An Introduction to English Language

by Kuiper, Koenraad; Allan, W. Scott

• ISBN13: 9781137496874
• ISBN10: 1137496878
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-11-17
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Have you ever noticed something unusual about vocabulary or pronunciation and wanted to know more? Have you ever wondered how the building blocks of language fit together? Do you want to understand the different ways speakers of English communicate with each other?

Back for its fourth edition, An Introduction to English Language is essential reading for students of English language and linguistics. Combining accessibility with depth, it is a textbook that assumes no prior knowledge and will serve as an ideal companion for anybody approaching this subject for the first time.

This revised and updated fourth edition of An Introduction to English Language:
Is packed with fresh material, including a brand new chapter on pragmatics
Includes a range of in-text activities and exercises for practicing what you've learned as you go
Is accompanied by an interactive ebook which allows you to access media resources while you're on the move. The book's learning materials (including Powerpoint slides, downloadable sound files and video tutorials) are also freely available on the book's companion website:
https://he.palgrave.com/companion/Kuiper-and-Allan-An-Introduction-To-English-Language/

Author Biography

Koenraad Kuiper holds a PhD from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and a DSc from the University of Canterbury. He is the author of nine books and editor of seven. He is author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. He has taught first year English language courses for four decades and is the recipient of the University of Canterbury's teaching medal. He has held two Fulbright Fellowships and a Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Science.

Born and brought up in Scotland, W. Scott Allan attained his MA and PhD in English language and linguistics at Edinburgh University, where he subsequently taught briefly before moving to New Zealand in 1985. He published in a wide range of journals and was on the executive editorial board for The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (R.E. Asher, Pergamon Press, 1994). Scott lectured in the Department of Applied Language Studies and Linguistics at the Auckland University until his death in 2004.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: What is a language?

PART I: WORDS

2. The form and function of words

3. Word meanings and vocabularies

PART II: SOUNDS

4. Speech sounds

5. The phonology of English

6. Syllables and suprasegmentals

PART III: SENTENCES

7. The structure of simple sentences

8. Complete syntax

9. Pragmatics