Description Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction is a comprehensive, fully up-to-date introduction to linguistics. All the core topics of linguistics are covered, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, the genetic and typological classification of the languages of the world, and historical linguistics. Interdisciplinary areas discussed include language and the brain, psycholinguistics - the study of language processing, first and second language acquisition, language in social contexts and the fast-growing area of computational linguistics.
Features
A modular arrangement of the material facilitates the use of the book in courses at varying levels, and with differing emphasis.
Comprehensive and up-to-date introductory text.
Includes flagged material for more advanced study, end-of-chapter exercises and a detailed glossary.
New to this edition
This new edition has been fully revised and updated, and includes
Greater coverage of syntax
A strong generativist approach, brought up-to-date
A completely new chapter on the developments in functional-cognitive grammar by John Taylor
A new chapter covering pragmatics and discourse analysis by Jenny Thomas
A significantly updated chapter on sociolinguistics
A new chapter on language endangerment by Francis Katamba
Table of contents
Chapter 1: Language: A Preview
Chapter 2: Phonetics: The Sounds of Language
Chapter 3: Phonology: The Function and Patterning of Sounds
Chapter 4: Morphology: The Analysis of Word Structure
Chapter 5: Syntax: The Analysis of Sentence Structure
Chapter 6: Semantics: The Analysis of Meaning
Chapter 7: Cognitive Grammar
Chapter 8: Historical Linguistics: The Study of Language Change
Chapter 9: The Classification of Languages
Chapter 10: First Language Acquisition
Chapter 11: Second Language Acquisition
Chapter 12: Psycholinguistics: The Study of Language Processing
Chapter 13: Brain and Language
Chapter 14: Language in Social Contexts
Chapter 15: Writing and Language
Chapter 16: Animal Communication
Chapter 17: Computational Linguistics
Glossary
Sources
Language Index
Index
Francis Katamba, Professor of Linguistics and Head of the Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language, Lancaster University William O'Grady, University of Hawaii, Manoa John Archibald, niversity of Calgary