内容简介
This book is a self-contained introduction to language andlinguistics. suitable for use as a textbook and for self-study.Written by a team of distinguished linguists, it offers a unifiedapproach to language from several perspectives. A language is acomplex structure represented in the minds of its speakers, andthis book provides the tools necessary for understanding thisstructure, It explains basic concepts and recent theoretical ideasin the major aresa of linguistics (phonetics, phonology,morphology, syntax and semantics), as well as the applications ofthese to the study of child laguage acquisition, psycholinguistics,language disorders and sociolinguistics. The book is divided intothree parts: sounds, words and sentences. In each of these parts,the foundational concepts are introduced along with theirapplications in the above fields. giving this book a clear andunique structure. Each section is accompanied by extensiveexercises and guidance on further reading. The authors all teach atthe department of Language and Linguistics at the University ofEssex, Andrew Radford is the author of four best-selling textbooks:Transformational Syntax(1981),TransformationalGrammar(1988),Syntax(1997)and Syntactic Theory and the Structure ofEnglish (1997), all published by Cambridge Uniersity Press. MartinAtkinson is the author of Explanations in Child LanguageAcquisition(1982), Children's Syntax(1992)and Foundations ofGeneral Linguistics(With D.Kilby and 1. Roca, 1988).David Britainhas published articles in Language in Society and LanguageVariation and Change. Harald Clahsen has written a number of booksand articles on child language acquisition, developmental languagedisorders and the acquisition of German as a second language.Andrew Spencer is the author of Morphological Theory(1991)andPhonology (4996)and has contributed to the Handbook of Morphologyand the Handbook of Linguistics. This intoduction, by some oftoday's most distinguished linguists, should rapidly become themarket leader. lnstead of offering the usual catalogue ofunconnected topics, the authors of this intoduction cover each ofthe major areas of language-sounds, words and sentences-fromseveral viewpoints at once, giving a unified account of the fieldwith unparalleled clarity and elegance. Each section iscomplemented by exercises which are at once challenging,illuninating and entertaining.' Neil Smith. University CollegeLondon