Book cover of Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language

Book description

How does language work? How do children learn their mother tongue? Why do languages change over time, making Shakespearean English difficult for us and Chaucer's English almost incomprehensible? Why do languages have so many quirks and irregularities? Are they all fundamentally alike? How are new words created? Where in the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Words and Rules as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I’ve always loved observing children as they learn to speak. But I never understood what a triumph that is until I read Stephen Pinker’s book. He explores a huge range of topics, including what we can learn from the mistakes children make, how languages develop, brain imaging, major ideas in philosophy, computer speech simulation, Noam Chomsky’s ideas about linguistics, and genetic research. And he does all that by focusing on regular and irregular verbs. Sounds dull? Think again. It’s a fascinating book.

From Gillian's list on about communication.

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Book cover of Spellbinding Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Achieving Excellence and Captivating Readers

Spellbinding Sentences by Barbara Baig,

Spellbinding Sentences is for writers who want mastery of their craft, writers who want to know the secrets of powerful prose that will give readers pleasure and keep them turning pages. These techniques are available to anyone who’s willing to practice them consistently.

Sentences shows exactly what to practice and…

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