Linguistics For Dummies

Understand the science behind human language

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Whether you′re currently enrolled in a course or just want to explore the subject, Linguistics For Dummies helps you understand some of the primary streams of linguistics: what language is for (communication), how language works (pattern formation), what language reveals about the mind (cognition), and how written language shapes society (technology).

Get to know the basics determine the traits that all languages share and get to know the design features which ensure that language can convey meaning

Discover the building blocks of language investigate how individual speech sounds combine to form words, which form sentences, and how those are strung together to make conversation

Explore the evolution of language consider how new languages are born, chart how language changes over time, and examine how languages are lost

Study the relationship between the human brain and language find out how children and adults learn language and how language activates your brain

Delve into the written word see how different writing systems develop, how writing a language down changes it, and how it changes you!

Open the book and find:

The architecture of words

How linguistics categorizes into grammatical categories

What makes a conversation tick

The social variables that affect language

How linguistic archeology connects Sanskrit and English

Why dying languages matter and how they can be saved

What brain damage does to language

How electronic writing streamlines language

Learn:

The components of any language

Language′s social dimensions

What language reveals about the human brain

How writing changes a language

Part I: Looking at Language through the Lens of Linguistics 7

Chapter 1: Knowing a Language Versus Knowing What Language Is 9

Chapter 2: Communicating with Language: The Design Features 21

Part II: The Building Blocks of Language 33

Chapter 3: Building Sounds: Phonetics 35

Chapter 4: Putting Sounds Together: Phonology 57

Chapter 5: Building Words: Morphology 77

Chapter 6: Creating Sentences: Syntax 95

Chapter 7: Making Sense of Meaning: Semantics 117

Chapter 8: Using Language in Conversation: Pragmatics 133

Part III: The Social Life of Language 151

Chapter 9: Living with Language Variation: Sociolinguistics 153

Chapter 10: Finding Family Relations: Historical Linguistics 171

Chapter 11: Cataloguing Differences: Linguistic Typology 189

Chapter 12: Beginning and Ending: Language Birth and Language Death 205

Part IV: Your Brain on Language: Learning and Processing Language 221

Chapter 13: Learning Language 223

Chapter 14: Perceiving Language 245

Chapter 15: Producing Language 259

Chapter 16: Locating Language in the Brain: Neurolinguistics 277

Part V: Getting from Speaking to Writing 293

Chapter 17: Writing Down Language 295

Chapter 18: Writing Changes You 307

Part VI: The Part of Tens 321

Chapter 19: Ten Myths about Language Busted by Linguistics 323

Chapter 20: Ten Unsolved Problems in Linguistics 331

Chapter 21: Top 10 Jobs for Linguists 337

Index 343

Rose–Marie Dechaine and Eric Vatikiotis–Bateson are professors of linguistics at the University of British Columbia.