or do not exhibit the same degrees and kinds of complexity. They examine data from a wide range of times and places. They consider the links between linguistic structure and social complexity and relate their findings to the causes and processes of language change. Their arguments are frequently controversial and provocative; their conclusions add up to an important challenge to conventional ideas about the nature of language. The authors write readably and accessibly with no recourse to unnecessary jargon. This fascinating book will appeal to all those interested in the interrelations between human nature, culture, and language.


Book Synopsis Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable by : Geoffrey Sampson

Download or read book Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable written by Geoffrey Sampson and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-02-26 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents a challenge to the widely-held assumption that human languages are both similar and constant in their degree of complexity. For a hundred years or more the universal equality of languages has been a tenet of faith among most anthropologists and linguists. It has been frequently advanced as a corrective to the idea that some languages are at a later stage of evolution than others. It also appears to be an inevitable outcome of one of the central axioms of generative linguistic theory: that the mental architecture of language is fixed and is thus identical in all languages and that whereas genes evolve languages do not. Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable reopens the debate. Geoffrey Sampson's introductory chapter re-examines and clarifies the notion and theoretical importance of complexity in language, linguistics, cognitive science, and evolution. Eighteen distinguished scholars from all over the world then look at evidence gleaned from their own research in order to reconsider whether languages do or do not exhibit the same degrees and kinds of complexity. They examine data from a wide range of times and places. They consider the links between linguistic structure and social complexity and relate their findings to the causes and processes of language change. Their arguments are frequently controversial and provocative; their conclusions add up to an important challenge to conventional ideas about the nature of language. The authors write readably and accessibly with no recourse to unnecessary jargon. This fascinating book will appeal to all those interested in the interrelations between human nature, culture, and language.


Measuring Grammatical Complexity

Measuring Grammatical Complexity

Author: Frederick J. Newmeyer

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 0199685304

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This book examines the question of whether languages can differ in grammatical complexity and, if so, how relative complexity differences might be measured. Chapters approach the question from the point of view of formal grammatical theory, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics, and take phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics into account.


Book Synopsis Measuring Grammatical Complexity by : Frederick J. Newmeyer

Download or read book Measuring Grammatical Complexity written by Frederick J. Newmeyer and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the question of whether languages can differ in grammatical complexity and, if so, how relative complexity differences might be measured. Chapters approach the question from the point of view of formal grammatical theory, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics, and take phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics into account.


Complexity Theory and Language Development

Complexity Theory and Language Development

Author: Lourdes Ortega

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Published: 2017-11-15

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 9027264961

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This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to methodological analyses, pedagogical proposals, and conceptual frameworks for future research. In a balanced and in-depth manner, the authors provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of second language development, with a wealth of insights that promise to break the status-quo of current research and take it to exciting new territory. The book will appeal to both seasoned and novice researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, bilingualism, cognitive psychology, and education, as well as to practitioners in second or foreign language teaching of any language.


Book Synopsis Complexity Theory and Language Development by : Lourdes Ortega

Download or read book Complexity Theory and Language Development written by Lourdes Ortega and published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is both a state-of-the-art display of current thinking on second language development as a complex system. It is also a tribute to Diane Larsen-Freeman for her decades of intellectual leadership in the academic disciplines of applied linguistics and second language acquisition. The chapters therein range from theoretical expositions to methodological analyses, pedagogical proposals, and conceptual frameworks for future research. In a balanced and in-depth manner, the authors provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of second language development, with a wealth of insights that promise to break the status-quo of current research and take it to exciting new territory. The book will appeal to both seasoned and novice researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, bilingualism, cognitive psychology, and education, as well as to practitioners in second or foreign language teaching of any language.


Language Interrupted

Language Interrupted

Author: John McWhorter

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2007-06-18

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 0195309804

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Publisher description


Book Synopsis Language Interrupted by : John McWhorter

Download or read book Language Interrupted written by John McWhorter and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 2007-06-18 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher description


Linguistic Complexity

Linguistic Complexity

Author: Christiaan Wouter Kusters

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis Linguistic Complexity by : Christiaan Wouter Kusters

Download or read book Linguistic Complexity written by Christiaan Wouter Kusters and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins

Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins

Author: Nicholas Faraclas

Publisher: Battlebridge Publications

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 9781903292150

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Book Synopsis Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins by : Nicholas Faraclas

Download or read book Simplicity and Complexity in Creoles and Pidgins written by Nicholas Faraclas and published by Battlebridge Publications. This book was released on 2009 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Motivations for Research on Linguistic Complexity: Methodology, Theory and Ideology

Motivations for Research on Linguistic Complexity: Methodology, Theory and Ideology

Author: Kilu Von Prince

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2022-05-31

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 2889762912

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Book Synopsis Motivations for Research on Linguistic Complexity: Methodology, Theory and Ideology by : Kilu Von Prince

Download or read book Motivations for Research on Linguistic Complexity: Methodology, Theory and Ideology written by Kilu Von Prince and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-05-31 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Linguistic Complexity

Linguistic Complexity

Author: Bernd Kortmann

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2012-05-29

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 3110229226

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Linguistic complexity is one of the currently most hotly debated notions in linguistics. The essays in this volume reflect the intricacies of thinking about the complexity of languages and language varieties (here: of English) in three major contact-related fields of (and schools in) linguistics: creolistics, indigenization and nativization studies (i.e. in the realm of English linguistics, the “World Englishes” community), and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research: How can we adequately assess linguistic complexity? Should we be interested in absolute complexity or rather relative complexity? What is the extent to which language contact and/or (adult) language learning might lead to morphosyntactic simplification? The authors in this volume are all leading linguists in different areas of specialization, and they were asked to elaborate on those facets of linguistic complexity which are most relevant in their area of specialization, and/or which strike them as being most intriguing. The result is a collection of papers that is unique in bringing together leading representatives of three often disjunct fields of linguistic scholarship in which linguistic complexity is seen as a dynamic and inherently variable parameter.


Book Synopsis Linguistic Complexity by : Bernd Kortmann

Download or read book Linguistic Complexity written by Bernd Kortmann and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-05-29 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linguistic complexity is one of the currently most hotly debated notions in linguistics. The essays in this volume reflect the intricacies of thinking about the complexity of languages and language varieties (here: of English) in three major contact-related fields of (and schools in) linguistics: creolistics, indigenization and nativization studies (i.e. in the realm of English linguistics, the “World Englishes” community), and Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research: How can we adequately assess linguistic complexity? Should we be interested in absolute complexity or rather relative complexity? What is the extent to which language contact and/or (adult) language learning might lead to morphosyntactic simplification? The authors in this volume are all leading linguists in different areas of specialization, and they were asked to elaborate on those facets of linguistic complexity which are most relevant in their area of specialization, and/or which strike them as being most intriguing. The result is a collection of papers that is unique in bringing together leading representatives of three often disjunct fields of linguistic scholarship in which linguistic complexity is seen as a dynamic and inherently variable parameter.