Prism of Grammar---Tom Roeper

[Tom Roeper]

Dear Everyone,
My book has just been published:

The Prism of Grammar:
How Child Language Illuminates Humanism
MIT Press May 2007
[Amazon is cheaper]

The book is intended for the broad acquisition community, professionals
and amateurs, teachers and parents. It has around 60 explorations one
can directly pursue with children---many could become real experiments 
and I would be happy to give more background to anyone
interested. They cover topics in recursion, reference, ellipsis, and
plurals.
The book also addresses several issues in communication disorders,
education, African American English, theory of mind, philosophy and 
ethics in psychology.
I would be happy to hear any reactions.
What follows is the advertising summary and endorsements from
Pinker, Chomsky, Hauser, and Neil Smith.

Tom Roeper

Endorsements

"For three decades, Tom Roeper has been one of the most acute observers 
of semantic and grammatical subtleties in children’s speech, and one of 
the most creative thinkers on how to connect linguistic theory with 
language acquisition research. It is nice to have his insights collected 
into a book, which will be a source of ideas for years to come."
--Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, 
and author of The Language Instinct, Words and Rules, and The Stuff of 
Thought



"This engaging, perceptive, and wide-ranging study investigates 
individual languages in terms of the challenges they pose for the child 
as well as their often surprising relations to other languages and to 
the general principles that constitute the genetically-determined 
language faculty. It goes on to unravel prejudices and 
misunderstandings, and to offer a more general conception of how the 
mind functions and of our place in a community of mutual respect and 
understanding. Lucid and engaging, The Prism of Grammar leads the reader 
from striking observations and experiments with children that anyone can 
carry out to subtle and intricate issues that concern every parent--in 
fact, anyone seeking to understand who we are and what we should be."

--Noam Chomsky, Institute Professor, MIT


"For three decades, Tom Roeper has been one of the most acute observers 
of semantic and grammatical subtleties in children’s speech, and one of 
the most creative thinkers on how to connect linguistic theory with 
language acquisition research. It is nice to have his insights collected 
into a book, which will be a source of ideas for years to come."

--Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, 
and author of The Language Instinct, Words and Rules, and The Stuff of 
Thought


"It has been said that as children we wrestle with the deepest mysteries 
of our time--the mind-body problem, the existence of God--but that 
adulthood's common emphasis on conformity purges this intellectual 
curiosity. In Tom Roeper's able hands we are treated to a journey back 
to this period of intense curiosity and mental growth--one characterized 
by an exuberance of questions and comments, each reflecting intricate 
computations of the mind. But Roeper goes further and, with great 
courage and insight, attempts to show how the study of child language 
illuminates a much broader range of topics, from our capacity for free 
will to our often unconscious prejudices."

--Marc D. Hauser, Harvard College Professor, author of Moral Minds

"Tom Roeper has an unmatched flair for identifying simple examples and 
spelling out both their amazing complexity and the richness of their 
theoretical implications. In this intriguing, ingenious, idiosyncratic 
and inspirational book he illustrates the enormity of the child's task 
in learning the simplest facts, from the meaning of 'it' to the contrast 
between 'painting a grey house' and 'painting a house grey'. He uses 
these and a wide variety of other examples to suggest practical 
activities for parents and researchers to indulge in with children. Most 
importantly, he emphasizes the educational and ethical consequences of 
taking child language seriously. This book will influence people's 
thinking not only on language acquisition but on human dignity and the 
nature of mind."

--Neil Smith, Professor Emeritus of Linguistics, University College London


MIT Brochure:
Every sentence we hear is instantly analyzed by an inner grammar; just 
as a prism refracts a beam of light, grammar divides a stream of sound, 
linking diverse strings of information to different domains of 
mind--memory, vision, emotions, intentions. In THE PRISM OF GRAMMAR, TOM 
ROEPER brings the abstract principles behind modern grammar to life by 
exploring the astonishing intricacies of childlanguage. Adult 
expressions provide endless puzzles for the child to solve;
The individual child’s solutions ("Don't uncomfortable the cat" is one 
example) may amuse adults but they also reveal the complexity of [adult] 
language and the challenges of mastering it. The tiniest utterances, 
says Roeper, reflect the whole mind and engage the child's free will and 
sense of dignity.
He provides numerous novel "explorations"—many at the edge of current 
work—that anyone can try, even in conversation around the dinner table. 
THEY elciit how the child confronts “recursion”—the heartbeat of 
grammar---through endless possessives (John’s mother’s friend’s…car), 
mysterious plurals (mom and dad are “husbands and wives” contradictory 
adjectives (BIG little squares), the marvels of ellipsis (would if I 
could), and the deep obscurity of reference (there it is, right here). 
They are not tests of skill; they are tools for discovery and delight, 
not diagnosis. Hints of German, Italian, and Chinese show up inside 
English. Each chapter on acquisition begins with a commonsense look at 
how structures work--moving from the simple to the complex--and then 
turns to the literary and human dimensions of grammar.
One important human dimension is the role of dialect in society and in 
the lives of children. Roeper devotes three chapters to the structure of 
African-American English and the challenge of responding to linguistic 
prejudice.
Written in a lively style that is very accessible and gently provocative 
(what is the point of pointing?) THE PRISM OF GRAMMAR is a book for 
parents and teachers as well as students--everyone who wants to 
understand how children gain and use language--and any person interested 
in the social, philosophical, and ethical implications for how we see 
the growing mind emerge.