The Five-Minute Linguist: Bite-Sized Essays on Language and Languages

The Five-Minute Linguist has been a popular introduction to the subject of language because it is succinct, clear, accurate - and fun to read. It is used by beginning students of linguistics, language education and anthropology, and has broad appeal for general readers, people who read for enjoyment as well as knowledge. The book started life as a series of five-minute radio broadcasts and for this reason its conversational style feels more like a series of fireside chats than a regular college textbook. Those radio broadcasts were highly acclaimed and won the 2007 Linguistics, Language, and the Public Award from the Linguistic Society of America. The chapters are short, suitable for browsing or reading on the run. But although it is intentionally light in tone, the book is full of up-to-date information, written by more than 60 experts from around the world. This expanded second edition of the book is produced under the sponsorship of the Linguistic Society of America and the US National Museum of Language. Praise for this volume: 'An excellent, very accessible, and extremely easy- and fun-to-read introduction to some of the basic questions (and misconceptions) regarding language, language learning, and linguistics. The book clearly meets the editors' intended goals; with each essay, the reader is engaged in a five-minute, light and informal conversation about the passionate topic of language.' Linguist List 23.4805, November 2012 'This book is for anyone who has a question about languages or the nature of language-which means just about all of us. But it's not just a musty academic text for specialists. While written by leading experts on the subject of language, The Five-Minute Linguist is a user-friendly exploration of the basics, a linguistic start-up kit for general readers. It assumes nothing on your part except interest in the subject. Its bite-sized chapters (no more than 3-4 pages each) give authoritative answers to the most frequently asked questions people have about language, and tell the story in a lively and colloquial style. It is a delightful read.' From the Foreword by Bret Lovejoy, Executive Director, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language.…