An insightful route to deep thought 2

This is the latest edition of a classic introduction to issues in psycho- linguistics, which also introduces some general linguistic issues on the way.

As well as a brief introduction and conclusion (which looks forward to future work in the areas covered), it contains enough chapters to fill a term or semester at the rate of one a week, tackling such questions as "is language restricted to humans?", "could any linguistic information conceivably be innate?", "exactly how do children learn language?" and "how do we plan and produce speech?"

This edition involves minor or major modification to all chapters, to incorporate discussion of recent relevant work. This includes the putative discovery of a "language gene" and so-called post-Chomskyan ideas. New references have been added throughout.

Who is it for? Students on courses that aim to introduce basic psycholinguistic and related topics.

Presentation: Well structured with appropriate tables and figures, and cartoon-like diagrams to illustrate linguistic points.

Would you recommend it? Accessible and time-proven, this volume is a nice introduction to the issues it covers.

Patrick Honeybone, lecturer in linguistics and English language at Edinburgh University.