Linguistics - Paperback

by Anne E. Baker (Editor), Kees Hengeveld (Editor)

Linguistics is a comprehensive crosslinguistic introduction to the study of language, and is ideal for students with no background in linguistics.

• A comprehensive introduction to the study of language, set apart by its inclusion of cross-linguistic data from over 80 different spoken and signed languages
• Explores how language works by examining discourse, sentence-structure, meaning, words, and sounds
• Introduces psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic issues, including language acquisition, neurolinguistics, language variation, language change, language contact, and multilingualism
• Written in a problem-oriented style to engage readers, and is ideal for those new to the subject
• Incorporates numerous student-friendly features throughout, including extensive exercises, summaries, assignments, and suggestions for further reading
• Based on the bestselling Dutch edition of this work, the English edition has been revised and expanded to offer an up-to-date and engaging survey of linguistics for students new to the field

Back Jacket

Linguistics is a comprehensive cross-linguistic introduction to the study of language. The structure of the book is set up to allow readers to keep digging deeper into how language works, from the largest to the smallest units of language, in the following order:

*discourse
*sentences
*words
*sounds

The book also introduces psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic issues, including language acquisition, neurolinguistics, language variation, language change, language contact, and multilingualism. A major feature of this introduction is the cross-linguistic data it includes, providing examples from more than 140 different spoken and signed languages.

Highly organised in a readable format, and supplemented by many figures and tables, each chapter includes bolded terms, summaries, self-tests and assignments, as well as suggestions for further reading. Based on the bestselling Dutch edition of this work, the English edition has been revised and expanded to offer an up-to-date and engaging survey of linguistics for students new to the field.

Author Biography

Anne E. Baker is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam with a specialisation in psycholinguistics and sign linguistics. Her publications include Taal en taalwetenschap (ed. with René Appel, Kees Hengeveld, Folkert Kuiken, and Pieter Muysken, 2002) and Sign Language Acquisition (ed. with Bencie Woll, 2008).

Kees Hengeveld is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam with a specialisation in linguistic typology and grammatical theory. His publications include Functional Discourse Grammar: A typologically-based theory of language structure (with J. Lachlan Mackenzie, 2008) and The Theory of Functional Grammar (with Simon C. Dik, 1997).