This book is a self-contained introduction to language and linguistics, suitable for use as a textbook and for self-study. Written by a team of distinguished linguists, it offers a unified approach to language from several perspectives. A language is a complex structure represented in the minds of its speakers, and this book provides the tools necessary for understanding this structure. It explains basic concepts and recent theoretical ideas in the major areas of linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics), as well as the applications of these to the study of child language acquisition, psycholinguistics, language disorders, and sociolinguistics. The book is divided into three sections: sounds, words, and sentences. In each of these sections, the foundational concepts are introduced along with their applications in the above fields, giving this book a clear and unique structure. Each section is accompanied by extensive exercises and guidance on further reading.
