The Linguistics Delusion /

Sampson, Geoffrey

The Linguistics Delusion / [print] Geoffrey Sampson. - Bristol, Connecticut : Equinox Publishing, (c)2017. - x, 221 pages ; 24 cm

ILL Purchase for Dr. Noonan - Amazon purchase for 29.95

Includes bibliographical references.

I. LANGUAGE OVER-THEORIZED -- Two ideas of creativity -- Grammaticality meets real-life usage -- Rigid strings and flaky snowflakes -- Economic growth and linguistic theory -- The "cognitive" alternative -- One man's norm is another's metaphor -- II. WRITING SYSTEMS -- From phonemic spelling to distinctive spelling -- The reality of compound ideographs -- III. LANGUAGE COMPLEXITY -- A linguistic axiom challenged -- Complexity in language and in law -- IV. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT -- A phonological paradox -- How many possible trade names are there?.

Linguistics is a subject which came to the fore only in the 1960s. It is founded on a fallacy. Linguistics claims to be 'the scientific study of language', but language behaviour is too open-ended and creative to be treated by the methods of science. In consequence, linguistic theories systematically distort the nature of language, and present a misleading picture of our human nature. Geoffrey Sampson shows how various traditions of linguistics, and their accounts of different aspects of language, are all infected by the delusion of scientism. And he offers positive examples of how language can be studied insightfully, once the scientistic delusion is given up. https://www.amazon.com/Linguistics-Delusion-Geoffrey-Sampson/dp/1781795770/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NKZG3XR4Z4S3&keywords=9781781795774&qid=1682339375&s=books&sprefix=9%2Cstripbooks%2C93&sr=1-1



9781781795774

P121.S192.T445 P121