Table of Contents

List of Contributors ix

Preface to the Second Edition xi

Preface to the First Edition xiii

List of Abbreviations xvii

Part I Starting Points 1

1. Origins of Language 3
Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy

2. Languages of the World 21
Bernard Comrie

3. Typology and Universals 39
William Croft

4. Field Linguistics: Gathering Language Data from Native Speakers 57
Pamela Munro

5. Writing Systems 75
Peter T. Daniels

Part II Theoretical Bases 95

6. The History of Linguistics: Approaches to Linguistics 97
Lyle Campbell

7. Generative Grammar: Rule Systems for Describing Sentence Structure 119
Thomas Wasow

8. Functional Linguistics: Communicative Functions and Language Structure 141
Robert D. Van Valin, Jr.

Part III Core Fields 159

9. Linguistic Phonetics: The Sounds of Languages 161
John Laver

10. Phonology: Sound Structure 185
Abigail C. Cohn

11. Morphology 211
Andrew Spencer

12. The Lexicon 235
D. A. Cruse

13. Syntax 255
Mark C. Baker

14. Formal Semantics 279
Shalom Lappin

15. Historical Linguistics: Language Change Over Time 299
Brian D. Joseph

Part IV Languages and the Mind 321

16. Neurolinguistics 323
David Caplan

17. Psycholinguistics 345
Kiel Christianson

18. Sign Languages 371
Wendy Sandler and Diane Lillo-Martin

19. First Language Acquisition 397
Brian MacWhinney

Part V Languages in Use 415

20. Pragmatics: Language and Communication 417
Ruth Kempson

21. Discourse Analysis 445
Agnes Weiyun He

22. Linguistics and Literature 463
Nigel Fabb

23. Linguistic Anthropology and Ethnolinguistics 479
Steven P. Black and Elizabeth A. Falconi

24. Sociolinguistic Theory: Systematic Study of the Social Uses of Language 505
J. K. Chambers

25. Language Variation: Sociolinguistic Variationist Analysis 519
Kirk Hazen

26. Multilingualism 541
Suzanne Romaine

27. Second Language Acquisition: One Person with Two Languages 557
Vivian Cook

Part VI Applications of Linguistics 583

28. Second Language Pedagogy: Where Theory Meets Practice 585
Janie Rees-Miller

29. Educational Linguistics 603
James Paul Gee

30. Linguistics and Reading 617
Rebecca Treiman

31. Language and Law 627
Roger W. Shuy

32. Translation 645
Christoph Gutknecht

33. Language Planning and Policy 655
Kathryn D. Stemper and Kendall A. King

Index 675

About the Author

Mark Aronoff is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. His research touches on almost all aspects of morphology and its relation to other aspects of language. He is a member of a team studying a newly-created sign language, Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, and he has served as Editor of Language, the Journal of the Linguistic Society of America, and as President of the Society. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Janie Rees-Miller is professor emerita of Modern Languages at Marietta College, USA. Before retirement, she held the William R. and Marie Adamson Flesher Chair in the Humanities. She established the ESL Program at Marietta College, USA and served as its director for over 20 years. She also taught linguistics courses for undergraduates and acted as an editor with Mark Aronoff of Contemporary Linguistics (2017), now in its seventh edition. Her research interests include second language pedagogy, pragmatics, Native American languages, and making linguistics accessible to non-linguists.