New Book on Psycholinguistics Published

Latvian Language Agency continues to develop the series of translated books on exciting issue of contemporary linguistics.  

Just recently our agency has published a Latvian translation of the very popular book by J. Aitchison „The Articulate Mammal. An introduction to psycholinguistics”, whose original verison has already seen several repeat publications. The book has been translated to Latvian by Dr. habil. philol. Ina Druviete.

This is an easy to read pathfinder in psycholinguistics. In a pop science format the author explores the similarities and differences in the ways of communication among human beings and animals. Further there is an inquiry into the hypothesis of the origins of verbal language, and into the current debate regarding the nature vs. nurture, or the role of genetic make-up  and upbringing in the individual development of a child’s language. There is much exciting new data about how linguistic knowledge relates to practical use of a language, how languages are comprehended and produced, as well as an overview of theoretical and empiric metods in research of the linguistic activity in the human brain. The author further tells about the ability of certain animals to learn some elements of human communication, and about how congenital or acquired disfunction of brain work affects the person’ s ability to understand and reproduce language.

This book is addressed to a broader audience of readers. The author uses a skillful way of introducing and presenting basic issues in psycholinguistics in a gradual way, so any prior knowledge is not required.

Festive opening of this publication in Latvian language will include a meeting with the translation project team and will will be held in the frames of European Language Days 2015 in Latvia. These events will be held at several universities: Daugavpils University (September 24th, 2015), Latvia University (September 23, 2015) and Liepaja University (September 24, 2015). Very welcome!