Symmetrizing Syntax seeks to establish a minimal and natural characterization of the structure of human language (syntax), simplifying many facets of it that have been redundantly or asymmetrically formulated. Virtually all past theories of natural language syntax, from the traditional X-bar theory to the contemporary system of Merge and labeling, stipulate that every phrase structure is "asymmetrically" organized, so that one of its elements is always marked as primary/dominant over the others, or each and every phrase is labeled by a designated lexical element. The two authors call this traditional stipulation into question and hypothesize, instead, that linguistic derivations are essentially driven by the need to reduce asymmetry and generate symmetric structures. Various linguistic notions such as Merge, cyclic derivation by phase, feature-checking, morphological agreement, labeling, movement, and criterial freezing, as well as parametric differences among languages like English and Japanese, and so on, are all shown to follow from a particular notion of structural symmetry. These results constitute novel support for the contemporary thesis that human language is essentially an instance of a physical/biological object, and its design is governed by the laws of nature, at the core of which lies the fundamental principle of symmetry. Providing insights into new technical concepts in syntax, the volume is written for academics in linguistics but will also be accessible to linguistics students seeking an introduction to syntax.

This book unpacks coordination in the context of the Strong Minimalist Thesis (SMT), offering a new proposal for addressing this longstanding puzzle within research on Generative Grammar. The volume’s foundations are rooted in the SMT, which builds on the idea that laws of nature, such as simplicity, symmetry, and computational efficiency, shape the laws of language to their simplest form, as units of computation combined with a recursive structure-building device. The book explores the two main ways in which Generative Grammar research has been undertaken to deal with the issue of coordination within SMT as examined in such linguistic expressions as conjuncts, which combine in an unstructured way, but which run counter to a strictly minimalist approach. Bode proposes an alternative account of coordination based on simplest set-formation without resorting to additional mechanisms, rooting it more squarely within SMT theory and encouraging further discussion on new directions for SMT-related research. This volume will be of interest to scholars in syntax and linguistic theory, particularly those interested in minimalist theory.

Biolinguistics is a highly interdisciplinary field that seeks the rapprochement between linguistics and biology. Linking theoretical linguistics, theoretical biology, genetics, neuroscience and cognitive psychology, this book offers a collection of chapters situating the enterprise conceptually, highlighting both the promises and challenges of the field, and chapters focusing on the challenges and prospects of taking interdisciplinarity seriously. It provides concrete illustrations of some of the cutting-edge research in biolinguistics and piques the interest of undergraduate students looking for a field to major in and inspires graduate students on possible research directions. It is also meant to show to specialists in adjacent fields how a particular strand of theoretical linguistics relates to their concerns, and in so doing, the book intends to foster collaboration across disciplines.

This collection advocates for a more holistic picture of metaphor, extending the field’s focus beyond the cognitive paradigm and conventional metaphorical concepts to illustrate the possibilities afforded by the study of living metaphors. The volume brings together a diverse range of researchers in the discipline towards critically examining the presuppositions of the cognitive approach. The book shines a light on living metaphors – creative interpretations of conflictual meaning specific to a text or communicative act with their own unique functions – to throw into relief long-held tenets in existing metaphor research. Chapters reflect on the notion that creative metaphors spring from independent sources, not merely from metaphorical concepts, and the subsequent implications for our understanding of the relationship between linguistic forms and conceptual structures and the role of creative metaphors in organizing thought and action. Taken together, the book offers a complementary vision of languages and figures which integrates disparate lines of study within the cognitive paradigm with alternative perspectives for a more comprehensive portrait of metaphors. This book will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the study of metaphor, including such disciplines as theoretical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, semantics, literary studies, and philosophy of language.

Looking beyond the boundaries of various disciplines, the author demonstrates that symmetry is a fascinating phenomenon which provides endless stimulation and challenges. He explains that it is possible to readapt art to the sciences, and vice versa, by means of an evolutionary concept of symmetry. Many pictorial examples are included to enable the reader to fully understand the issues discussed. Based on the artistic evidence that the author has collected, he proposes that the new ars evolutoria can function as an example for the sciences.The book is divided into three distinct parts, each one focusing on a special issue. In Part I, the phenomenon of symmetry, including its discovery and meaning is reviewed. The author looks closely at how Vitruvius, Polyclitus, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine, Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci and Durer viewed symmetry. This is followed by an explanation on how the concept of symmetry developed. The author further discusses symmetry as it appears in art and science, as well as in the modern age. Later, he expounds the view of symmetry as an evolutionary concept which can lead to a new unity of science. In Part II, he covers the points of contact between the form-developing process in nature and art. He deals with biological questions, in particular evolution.The collection of new and precise data on perception and knowledge with regard to the postulated reality of symmetry leads to further development of the evolutionary theory of symmetry in Part III. The author traces the enormous treasure of observations made in nature and culture back to a few underlying structural principles. He demonstrates symmetry as a far-reaching, leading, structuring, causal element of evolution, as the idea lying behind nature and culture. Numerous controllable reproducible double-mirror experiments on a new stereoscopic vision verify a symmetrization theory of perception.

The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 4A: Combinatorial Algorithms, Part 1 Knuth’s multivolume analysis of algorithms is widely recognized as the definitive description of classical computer science. The first three volumes of this work have long comprised a unique and invaluable resource in programming theory and practice. Scientists have marveled at the beauty and elegance of Knuth’s analysis, while practicing programmers have successfully applied his “cookbook” solutions to their day-to-day problems. The level of these first three volumes has remained so high, and they have displayed so wide and deep a familiarity with the art of computer programming, that a sufficient “review” of future volumes could almost be: “Knuth, Volume n has been published.” –Data Processing Digest Knuth, Volume n has been published, where n = 4A. In this long-awaited new volume, the old master turns his attention to some of his favorite topics in broadword computation and combinatorial generation (exhaustively listing fundamental combinatorial objects, such as permutations, partitions, and trees), as well as his more recent interests, such as binary decision diagrams. The hallmark qualities that distinguish his previous volumes are manifest here anew: detailed coverage of the basics, illustrated with well-chosen examples; occasional forays into more esoteric topics and problems at the frontiers of research; impeccable writing peppered with occasional bits of humor; extensive collections of exercises, all with solutions or helpful hints; a careful attention to history; implementations of many of the algorithms in his classic step-by-step form. There is an amazing amount of information on each page. Knuth has obviously thought long and hard about which topics and results are most central and important, and then, what are the most intuitive and succinct ways of presenting that material. Since the areas that he covers in this volume have exploded since he first envisioned writing about them, it is wonderful how he has managed to provide such thorough treatment in so few pages. –Frank Ruskey, Department of Computer Science, University of Victoria The book is Volume 4A, because Volume 4 has itself become a multivolume undertaking. Combinatorial searching is a rich and important topic, and Knuth has too much to say about it that is new, interesting, and useful to fit into a single volume, or two, or maybe even three. This book alone includes approximately 1500 exercises, with answers for self-study, plus hundreds of useful facts that cannot be found in any other publication. Volume 4A surely belongs beside the first three volumes of this classic work in every serious programmer’s library. Finally, after a wait of more than thirty-five years, the first part of Volume 4 is at last ready for publication. Check out the boxed set that brings together Volumes 1 - 4A in one elegant case, and offers the purchaser a $50 discount off the price of buying the four volumes individually. Ebook (PDF version) produced by Mathematical Sciences Publishers (MSP),http://msp.org The Art of Computer Programming, Volumes 1-4A Boxed Set, 3/e ISBN: 0321751043