The Study of Language

by George Yule

• ISBN13: 9780521543200
• ISBN10: 0521543207
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-11-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Unrivalled in its popularity, The Study of Language is quite simply the best introduction to the field available today. It introduces the analysis of the key elements of language - sounds, words, structures and meanings, and provides a solid foundation in all of the essential topics, such as how conversation works, child language, and language variation.This third edition has been extensively revised to include fresh study questions, a comprehensive glossary, and new sections on important contemporary issues in language study, including language and culture, slang, gestures, and African American English.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
The origins of language	1	(7)
The divine source
The natural sound source
The physical adaptation source
Teeth, lips, mouth, larynx and pharynx
The human brain
The genetic source
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Animals and human language	8	(12)
Communicative and informative signals
Displacement
Arbitrariness
Productivity
Cultural transmission
Duality
Talking to animals
Chimpanzees and language
Washoe
Sarah and Lana
The controversy
Kanzi
The barest rudiments of language
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
The development of writing	20	(9)
Pictograms and ideograms
Logograms
Rebus writing
Syllabic writing
Alphabetic writing
Written English
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
The sounds of language	29	(14)
Phonetics
Voiced and voiceless sounds
Place of articulation
Bilabials
Labiodentals
Dentals
Alveolars
Palatals
Velars
Glottals
Charting consonant sounds
Limitations of the chart
Manner of articulation
Stops
Fricatives
Affricates
Nasals
Liquids
Glides
The glottal stop and the flap
Vowels
Diphthongs
Subtle individual variation
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
The sound patterns of language	43	(9)
Phonology
Phonemes
Phones and allophones
Minimal pairs and sets
Phonotactics
Syllables and clusters
Co-articulation effects
Assimilation
Elision
Normal speech
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Bob Belviso translated
Further reading
Words and word-formation processes	52	(10)
Etymology
Coinage
Borrowing
Compounding
Blending
Clipping
Backformation
Conversion
Acronyms
Derivation
Prefixes and suffixes
Infixes
Multiple processes
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Morphology	62	(11)
Morphology
Morphemes
Free and bound morphemes
Lexical and functional morphemes
Derivational and inflectional morphemes
Morphological description
Problems in morphological description
Morphs and allomorphs
Other languages
Kanuri
Ganda
Ilocano
Tagalog
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Phrases and sentences: grammar	73	(13)
Grammar
Traditional grammar
The parts of speech
Agreement
Grammatical gender
Traditional analysis
The prescriptive approach
Captain Kirk's infinitive
The descriptive approach
Structural analysis
Immediate constituent analysis
Labeled and bracketed sentences
A Gaelic sentence
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Syntax	86	(14)
Generative grammar
Syntactic structures
Deep and surface structure
Structural ambiguity
Recursion
Symbols used in syntactic description
Tree diagrams
Phrase structure rules
Lexical rules
Back to recursion
Complement phrases
Transformational rules
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Semantics	100	(12)
Conceptual and associative meaning
Semantic features
Semantic roles
Agent and theme
Instrument and experiencer
Location, source and goal
Lexical relations
Synonymy
Antonymy
Hyponymy
Prototypes
Homophones and homonyms
Polysemy
Word play
Metonymy
Collocation
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Pragmatics	112	(12)
Invisible meaning
Context
Deixis
Reference
Inference
Anaphora
Presupposition
Speech acts
Direct and indirect speech acts
Politeness
Negative and positive face
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Discourse analysis	124	(13)
Interpreting discourse
Cohesion
Coherence
Speech events
Conversation analysis
Turn-taking
The co-operative principle
Hedges
Implicatures
Background knowledge
Schemas and scripts
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Language and the brain	137	(12)
Neurolinguistics
Parts of the brain
Broca's area
Wernicke's area
The motor cortex and the arcuate fasciculus
The localization view
The tip of the tongue phenomenon
Slips of the tongue
Slips of the ear
Aphasia
Broca's aphasia
Wernicke's aphasia
Conduction aphasia
Dichotic listening
The critical period
Genie
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
First language acquisition	149	(13)
Basic requirements
The acquisition schedule
Caregiver speech
Cooing and babbling
The one-word stage
The two-word stage
Telegraphic speech
The acquisition process
Developing morphology
Developing syntax
Forming questions
Forming negatives
Developing semantics
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Second language acquisition/learning	162	(10)
Second language learning
Acquisition and learning
Acquisition barriers
Affective factors
Focus on method
The grammar-translation method
The audiolingual method
Communicative approaches
Focus on the learner
Transfer
Interlanguage
Motivation
Input and output
Communicative competence
Applied linguistics
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Gestures and sign languages	172	(10)
Gestures
Types of gestures
Types of sign languages
Oralism
Signed English
Origins of ASL
The structure of signs
Shape and orientation
Location and movement
Primes, faces and finger-spelling
The meaning of signs
Representing signs
ASL as a natural language
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Language history and change	182	(12)
Family trees
Family connections
Cognates
Comparative reconstruction
Sound reconstruction
Word reconstruction
Language change
Old English
Middle English
Sound changes
Syntactic changes
Semantic changes
Diachronic and synchronic variation
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Language and regional variation	194	(11)
The standard language
Accent and dialect
Dialectology
Regional dialects
Isoglosses and dialect boundaries
The dialect continuum
Bilingualism and diglossia
Language planning
Pidgins and creoles
The post-creole continuum
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Language and social variation	205	(11)
Sociolinguistics
Social dialects
Education and occupation
Social markers
Speech style and style-shifting
Prestige
Speech accommodation
Register and jargon
Slang
Social barriers
Vernacular language
The sounds of a vernacular
The grammar of a vernacular
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Language and culture	216	(12)
Culture
Categories
Linguistic relativity
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Eskimos and snow
Cognitive categories
Classifiers
Social categories
Address terms
Gender
Gendered words
Gendered speech
Gendered interaction
Study questions
Research tasks
Discussion topics/projects
Further reading
Appendix: Suggested answers to study questions	228	(8)
Glossary	236	(17)
References	253	(12)
Index	265