Language : its structure and use

An introduction to linguistics, this text illustrates the major concepts with examples and figures from a variety of languages. This edition includes sections on computers and language within each chapter and a section on resources, providing Online addresses to visit for researching.
Contents: Language and linguistics. Part 1 Language structures: words and their parts - lexicon and morphology; the sounds of languages - phonetics; the sound systems of languages - phonology; sentence structures and their functions - syntax; meaning in words and sentences - semantics; language universals and language typology. Part 2 Language use: speech acts and conversation - pragmatics 1; information structure - pragmatics 2; language variation across social situations - registers; language variation across social groups - dialects; relationships between writing and speaking. Part 3 Language change and language development: language change over time - historical linguistics 1; the origins of modern English - historical linguistics 2; acquiring first and second languages