Linguistics: An Introduction - Hardcover

Radford, Andrew; Atkinson, Martin; Britain, David; Clahsen, Harald; Spencer, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521849489 ISBN 13: 9780521849487

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009

Synopsis

Written by a team based at one of the world's leading centres for linguistic teaching and research, the second edition of this highly successful textbook offers a unified approach to language, viewed from a range of perspectives essential for students' understanding of the subject. Using clear explanations throughout, the book is divided into three main sections: sounds, words, and sentences. In each, the foundational concepts are introduced, along with their application to the fields of child language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language disorders, and sociolinguistics, giving the book a unique yet simple structure that helps students to engage with the subject more easily than other textbooks on the market. This edition includes a completely new section on sentence use, including an introduction and discussion of core areas of pragmatics and conversational analysis; new coverage of sociolinguistic topics, introducing communities of practice; a wealth of new exercise material and updated further reading.

About this title

Review

"This introduction, by some of the most distinguished linguists today, should rapidly become the market leader. Instead of offering the usual catalogue of unconnected topics, the authors of this introduction cover each of the major areas of language--sounds, words and sentences--from several viewpoints at once, which gives a unified account of the field with unparalleled clarity and elegance. Each section is complemented by exercises which are at once challenging, illuminating and entertaining." Neil Smith, University College London

"A competent and well-focused introduction. Pays much attention to grammar, sounds, and the lexicon, but is also very informative and up-to-date about acquisition, disorders, and language as a social institution. Recommended for both classroom use and for a general readership." Jan G. Kooij, Leiden University

Book Description

Written by a team based at one of the world's leading centres for linguistic teaching and research, the second edition of this highly successful textbook offers a unified approach to language, viewed from a range of perspectives essential for students' understanding of the subject.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0521849489
• ISBN 13: 9780521849487
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 450