The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences [Paperback]

This nearly one-million-word volume provides an up-to-date and accessible reference resource on all major aspects of speech and language.One of the most important developments of the last fifty years has been the explosive increase in our knowledge about human language. Speech acquisition, reception, and production are arguably the most complex and distinctive operations of the human mind. The nearly one-million-word Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences provides an up-to-date, and accessible one-volume reference resource for this knowledge.One of the most important developments of the last fifty years has been the explosive increase in our knowledge about human language. Speech acquisition, reception, and production are arguably the most complex and distinctive operations of the human mind. The nearly one-million-word Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences provides an up-to-date, and accessible one-volume reference resource for this knowledge.Have you lost track of developments in generative linguistics, finding yourself unsure about the distinctive features of Minimalism? Would you like to know more about recent advances in the genetics of language, or about right hemisphere linguistic operation? Has your interest in narrative drawn you to question the relation between stories and grammars? The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences addresses these issues, along with hundreds of others. It includes basic entries for those unfamiliar with a given topic and more specific entries for those seeking more specialized knowledge. It incorporates both well-established findings and cutting-edge research and classical approaches and new theoretical innovations. The volume is aimed at readers who have an interest in some aspect of language science but wish to learn more about the broad range of ideas, findings, practices, and prospects that constitute this rapidly expanding field, a field arguably at the center of current research on the human mindl³e