Dear CogLing readers, I'm pleased (and relieved) to announce the publication of a new book I've written, which might be of interest to members of this list. It's called "Louder than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning," from Basic Books, and is available at fine booksellers everywhere, both in the real world and online.
The book articulates an embodied theory of meaning based on the premise that language users simulate what it would be like to experience things and events that are described, using their perceptual, motor, and affective systems. I combine evidence from brain imaging and behavioral experiments with linguistic analysis to show what work simulation can do for a theory of language. Chapters address individual differences in meaning, meaning differences across languages and cultures, how grammar drives meaning and simulation, and how and what people simulate when dealing with metaphorical language. I tried to write the book in such a way that it's at once accessible to the interested lay reader and at the same time packed densely enough with compelling current research to be useful to the specialist researcher and appropriate for classes on meaning, language, and cognition. I hope you'll find that I've succeeded! You can find an excerpt, chapter list, and other materials here: http://www.louderthanwordsbook.com And Salon.com published an excerpt from the first chapter today: http://www.salon.com/2012/10/20/where_does_language_come_from/. Best regards, Ben +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ Benjamin K. Bergen Associate Professor, Department of Cognitive Science Director, Language and Cognition Lab University of California, San Diego My new book, coming out October 30, 2012: Louder than words: The new science of how the mind makes meaning http://www.louderthanwordsbook.com Contact: [email protected] http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/~bkbergen/ Office: (858)534-2523 ------------------------------------------- AGI Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/21088071-c97d2393 Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=21088071&id_secret=21088071-2484a968 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
