The Boundaries of Babel: The Brain and the Enigma of Impossible Languages (Volume 46) (Current Studies in Linguistics (46))

This book is truly fascinating. I didn't know before what modern linguistics was about neither did I know a lot about neuropsychology. This book really takes you through the two domains, as in a fascinating story, and finally uncovers a surprising link between the core structure of human languages, namely syntax, and the brain. One of the aspects that I really appreciated of Moro's book is that he never cheats on any major issue or tries to hide the problems behind them. He is surely aware that the human brain is an immensely complex organ and the structure of grammars hasn't even been discovered yet. Nevertheless, although this might have stopped many from further research, he undertook this challenge and arrived at the interesting conclusion that the absence of certain types of grammar among the languages of the world cannot be the result of convention or historical accident. Learning an "Impossible" language does not activate the usual neuronal net which is involved for language; thus, the structure of grammar cannot be independent of the brain structure. All this was discovered by him and the group or researchers he works with by assembling ideas and materials that goes back to the foundations of linguistics and neuropsychology: thus the book also qualifies as a direct testimony of a discovery in science. I have also found the book very clear and, sometimes, similar to the way a spy-story is written rather than a scientific essay. The only remarks is the last chapter, that the author recognizes as somewhat peripheric. It seems to me more like a window open on future research rather then the report of achieved accomplishments. Still, it was fun to read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in language and the brain. In The Boundaries Of Babel, Andrea Moro Tells The Story Of An Encounter Between Two Cultures: Contemporary Theoretical Linguistics And The Cognitive Neurosciences. The Study Of Language Within A Biological Context Has Been Ongoing For More Than Fifty Years. The Development Of Neuroimaging Technology Offers New Opportunities To Enrich The Biolinguistic Perspective And Extend It Beyond An Abstract Framework For Inquiry. As A Leading Theoretical Linguist In The Generative Tradition And Also A Cognitive Scientist Schooled In The New Imaging Technology, Moro Is Uniquely Equipped To Explore This.. Moro Examines What He Calls The Hidden Revolution In Contemporary Science: The Discovery That The Number Of Possible Grammars Is Not Infinite And That Their Number Is Biologically Limited. This Radical But Little-discussed Change In The Way We Look At Language, He Claims, Will Require Us To Rethink Not Just The Fundamentals Of Linguistics And Neurosciences But Also Our View Of The Human Mind. Moro Searches For Neurobiological Correlates Of The Boundaries Of Babel - The Constraints On The Apparent Chaotic Variation In Human Languages - By Using An Original Experimental Design Based On Artificial Languages. He Offers A Critical Overview Of Some Of The Fundamental Results From Linguistics Over The Last Fifty Years, In Particular Regarding Syntax, Then Uses These Essential Aspects Of Language To Examine Two Neuroimaging Experiments In Which He Took Part. He Describes The Two Neuroimaging Techniques Used (positron Emission Topography, Or Pet, And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Or Fmri). But Makes It Clear That Techniques And Machines Do Not Provide Interesting Data Without A Sound Theoretical Framework. Finally, He Discusses Some Speculative Aspects Of Modern Research In Biolinguistics Regarding The Impact Of The Linear Structure Of Linguistics Expression On Grammar, And More Generally, Some Core Aspects Of Language Acquisition, Genetics, And Evolution.--book Jacket. 1. Hidden Texture -- 2. Language In The Brain -- 3. The Form Of Grammar. Andrea Moro ; Translated From Italian By Ivano Caponigro And Daniel B. Kane. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [231]-243) And Indexes. An exploration of what research at the intersection of contemporary theoretical linguistics and the cognitive neurosciences can reveal about the constraints on the apparently chaotic variation in human languages.In The Boundaries of Babel, Andrea Moro tells the story of an encounter between two cultures: contemporary theoretical linguistics and the cognitive neurosciences. The study of language within a biological context has been ongoing for more than fifty years. The development of neuroimaging technology offers new opportunities to enrich the'biolinguistic perspective'and extend it beyond an abstract framework for inquiry. As a leading theoretical linguist in the generative tradition and also a cognitive scientist schooled in the new imaging technology, Moro is uniquely equipped to explore this.Moro examines what he calls the'hidden'revolution in contemporary science: the discovery that the number of possible grammars is not infinite and that their number is biologically limited. This radical but little-discussed change in the way we look at language, he claims, will require us to rethink not just the fundamentals of linguistics and neurosciences but also our view of the human mind. Moro searches for neurobiological correlates of'the boundaries of Babel'—the constraints on the apparent chaotic variation in human languages—by using an original experimental design based on artificial languages. He offers a critical overview of some of the fundamental results from linguistics over the last fifty years, in particular regarding syntax, then uses these essential aspects of language to examine two neuroimaging experiments in which he took part. He describes the two neuroimaging techniques used (positron emission topography, or PET, and functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI), but makes it clear that techniques and machines do not provide interesting data without a sound theoretical framework. Finally, he discusses some speculative aspects of modern research in biolinguistics regarding the impact of the linear structure of linguistics expression on grammar, and more generally, some core aspects of language acquisition, genetics, and evolution. Contents......Page 10 Foreword......Page 12 Translators’ note......Page 14 Preface......Page 16 Acknowledgments......Page 18 Prologue......Page 22 1 Hidden Texture......Page 28 2 Language in the Brain......Page 142 3 The Form of Grammar......Page 210 Epilogue......Page 250 References......Page 252 Name Index......Page 266 Subject Index......Page 272 This text is an exploration of what research at the intersection of contemporary theoretical linguistics and the cognitive neurosciences can reveal about the constraints on the apparently chaotic variation in human languages