Re: Recommend an intro text tailored for my circumstances?


Brian M. Scott wrote:
On 13 Nov 2006 19:50:58 -0800, "Peter T. Daniels"
<grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
<news:1163476257.889951.4700@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
in sci.lang:

Snis Pilbor wrote:

I'd like to learn about linguistics, and I guess the
first step is reading a good intro. However, if at all
avoidable, I'd rather avoid anything aimed at college
freshmen:

How are you going to understand advanced work if you
haven't mastered the basics?

Blackwell's Handbook of Linguistics is aimed at people who
are already familiar with linguistics but want an
introduction to fields other than their own. Once you've
found that's over your head, come back and ask for
college freshmen textbook recommendations.

I suspect that you're taking 'freshman' too literally. In
mathematics introductory texts are pitched at many different
levels. I imagine that he assumes that a similar situation
obtains in linguistics and wants a text that moves along
briskly and doesn't baby the reader.

[...]

Brian

Yes, precisely, and Peter, thank you for your kind patience dealing
with newbies like myself =) Brian is correct in his assessment.

I guess maybe linguistics takes a cue from the more liberal arts and
the first courses are just lots of terminology to rote memorize? Ahh,
that is bad if so, I was thinking linguistics was a sibling of math and
comp sci. Maybe this isn't a field I should read as a hobby afterall,
but just concentrate on specific individual languages instead..

Well, thanks for any responses, you guys are cool =)

Snis Pilbor

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Recommend an intro text tailored for my circumstances?
    ... college freshmen textbook recommendations. ... I suspect that you're taking 'freshman' too literally. ... mathematics introductory texts are pitched at many different ... obtains in linguistics and wants a text that moves along ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Recommend an intro text tailored for my circumstances?
    ... college freshmen textbook recommendations. ... I suspect that you're taking 'freshman' too literally. ... obtains in linguistics and wants a text that moves along ... Snis Pilbor ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Recommend an intro text tailored for my circumstances?
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    (sci.lang)
  • Re: Which book sounds most compelling?
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