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The Study of Languageby George Yule
Synopses & Reviews
This best-selling textbook provides an engaging and user-friendly introduction to the study of language. Assuming no prior knowledge in the subject, Yule presents information in short, bite-sized sections, introducing the major concepts in language study - from how children learn language to why men and women speak differently, through all the key elements of language. This fourth edition has been revised and updated with twenty new sections, covering new accounts of language origins, the key properties of language, text messaging, kinship terms and more than twenty new word etymologies. To increase student engagement with the text, Yule has also included more than fifty new tasks, including thirty involving data analysis, enabling students to apply what they have learned. The online study guide offers students further resources when working on the tasks, while encouraging lively and proactive learning. This is the most fundamental and easy-to-use introduction to the study of language.
Easy to follow, simple to understand - the most fundamental introduction to language study. Includes new tasks and an online study guide.
This best-selling, popular textbook is the most fundamental and easy-to-use introduction for students with no prior knowledge of the study of language. Broad yet concise, this manageable overview of key topics draws students in with over fifty new tasks and engages them in learning with an online study guide.
About the Author
George Yule has taught Linguistics at the Universities of Edinburgh, Hawaii, Louisiana State and Minnesota. He is the author of a number of books, including Discourse Analysis (with Gillian Brown, 1983) and Pragmatics (1996).
Table of Contents
1. The origins of language; 2. Animals and human language; 3. The sounds of language; 4. The sound patterns of language; 5. Word-formation; 6. Morphology; 7. Grammar; 8. Syntax; 9. Semantics; 10. Pragmatics; 11. Discourse analysis; 12. Language and the brain; 13. First language acquisition; 14. Second language acquisition/learning; 15. Gestures and sign languages; 16. Writing; 17. Language history and change; 18. Language and regional variation; 19. Language and social variation; 20. Language and culture.
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