"At last! A lucid but not superficial book that explains what linguistics is about as well as how linguists go about their business."

The language lottery: Toward a biology of grammars

Reference

Lightfoot, David

Foreign Language Study & Reference

MIT Press]

How to Set Parameters: Arguments from Language Change

Over the past decade generative grammarians have viewed language acquisition as a process of fixing option points or parameters defined in Universal Grammar. Here David Lightfoot addresses the crucial question of what it takes to set a parameter, of what kind of experience is needed to trigger the emergence of a natural kind of grammar.Lightfoot asserts that parameter setting is not sensitive to embedded material, that it is triggered only by robust elements that are structurally simple. He observes that morphological properties play a significant role in setting parameters which. have widespread syntactic effects. Using evidence from data on diachronic changes and from current work in syntactic theory, Lightfoot makes precise claims about the triggering experience that can explain a number of historical puzzles. He argues that the changes could have taken place in the way they did only if language acquisition proceeds on the basis of simple, unembedded experiences.Along the way Lightfoot examines consequences of the loss of the rich Old English case system and of the breakdown of the verb classes and takes up particularly illuminating cases of obsolescent structures.David Lightfoot is Professor and Chairman of the Linguistics Department at the University of Maryland.

Mit Pr

One of life's mysteries is how all normal children come to understand and speak their native language as quickly, easily, and spontaneously as they routinely do. The Language Lottery theorizes that linguistic competence is innate, that the mystery is akin to the budding and unfolding of a flower, the natural consequence of a genetically encoded program. It develops the concept that language structure is internally prescribed from the insights of generative grammar, which largely grew out of the work of Noam Chomsky. A major feature of the book is that the author explains in some depth for readers without training in linguistics what generative grammar is all about, covering the basic features of the theory and outlining the current open questions at the vanguard of research.
Since the principles of generative grammar underlie the particular structure that may occur in any natural, human language, a theory based on them can apply equally to the acquisition of Japanese, English, Arabic, or any other tongue a child might draw in the "language lottery." From this central theoretical base, the book ranges far afield in demonstrating the genetic nature of language development. Among the topics discussed are the results of experiments in animal communication, the genetically determined maturation of human cognition and perception, and the brain as the seat of language structure. 
The Language Lottery covers all the major dimensions of language: syntax, logical form, the lexicon, word meaning, the sound of speech and phonological features, and continuous language processing. Child grammars and the historical evolution of language are also taken up.

The Language Lottery: Toward a Biology of Grammar

This book aims to help readers learn about formal specification using the Z language. The author argues that formal specification offers benefits to the developers of computer systems and that it will make a contribution towards improving their quality. The book is primarily aimed at those who are not as familiar with mathematics as the mathematician and in this respect certain aspects of the explanations have been kept more informal and given less emphasis than others. The chapters of this book contain explanations of the mathematics of Z, interleaved with the development of an example specification. The chapters covering mathematics finish with a summary of the notion introduced in the chapter and a set of exercises. Sample solutions to selected exercises are included in the appendix.

Formal Specification Using Z

Computers & Technology

Programming

Palgrave HE UK

Formal specification is a technique for specifying what is required of a computer system clearly, concisely and without ambiguity. Z is a leading notation for formal specification.Formal Specification Using Z is an introductory book intended for the many software engineers and students who will benefit from learning about this important topic in software engineering. It is intended for non-mathematicians, and it introduces the ideas in a constructive style, building each new concept on the ones already covered. Each chapter is followed by a set of exercises, and sample solutions are provided for all of these in an appendix.

Formal Specification using Z (Grassroots, 4)

Computer Science

Red Globe Press

New languages are constantly emerging, as existing languages diverge into different forms. To explain this fascinating process, we need to understand how languages change and how they emerge in children. In this pioneering study, David Lightfoot explains how languages come into being, arguing that children are the driving force. He explores how new systems arise, how they are acquired by children, and how adults and children play different, complementary roles in language change. Lightfoot makes an important distinction between 'external language' (language as it exists in the world), and 'internal language' (language as represented in an individual's brain). By examining the interplay between the two, he shows how children are 'cue-based' learners, who scan their external linguistic environment for new structures, making sense of the world outside in order to build their internal language. Engaging and original, this book offers an interesting account of language acquisition, variation and change.

How New Languages Emerge

Words, Language & Grammar

Cambridge University Press

A language develops over time, it develops in a child, and the capacity for language has evolved in the human species.

Development of Language (Blackwell/Maryland Lectures in Language and Cognition)

Wiley/Blackwell

A language develops over time, it develops in a child, and the capacity for language has evolved in the human species.

The Development of Language: Acquisition, Change, and Evolution

BMW Z4: Design, Development and Production is the story of the creation of the Z4 from the first concept in the summer of 1998 until the delivery of customer cars in October 2002. David Lightfoot had exclusive access to the designers, engineers, and production personnel involved in the Z4, and provides an exciting behind-the-scenes look into the process. Never before has the story been told of how BMW brings together creative people and world renowned technical resources to deliver dream machines to its devoted clientele.

BMW Z4: Design, Development and Production--How BMW Creates the Ultimate Driving Machines

Engineering & Transportation

Automotive

Gearbooks LLC

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lightfoot, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Lightfoot, David

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Lightfoot, David. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The language lottery: Toward a biology of grammars

How to Set Parameters: Arguments from Language Change

The Language Lottery: Toward a Biology of Grammar

Formal Specification Using Z

Formal Specification using Z (Grassroots, 4)

How New Languages Emerge

How New Languages Emerge

Development of Language (Blackwell/Maryland Lectures in Language and Cognition)

The Development of Language: Acquisition, Change, and Evolution

BMW Z4: Design, Development and Production--How BMW Creates the Ultimate Driving Machines