This classic study is still the only comprehensive theory of child language acquisition—one that begins with the infant, proceeds step by step according to explicit learning algorithms, mirrors children's development, and ends up with adult grammatical competence. Now reprinted with new commentary by the author that updates of every section, Language Learnability and Language Developmentcontinues to be an indispensible resource in developmental psycholinguistics.
Professor Howard Lasnik is one of the world's leading theoretical linguists. He has produced influential and important work in areas such as syntactic theory, logical form, and learnability. This collection of essays draws together some of his best work from his substantial contribution to linguistic theory.
Crosslinguistic Perspectives on Argument Structure: Implications for Learnability offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective on argument structure and its role in language acquisition. Much contemporary work in linguistics and psychology assumes that argument structure is strongly constrained by a set of universal principles, and that these principles are innate, providing children with certain bootstrapping strategies that help them hone in on basic aspects of the syntax and lexicon of their language.
