Linguistics: An Introduction

by McGregor, William B.

• ISBN13: 9780567583529
• ISBN10: 056758352X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-04-23
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

This is the new edition of Linguistics: An Introduction. It is a bestselling introductory textbook for all students of linguistics and language studies.

This reworked edition features:
-new chapters on sign languages, writing, and text and discourse
-coverage of writing in electronic media
-revised and updated chapters on languages of the world and psycholinguistics

Firmly based around taught courses and catering to student needs, it addresses all the topics that a student will need in their study of language. With key terms, further reading, questions at the end of each chapter, exercises and key paragraphs in stand-out boxes, this is a firmly pedagogic text that takes difficult concepts and explains them in an easy to understand wa. It features examples taken from a range of languages across the world. Global in its scope and comprehensive in its coverage, this is the textbook of choice for linguistics students.

The book comes with a large Companion Website, also extensively revised and expanded. For lecturers and instructors, a comprehensive Answer Book is also available to go along with the questions throughout the chapters.

Author Biography

Professor William B. McGregor is at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He has published over a dozen books, including Semiotic Grammar (OUP, 1997) and The Languages of the Kimberly, Western Australia (Routledge, 2004). He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and Conventions Used in Examples
1. Introduction
Part I LANGUAGE: SYSTEM AND STRUCTURE
2. Sounds of Language: Phonetics and Phonology
3. Structure of Words: Morphology
4. Lexicon
5. Structure of Sentences: Syntax
6. Meaning
Part II LANGUAGE: A HUMAN PHENOMENON
7. Sociolinguistics: Language in Its Social Context
8. Text and Discourse
9. Psycholinguistics: Language, the Mind and the Brain
10. Language Acquisition
11. Language in Its Biological Context
Part III LANGUAGE: UNIFORMITY AND DIVERSITY
12. Sign languages
13. Writing
14. Unity and Diversity in Language Structure
15. Language Change
16. Languages of the World
Glossary
References
Language Index
Name Index
Subject Index