Introducing Linguistics

R.L. Trask * Bill Mayblin

More than anything else, language is what makes us human. Linguistics, the discipline which studies the structure, function and phenomena of language, has uncovered many surprising and fascinating things about the nature of our human language faculty. But these findings are often presented in opaque technical terminology which hides their simplicity and beauty.

Introducing Linguistics demystifies the subject, presenting a clear account of what linguists do, how they go about it, and what they have achieved so far. A summary of the history of linguistics, from Aristotle to Chomsky, includes the chief contributions of its leading figures – Saussure, the Prague Circle, the American structuralists, Sapir, Bloomfield and others.

Insightfully illustrated by Bill Mayblin, this book provides a review of the most recent and dramatic advances in the field, such as first-language acquisition by children, language in the brain, sign languages, language change and linguistic prehistory, men’s and women’s language, language engineering and the universal properties of languages. Here is the ideal companion to related titles in this series on Chomsky, Semiotics, Mind and Brain and Consciousness.

R.L. Trask was a professor of Linguistics at the University of Sussex. A hugely acclaimed specialist in historical linguistics, his work on the Basque language made him among the world’s foremost authorities on the subject. He died in 2004.

Bill Mayblin trained as a graphic designer at the Royal College of Art in London, and is now a senior partner in the London design practice the Information Design Workshop.

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