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Impossible Languages - by Andrea Moro (Paperback)

Name: Impossible Languages - by Andrea Moro (Paperback)
Brand: MIT Press
SKU: 1005018721
Price: 30.00 USD
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Highlights

An investigation into the possibility of impossible languages, searching for the indelible "fingerprint" of human language.
About the Author: Andrea Moro is Professor of General Linguistics at the Institute for Advanced Study (IUSS) in Pavia, Italy.
160 Pages
Language + Art + Disciplines, Language Arts

Description

About the Book

An investigation into the possibility of impossible languages, searching for the indelible "fingerprint" of human language.

Book Synopsis

An investigation into the possibility of impossible languages, searching for the indelible "fingerprint" of human language.

Can there be such a thing as an impossible human language? A biologist could describe an impossible animal as one that goes against the physical laws of nature (entropy, for example, or gravity). Are there any such laws that constrain languages? In this book, Andrea Moro--a distinguished linguist and neuroscientist--investigates the possibility of impossible languages, searching, as he does so, for the indelible "fingerprint" of human language.

Moro shows how the very notion of impossible languages has helped shape research on the ultimate aim of linguistics: to define the class of possible human languages. He takes us beyond the boundaries of Babel, to the set of properties that, despite appearances, all languages share, and explores the sources of that order, drawing on scientific experiments he himself helped design. Moro compares syntax to the reverse side of a tapestry revealing a hidden and apparently intricate structure. He describes the brain as a sieve, considers the reality of (linguistic) trees, and listens for the sound of thought by recording electrical activity in the brain. Words and sentences, he tells us, are like symphonies and constellations: they have no content of their own; they exist because we listen to them and look at them. We are part of the data.

Review Quotes

"Impossible Languages is written in a succinct and easy-to-follow style, focusing on what makes human language distinct from any other communication system."
-Journal of Universal Language

About the Author

Andrea Moro is Professor of General Linguistics at the Institute for Advanced Study (IUSS) in Pavia, Italy. He is the author of Impossible Languages, The Boundaries of Babel, and A Brief History of the Verb To Be (all published by the MIT Press), and other books.

Specifications

Dimensions (Overall): 8.0 Inches (H) x 5.38 Inches (W) x .36 Inches (D)

Weight: .42 Pounds

Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up

Number of Pages: 160

Genre: Language + Art + Disciplines

Sub-Genre: Language Arts

Publisher: MIT Press

Theme: General

Format: Paperback

Author: Andrea Moro

Language: English

Street Date: September 19, 2023

TCIN: 1005018721

UPC: 9780262549233

Item Number (DPCI): 247-24-4792

Origin: Made in the USA or Imported

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Estimated ship dimensions: 0.36 inches length x 5.38 inches width x 8 inches height

Estimated ship weight: 0.42 pounds

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