An introduction to language and linguistics : breaking the language spell / Christopher J. Hall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hall, Christopher J., 1961- author.

Series:

Open linguistics series.

Open linguistics series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Linguistics.

Language and languages.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (363 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Continuum, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

''Christopher Hall''s book is the best new introduction to linguistics that I have seen in decades. It is engagingly written without talking down to the reader and it covers all the subparts of the field in a comprehensive and even-handed manner. I plan to use it the next time that I teach an introductory course at Washington.'' Professor Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington ''With apt examples from novels and newspapers, courtroom trials and telephone conversations, the lowly and the mighty, his book repeatedly startles as it casts light on language. This is a bright, humorous, a

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Preface; Part I: Magic; 1 The Spell; Thought and sound . . . with language in between; Under the spell of language; The spell is cast: linguistic awareness and linguistic belief; More information; 2 Linguistics; Linguistics, applied linguistics and the language professions; Breaking the spell: linguistic knowledge; More information; Part II: Words; 3 Names, Words and Things; Problems with names; Words, meanings and thought; So what is a word?; More information; 4 Where Words Gome From; How children put names and things together; Behind The Dictionary; More information

5 Forming WordsWord forms: speech and spelling; Creating new lexical forms; More information; Part III: Grammar; 6 Morphology; Morphological combination; Where affixes come from; More information; 7 Syntax; Syntactic combination; Syntax and pragmatics: conventional meaning in novel contexts; Syntactic rules; More information; 8 From DNA to Discourse Community; Acquiring the rules; Pragmatics: sentences in use; More information; Part IV: Babel; 9 Interlinguistic Diversity; Languages of the world; Multilingualism; More information; 10 Diversity Within; Styles and registers; Dialects and accents

Linguistic diversity, education and powerMore information; 11 The Spell Unbroken; Language biology; Language evolution; Living under the Language Spell; More information; Sources; Bibliography; Glossary; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; U; V; W; Subject Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; X; Y; Scholar Index; A; B; C; D; F; G; H; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; W

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9781441140210

1441140212

OCLC:

893336324