Date de naissance: 1941-07-16
Sexe: male
Études: 1950 - 1960 Exeter School, Exeter.
1960 - 1963 St John's College, Cambridge, reading Modern and Medieval Languages (French and German). Graduated 1963, with a B.A.
1964 - 1967 Department of Phonetics, University College, London. Graduated 1967 with University of London PhD
Courte biographie: Jim Hurford was trained as an articulatory phonetician, and has written a textbook on semantics, and articles and book chapters on phonetics, syntax, phonology, language acquisition and pragmatics. He has a broad interest in reconciling various traditions in Linguistics which have tended to conflict. His work is interdisciplinary, based in linguistics, but reaching out to, and taking insights and data from, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, genetics, artificial intelligence and philosophy. His work brings together the work of formal linguists who study words and sentences out of their communicative context, psycholinguists and neuroscientists who study the brain processes underlying language use, and anthropologists and sociolinguists who emphasize how language is embedded in social groups. He has worked on articulating frameworks in which representations of languages in individual minds interact with properties of languages used in communities. These frameworks emphasize the interaction of evolution, learning and communication. Early work focussed on the properties of numeral systems, and this broadened out to the topic of the evolution of language, in all senses of that phrase. He produced some of the earliest computer simulations of aspects of the evolution of language.

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Critiques

Grammar: A Student's Guide par James R. Hurford

This book is a good encyclopedic reference for grammar. It wasn't meant to be read cover to cover, but that's what I did. Basically, if you need to look up something like "direct object" or "transitive" you can go to that entry and brush up on your grammar skills.

The entries are interesting. I learned that grammar rules change and some of what I learned when I was younger is a bit outdated. I also learned that grammarians and linguists differ in some areas when they talk about something like the parts of speech.

Most sections have a sub-section called "for interest" which contains information about other languages or some interesting tidbit about English. These sections were my favorite.

Each section has an exercise to do and the answers are in the back. I did all the exercises. I did not always do the exercises correctly.… (plus d'informations)

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Chica3000 | 1 autre critique | Dec 11, 2020 |

Grammar: A Student's Guide par James R. Hurford

A reference guide to grammar, that functions like an expanded encyclopedia for its topic. The book contains one hundred entries, each one a major grammatical topic, arranged alphabetically. They begin with an explanation of the term, followed by examples, contrasts, a section on relationships and a for interest section. The writing is clear and easy to read; the author even manages to interject humor and liveliness in to a topic that could be very dry. In other words, while the layout is like an encyclopedia, the style is much more appealing. Nonetheless, this is a book all about the way we organize our language, so don't expect something that you can't put down. It's very much textbook, with a specific audience in mind. If you're a linguistics student then you will probably rate this book much higher, as the author clearly had you in mind as he wrote.

I have a mission to improve my understanding of grammar and that is why I originally bought this book. I read constantly, and write, and I consider my grammar decent, but it was mostly self-taught from what I picked up in my reading. My schools never taught me formal grammar lessons and I've always felt uncomfortable not fully knowing the tools of my trade. This book is packed with useful information, just not what I wanted. I'm more interested in learning those obscure rules of grammar that are unfamiliar to me; even if I instinctively follow them I want to know why I am doing what I am doing. Like what is a dangling participle, or where do I put the apostrophe on plurals and why. This guide offers in depth analysis of the components of grammar, from the basic (like nouns) to the more complex (copular verbs). While it is an excellent reference, and I have used it to help clarify certain points for me, it wasn't the book I was looking for.

The author does a commendable job making his subject matter lively and interesting. It's clear that he is passionate about his subject. Every entry is well researched, has good examples, and draws on a variety of cultures and languages. Nonetheless, this book is very academic, with an emphasis on why language is created and used, and is definitely intended for linguistic studies. If you're looking for a lighter and more general approach to the whys and wherefores of our language, or a book that teaches specific applications of grammar, look elsewhere.… (plus d'informations)

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nmhale | 1 autre critique | Jan 28, 2011 |

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