The Study of Words: An Introduction (Routledge Guides to Linguistics)

The Study of Words introduces the study of word structure, also known as morphology, without assuming any prior knowledge of linguistics. Introducing concepts in an accessible way, Gebhardt illustrates how to understand and produce both existing and new words. This book:

• Provides an overview of words, word components and the rules by which components can and cannot be assembled into words;

• Introduces the area of morphology with a data-driven approach, exposing readers to sets of words in a variety of languages and prompting them to identify their components and seek patterns;

• Features exercises and questions throughout to provoke thought and point readers to unresolved morphological issues.

Aimed at students at undergraduate level with no background in linguistics, The Study of Words is essential reading for those studying morphology for the first time as part of linguistics, language and general education courses.

Lewis Gebhardt is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, USA. As well as teaching morphology for the past decade, his main research interests are syntax, morphology and semantics.