An Introduction to the Languages of the World

William Leben, Brett Kessler, Anatole Lyovin

ISBN 10: 0195149882 / ISBN 13: 9780195149883

Published by Oxford University Press Inc, US, 2017

About this Item

The only textbook of its kind, An Introduction to the Languages of the World is designed to introduce beginning linguistics students, who now typically start their study with little background in languages, to the variety of the languages of the world. It is ideal for use in courses where students have mastered the basic principles of linguistics but lack background in the broad range of language phenomena found in the world's languages, such as vowel harmony and ergative constructions. It offers students an opportunity to explore, at various levels, structures of very different, highly interesting languages without necessarily possessing a speaking or reading knowledge of these languages.Lyovin explains the classification of languages, discussing not only genetic classification but typological and sociolinguistic classification as well. He follows this with an explication of writing systems. A chapter is devoted to each of the world's continents, with in-depth analyses of representative languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America, and a separate chapter covers pidgins and creoles. Helpful features include an appendix of nineteen maps, student exercises, and suggestions for further reading.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780195149883

Bibliographic Details

• Title: An Introduction to the Languages of the World
• Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, US
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195149882
• ISBN 13: 9780195149883
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd.
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 23.11W x 3.05H x 15.49D centimeters 23.11 centimeters width by 3.05 centimeters height by 15.49 centimeters depth
• Weight: 794 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Unique in scope, An Introduction to the Languages of the World introduces linguistics students to the variety of world's languages. Students will gain familiarity with concepts such as sound change, lexical borrowing, diglossia, and language diffusion, and the rich variety of linguistic structure in word order, morphological types, grammatical relations, gender, inflection, and derivation. It offers the opportunity to explore structures of varying and fascinating languages even with no prior acquaintance. A chapter is devoted to each of the world's continents, with in-depth analyses of representative languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and America, and separate chapters cover writing systems and pidgins and creoles. Each chapter contains exercises and recommendations for further reading. New to this edition are eleven original maps as well as sections on sign languages and language death and revitalization. For greater readability, basic language facts are now organized in tables, and language samples follow international standards for phonetic transcription and word-by-word glossing.

There is an instructor's manual available for registered instructors on the book's companion website.

About the Author

Anatole Lyovin is retired Associate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Brett Kessler is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.

William Leben is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at Stanford University.