Product Description

Designed for beginners, this best-selling textbook provides a lively introduction to the study of language. Starting from the basics, it provides a solid foundation in all of the essential topics, and introduces the analysis of the key elements of language - sounds, words, structures and meanings. A wide range of fascinating questions are explored, such as how conversation works, how children learn language, why women and men speak differently, and how language varies between regions and social groups. This third edition has been extensively revised to include new sections on important contemporary issues in language study, including language and culture, African American English, sign language, and slang. A comprehensive glossary provides useful explanations of technical terms, and each chapter contains a range of new study questions and research tasks, with suggested answers. Unrivalled in its popularity, The Study of Language is quite simply the best introduction to the field available today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49435 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

Review
'Very clear and easy to read for beginners; user-friendly and non-threatening to those nervous of linguistics; chapters in absorbable bite-size chunks.' Jean Aitchison, Rupert Murdoch Professor of Language and Communication, University of Oxford

'Perfect for the beginners' level introductory linguistics course, both in style and content. The exercises and discussion are excellent. One of the highlights of the book is the clear links between chapters.' Hugh Buckingham, Professor of Linguistics, Louisiana State University

‘An impressive breadth of coverage ... clear presentation, lucid style and accessibility ... a solid foundation for further study in linguistics as well as being a pleasure to read in its own right.’ Alan Smith, Web Journal of Modern Languages and Linguistics

About the Author
George Yule has taught Linguistics at the Universities of Edinburgh, Hawai’i, Louisiana State and Minnesota. He is the author of Pragmatics (1996) and Explaining English Grammar (1998).

Customer Reviews

A necessity for all English undergrads
With a whole new chapter on pragmatics Yule addresses all the key issues necessary for all English Undergrads. As a first year myself, I found the text extremely easy to follow, simple to understand and a good starting point. It is a necessity to read this if you are studying English and it is well worth buying. Other great books include Aitchinson, Linguistics and Montgomery, Ways of reading.

what a fantastic book!!!
i am un undergradtuate at york st john university studying linguistics. i was introduced to this book by a friend and once i started to read it i couldn't put it down. it has brief yet informative chapters on all aspects covered in the field of linguistics and the engish language. it explain difficult topics like semantics and pragmatics in an easy to understand manner without sounding patronising. this book is well worth every penny!

Easiest read on this out there
This book is an amazing read for those wanting to learn about linguistics. It has clear examples and explanations, it covers every topic, from the theories about the origin of the language, phonetics or phonology, on to pragmatics, discourse and the like.

Obviously, it is not a thorough linguistics manual, it is for beginners, so to speak. But there's no better starting point than this. Every concept is introduced with really helpful examples, so it's easy to grasp everything. As an analogy, this is like a "popular science" book: it does not use special vocabulary without introducing it first, it assumes little prior knowledge fromt he reader, etc.

The choice of colour and font is superb as well. It always helps reading the book.