The prophet to whom Paul was referring was Epimenides of Knossos, a strange sixth- or seventh-century BC Greek philosopher–prophet who was known for his cryptic tattoos and an ability to separate himself from his body (once leaving it sleeping in a cave for 57 years – probably to provide himself with an excuse for missing departmental meetings). He was put to death by those who wanted more favorable prophesies from him. When his body was discovered to be covered in tattoos, his skin was put on display in Sparta. A touching tribute.

The extensions of more complex structures were a systemic function of the extensions of their components. Gottlob Frege, one of the pioneers of this kind of compositional semantics, discerned a tension between the extensionality of the formal theory and the apparent non-extensionality of ordinary natural language. An examination of Frege’s worry will lead us to consider the notion of intension.

In this chapter we review the competing perspectives on the role of language transfer, namely, the role that a first language plays in the acquisition of a second language. Do learners begin with the L1 and transfer all properties and processes into L2 acquisition? Or is transfer partial and selective at the outset? Or do L2 learners not transfer any aspects of the L1 and begin with universal properties of language and universal processes for acquiring language? As such, we review such key hypotheses as Full Access, Full Transfer/Full Access, and important constructs such as minimal trees, input processing, and processability. We also touch on the notion of third and subsequent language acquisition and competing perspectives on what languages get transferred if any (and how).

In Chapter 2, when we were introducing the Boolean connectives, we had occasion to observe that there are some apparent disconnects between the English operators ‘and’, ‘or’, and ‘not’ and their $\mathcal{P}\mathcal{L}$ counterparts. In the present chapter, we’ll take a closer look at a few of these disconnects and see if a pragmatic theory (a theory about how language is used and interpreted in context) can help bring the two back into line with each other.

In this chapter, we will explore the problem of vagueness and the paradoxes that it seems to engender. Nonclassical logics that try to address these issues by parting ways with the assumption of bivalence will be introduced and evaluated. The most promising of these (from the standpoint of addressing the problem of vagueness) is infinite-valued logic.

This chapter provides a tour of several additional forms of human language communication apart from spoken language. Visual speech (which also contributes to audiovisual speech) requires not only visual cortex, but regions such as posterior temporal sulcus which may help integrate signals across modality. Nonverbal communication, including productions such as crying or laughter, relate to activity in the superior temporal lobes but also in other regions including the cingulate cortex and insula. Reading and the ability to decode written language highlights portions of the visual system, including the ventral occipitotemporal cortex (often referred to as the visual word form area, or VWFA). Learning to read is a complex process that involves written language, knowledge of speech sounds, and motivation. Co-speech gestures are present in children’s language development and can convey semantic information alongside spoken language; integration of such semantic gestures involves left inferior frontal gyrus and premotor cortex.

This chapter covers how the human brain combines meaning across words (compositional semantics), beginning with pairs of words and working up to sentence processing. Concepts that are easy to combine – such as a “red apple” – appear to rely on the lateral anterior temporal lobe and the angular gyrus. Understanding sentences introduces additional demands during comprehension and is often associated with recruitment of left inferior frontal cortex. Additional regions come in to play for specific types of language challenge. When words are associated with multiple meanings, the correct interpretation must be selected based on the surrounding context. This process of semantic disambiguation is associated with additional activity in posterior temporal cortex and left prefrontal cortex. Compared to simpler sentences, understanding sentences with complex syntactic constructions also engages additional regions of posterior superior temporal gyrus and inferior frontal cortex. Finally, ongoing oscillatory activity, especially in the theta range, has been suggested to play key roles in parsing and understanding connected speech.

This chapter reviews how the brain represents concepts and word meanings, often termed semantic memory. A long history of work in people with focal brain damage suggests that different categories of concepts (for example, inanimate objects vs. living things) rely on different parts of the brain, evidenced by category-specific deficits in semantic memory. The notion of distributed semantic representations is further supported by studies showing activations for different concepts relying on different parts of the brain. In addition, there is evidence for unified semantic representations – that is, brain regions that play a role in representing a wide variety of concepts. These include the angular gyrus (active in many functional neuroimaging studies of semantic memory) and portions of the anterior temporal lobe (damage to which in the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia). Together, frameworks that include a “hub-and-spoke” arrangement – which allow both for regions that are important for many concepts (hubs) and those representing modality-specific information (spokes) – may provide the most comprehensive view of how concepts are represented.

This chapter introduces the methods used in cognitive neuroscience to study language processing in the human brain. It begins by explaining the basics of neural signaling (such as the action potential) and then delves into various brain imaging techniques. Structural imaging methods like MRI and diffusion tensor imaging are covered, which reveal the brain’s anatomy. The chapter then explores functional imaging approaches that measure brain activity, including EEG, MEG, and fMRI. Each method’s spatial and temporal resolution are discussed. The text also touches on non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like TMS and tES. Throughout, the chapter emphasizes the importance of converging evidence from multiple methods to draw robust conclusions about brain function. Methodological considerations such as the need for proper statistical comparisons are highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how neurodegenerative diseases have informed our understanding of language in the brain. Overall, this comprehensive overview equips readers with the foundational knowledge needed to critically evaluate neuroscience research on language processing.

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of the structural foundations of language in the human brain, tracing the development of localization theories from phrenology to modern neuroimaging. It introduces key anatomical terminology and landmarks, including major brain regions, gyri, and sulci. The chapter explores the evolution of language localization theories, highlighting influential figures like Broca and Wernicke, and the shift from single-region to network-based models of language processing. It discusses various approaches to brain mapping, including macroanatomical, microanatomical (cytoarchitectonic), and functional definitions. The chapter also covers important anatomical pathways, particularly the dorsal and ventral streams for speech processing, while noting that these simplified models may not fully capture the complexity of language networks. The chapter concludes by acknowledging the challenges in precisely labeling brain regions and the complementary nature of different naming conventions, setting the stage for deeper exploration of language neuroscience in subsequent chapters.