This textbook is a highly accessible and engaging introduction to linguistics that presents a wide-ranging survey of fundamental concepts, methods, research, and areas of general interest that have come to define the field. The book incorporates motivating questions and comments about everyday linguistic issues that spark the novice's curiosity and receive clear, research-based explanations. While mostly focused on the English language and the linguistic situation in the US, the book also includes numerous references and sections that acquaint the reader with many languages and language varieties around the world.
The book is organized into fourteen chapters that explore the diversity of scholarly interests in language. Each chapter opens up with a useful preview of the main issues. Ch. 1 defines basic notions in linguistics such as human language, grammar and its components, learning vs. acquisition, and prescription vs. description. This chapter also provides some background on the main tenets of structural as well as Chomskyan linguistics. Ch. 2 focuses on neurolinguistic and psycholinguistic approaches to language in the study of first and second language acquisition, bilingualism, language impairments, and pidgins and creoles. Chs. 3 through 10 are devoted to the components of the grammatical system: phonetics (Ch. 3), phonology (Ch. 4), morphology (Chs. 5–6), syntax (Chs. 7–8), and semantics (Chs. 9–10). Ch. 10 additionally relates semantics to pragmatics, thus presenting key frameworks in the study of meaning in context (e.g. speech acts, politeness, conversational maxims, linguistic relativity). Chs. 11 and 12 are dedicated to the English language, its history, and its varieties around the world and in the US more specifically. Ch. 13 delves into writing systems and standards with a particular emphasis on the development of English spelling and punctuation. The last chapter (ch. 14) looks at how speech communities can interact with languages through the processes of language genesis, shift, loss, and revitalization.
The book also offers an ample web of resources both in the textbook and through an online resource center. Throughout the chapters, the main content of the book is recurrently linked to separate sections (“Language alive!,” “Did you know…?,” “Linguistics in the news…,” and “Accent on”) which illustrate particular questions about language with more specific and contextualized information. These sections challenge readers to think about how linguistic knowledge can apply to everyday situations, public debates, and professional needs involving language and language varieties. At the end of each chapter, the book offers a review of the chapter's highlights (“Summary”), a list of published and web-based resources (“Sources and resources”), and activities (“Review, practice, and explore”) that recycle and expand the content of the chapter. In sum, Linguistics for everyone will be a practical comprehensive resource for those new to the field as well as for instructors teaching an introductory course to linguistics.
