Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (Learning About Language)

Contemporary Linguistics : an introduction is a comprehensive, fully up-to-date introduction to linguistics. The book covers not only how language is structured, but also how it functions both socially and culturally, and how it is acquired and processed by speakers. It will prepare students to go on to more advanced work and, at the same time, will serve as a basic reference that students can continue to consult throughout their studies.

The text explores all the core areas of linguistics as well as numerous interdisciplinary and related areas.

• Core topics covered include 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 acquistion, language in social contexts and the fast-growing area of computational linguistics.
  
• Related areas explored include writing systems and animal communication.

 A modular arrangement of the material facilitates the use of the book in courses at varying levels, and with differing emphasis. Each chapter contains basic information - so prior knowledge of the subject is not a prerequisite. However, many chapters include additional material which is flagged as 'advanced', to provide scope and challenge for those readers who wish to take the study further. Each chapter also contains clearly defined headings, a summary and an up-to-date bibliography. Hints which provide a valuable aid for solving analytical problems are included in the appendices, together with end-of-chapter exercises which allow the reader to learn by actually 'doing linguistics'. A detailed glossary of terms enables readers to check definitions and a language index (as well as a standard subject index) are provided at the back of the book.

Originally co-edited by William O'Grady and Michael Dobrovolsky, with contributions from other leading scholars, and published in Canada, this major textbook has beenfully adapted and updated by Francis Katamba for use in Britain and the rest of the world outside North America.

Contemporary Linguistics can be used from first year through to final year as a main text for students taking degree courses in linguistics, English language and cognitive science and by MA students on TEFL courses. It is also highly suitable for students taking language options in media and cultural studies modern language, psychology and philosophy, as well as for speech therapy courses.

William O' Grady is Professor of Linguistics and Graduate Chair in the Department of Linguisitics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Michael Dobrovolsky is Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Calgary. Francis Katamba is a Reader in Linguistics in the Department of Linguistics and Modern English Language at Lancaster University. His other publications include An Introduction to Phonology in the Learning about Language series, and New Frontiers in Phonology co-edited with Professor Jacques Durand, both published by Longman.