Includes a Glossary, bibliographical references and index. Also includes an appendix with the IPA Summary Sheet.

"Language is a sophisticated tool which we use to communicate in a multitude of ways.

Updated and expanded in its second edition, this book introduces language and linguistics - presenting language in all its amazing complexity while systematically guiding you through the basics. The reader will emerge with an appreciation of the diversity of the world's languages, as well as a deeper understanding of the structure of human language, the ways it is used, and its broader social and cultural context.

Part I is devoted to the nuts and bolts of language study - speech sounds, sound patterns, sentence structure, and meaning - and includes chapters dedicated to the functional aspects of language: discourse, prosody, pragmatics, and language contact. The fourteen language profiles included in Part II reveal the world's linguistic variety while expanding on the similarities and differences between languages. Using knowledge gained from Part I, the reader can explore how language functions when speakers use it in daily interaction.

With a step-by-step approach that is reinforced with well-chosen illustrations, case studies, and study questions, readers will gain understanding and analytical skills that will only enrich their ongoing study of language and linguistics." (Book Cover)

CONTENTS:

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

List of Glossing Conventions

The Book's Approach

For Students: How to Use This Book

PART I PRIMARY CHAPTERS

1. Introduction: Language, Languages, and Linguistics / Carol Genetti

2. Phonetics: Physical Dimensions of Speech Sounds / Matthew Gordon

3. Phonology: Organization of Speech Sounds / Matthew Gordon

4. Morphology: What's in a Word? / Marianne Mithun

5. Word Classes: Evidence from Grammatical Behavior / Carol Genetti

6. Syntax: Words in Combination / Carol Genetti

7. Semantics: How Language Makes Sense / Michael Israel

8. Pragmatics: Inference for Language / Mira Ariel

9. Discourse: Language Beyond the Sentence / Wallace Chafe

10. Prosody: The Music of Language / Wallace Chafe

11. Language in the Social World / Mary Bucholtz and Lal Zimman

12. Language Change: The Dynamicity of Linguistic Systems / Marianne Mithun

13. Language Contact and Areal Linguistics / Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald

14. First Language Acquisition / Patricia M. Clancy

15. Second Language Acquisition / Dorothy Chun and Jan Frodesen

PART II LANGUAGE PROFILES

1. Kabardian / Matthew Gordon and Ayla Applebaum

2. Goemai / Birgit Hellwig

3. Manange / Kristine Hildebrandt

4. Finnish / Ritva Laury

5. Nuuchahnulth (Nootka) / Toshihide Nakayama

South Conchucos Quechua / Daniel J. Hintz

7. Tsez / Bernard Comrie

8. Bardi / Claire Bowern

9. Lowland Chontal / Loretta O'Connor

10. Manambu / Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Carol Genetti

11. African-American English / Anne H. Charity Hudley and Christine Mallinson

12. Indonesian / Robert Englebretson

13. Seneca / Wallace Chafe

14. Akkadian / Guy Deutscher

Glossary

References

Index

Appendix: IPA Summary Sheet