Everything we do involves language. Assuming no prior knowledge, this book offers students a contemporary introduction to the study of language. Each thought-provoking chapter is accessible to readers from a variety of fields, and is helpfully organized across six parts: sound; structure and meaning; language typologies and change; language and social aspects; language acquisition; and language, cognition, and the brain. The book's companion website also offers three brief chapters on language and computers; animal communication; and dialectal varieties of English. The chapters feature illustrative tables, figures and maps, along with three types of pedagogical boxes (Linguistic Tidbits; Pause and Reflect; and Eyes on World Languages) that break up text, contextualize information, and provide colourful accents that give real data from languages across the globe. Key words are bolded and defined in a glossary at the end of the book, while end-of-chapter summaries and practice exercises reinforce the key points discussed.

Are you curious to know what all human languages have in common and in what ways they differ? Do you want to find out how language can be used to trace different peoples and their past? Then this book is for you! Now in its third edition, it guides beginners through the rich diversity of the world's languages. It presupposes no background in linguistics, and introduces the reader to linguistic concepts with the help of problem sets, end of chapter exercises and an extensive bibliography. Charts of language families provide geographical and genealogical information, and engaging sidebars with demographic, social, historical and geographical facts help to contextualise and bring languages to life. This edition includes a fully updated glossary of all linguistic terms used, new problem sets, and a new chapter on cartography. Supplementary online materials includes links to all websites mentioned, and answers to the exercises for instructors.

This new edition of Andrew Radford's outstanding resource for students is a step-by-step, practical introduction to English syntax and syntactic principles, written by a globally-renowned expert in the field. Assuming little or no prior background in syntax, Radford outlines key concepts and how they can be used to describe various aspects of English sentence structure. Each chapter contains core modules focusing on a specific topic, a summary recapitulating the main points of the chapter, and a bibliographical section providing extensive references to original source material. This edition has been extensively updated, with new analyses, new exercise materials, new references and a brand-new chapter included on adjuncts. Students will benefit enormously from the extensive online Workbook, which contains a vast amount of exercise material for each module, and teachers will value the comprehensive Answerbook, and extensive PowerPoints outlining module contents and Workbook answers.

Written entirely in Spanish, this is the ideal introduction to Spanish linguistics for students. Using clear explanations, it covers all the basic concepts required to study the structural aspects of the Spanish language – phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics – as well as the history of Spanish, its dialects, and its linguistic variation in Latin America, Spain, and the US. This third edition incorporates new features designed to enhance its usefulness for classroom teaching: a new chapter on the teaching and learning of Spanish as a second language, expanded discussion of syntax, and more detailed coverage of Spanish semantics and pragmatics. Numerous exercises have been added throughout the text, some of which are now presented as problems for students to solve, allowing students to gain a more complete mastery of the analytical concepts at hand.

The global spread of English has had widespread linguistic, social, and cultural implications, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world. This textbook provides a lively and accessible introduction to world Englishes, describing varieties used in regions as diverse as America, the Caribbean, Australia, Africa, and Asia, and setting them within their historical and social contexts. Students are guided through the material with chapter summaries, discussion questions and exercises, and a comprehensive glossary, helping them to understand different varieties of English. The second edition is substantially updated, including new sections on English as a Lingua Franca, blurring boundaries, and research methods and resources. The book is accompanied by a useful website, containing textual and audio examples of the varieties introduced in the text. Providing essential knowledge and skills for those embarking on the study of world Englishes, this is a timely update of the leading introduction to the subject.

Assuming no prior linguistics background, this introductory textbook summarises key topics and issues from workplace discourse research in a clear and accessible manner. The topics covered include how people issue directives, use humour and social talk, and how they manage conflict and disagreement. The role of language in the enactment of identity is also explored, in particular leadership, gender, and cultural identity, along with the implications and applications of workplace research for training and communications skills development. Over 160 international examples are provided as illustration, which come from a wide range of workplace settings, countries and languages. The examples focus on authentic spoken discourse, to demonstrate how theory captures the patterns found in everyday interaction. Introducing Language in the Workplace provides an excellent up-to-date resource for linguistics courses as well as other courses that cover workplace discourse, such as business communication or management studies.