Linguistics: The Basics

A concise introduction to linguistics, this book covers the core subjects - phonology, phonetics, morphology, semantics and syntax - but also introduces language change, second language acquisition, bilingualism, and sociolinguistic subjects such as language use and discourse. The book is not focused exclusively on any one theoretical framework and is therefore accessible to people teaching in any of the generative, functional or cognitive frameworks. Each chapter ends with a summary which highlights the main points and the new terminology presented in the chapter, as well as suggestions for further reading. Additionally, each chapter includes two different sets of questions to test comprehension, one whose answers can be found in the text, and one whose answers require more independent thinking. These features should make the book very appealing for classroom use.