An Introduction to Language and Linguistics

Cuprins

Contents

Introduction Ralph W. Fasold and Jeff Connor-Linton; 1. The sounds of language Elizabeth Zsiga; 2. Words and their parts Donna Lardiere; 3. The structure of sentences David Lightfoot and Ralph Fasold; 4. Meaning Paul Portner; 5. Discourse Deborah Schiffrin; 6. Child language acquisition Kendall A. King; 7. Language and the brain Michael Ullman; 8. Language change Shaligram Shukla and Jeff Connor-Linton; 9. Dialect variation Natalie Schilling-Estes; 10. Language and culture Deborah Tannen; 11. The politics of language Ralph W. Fasold; 12. Writing Jeff Connor-Linton; 13. Second language acquisition Alison Mackey; 14. Computational linguistics Inderjeet Mani.

Descriere

This accessible textbook is the only introduction to linguistics in which each chapter is written by an expert who teaches courses on that topic, ensuring balanced and uniformly excellent coverage of the full range of modern linguistics. Assuming no prior knowledge the text offers a clear introduction to the traditional topics of structural linguistics (theories of sound, form, meaning, and language change), and in addition provides full coverage of contextual linguistics, including separate chapters on discourse, dialect variation, language and culture, and the politics of language. There are also up-to-date separate chapters on language and the brain, computational linguistics, writing, child language acquisition, and second-language learning. The breadth of the textbook makes it ideal for introductory courses on language and linguistics offered by departments of English, sociology, anthropology, and communications, as well as by linguistics departments.

• Each chapter is written by an expert linguist who is teaching and researching in the topic, offering a broad and balanced introduction to linguistics • Suitable for introductory courses on language and linguistics offered by departments of English, sociology, anthropology and communications, as well as by linguists • Text is packed with features including exercises for each chapter, a fully comprehensive glossary and supplementary materials including solutions are available online