Linguistics for Dummies

The fascinating, fun, and friendly way to understand the sciencebehind human language
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics students study how languages are constructed, how theyfunction, how they affect society, and how humans learn language.

Learn to:

• The components of any language
• Language's social dimensions
• What language reveals about the human brain
• How writing changes a language

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

Introduction 1
Part I: Looking at Language through the Lens of Linguistics7

Chapter 1: Knowing a Language Versus Knowing What Language Is9

Chapter 2: Communicating with Language: The Design Features21

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: Sociolinguistics153

Chapter 10: Finding Family Relations: Historical Linguistics171

Chapter 11: Cataloguing Differences: Linguistic Typology 189

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

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

Chapter 13: Learning Language 223

Chapter 14: Perceiving Language 245

Chapter 15: Producing Language 259

Chapter 16: Locating Language in the Brain: Neurolinguistics277

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 Linguistics323

Chapter 20: Ten Unsolved Problems in Linguistics 331

Chapter 21: Top 10 Jobs for Linguists 337

Index 343