Good linguistics primer?

[Hopelessly_Neurotic]

Hi all,

I'm headed to grad school for developmental psych in the fall, but in the meantime I have time to kill. I want to learn about subjects that have always interested me but I never got a chance to study. I'll also be broadening my knowledge base, which could help when it comes to deciding on research topics. I am interested in linguistics and am looking for some good recommendations where I could get up to speed on the fundamental ideas /concepts in the field and the latest developments? Any suggestions? Is it worth it to check out Chomsky's original tract on language and mind? I have some background in phil of mind, phil of lang, and cognitive psych.

Thanks!

[fuzzylogician]

Chomsky's papers are considered classics but difficult reading. I have to admit I've only ever read one of his papers and didn't enjoy it all that much (but I'm going to MIT so I'm sure I'll get the chance to read all of them at least once..).

If you're interested in semantics, I'd recommend reading--and solving the problems in--"Semantics in Generative Grammar" by Irene Heim and Angelika Kratzer. They cover all of the basic theory you'll need to know, that's used by most semanticists today. You might want to post this in the linguistics subforum, so you can get recommendations from phonologists, syntacticians, etc. I wouldn't know what to advise you there, haven't taken a course in any of those for 2-3 years at least.

[liszt85]

If you would like to read something cognitive related, Mandler's work on infant conceptualization would be a great read. Try to get hold of her book "The Foundations of Mind:Origins of Conceptual Thought" http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/s ... MxMTgzOQ==

This was the book that got me really interested in linguistics and allied areas. I read it for a term paper.

[Hopelessly_Neurotic]

Thanks, guys!! These recos should keep me busy for a while...