Linguistics for Non-Linguists: A Primer with Exercises, 5th edition

NOTE: Each chapter concludes with Summary, Supplementary Readings, Supplementary Exercises, and Exploratory Exercises.

1. Introduction

2. Pragmatics

• Implicature
  • Conversational Maxims
• Speech Acts
  • A Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts
  • Felicity Conditions
  • Explicit Versus Nonexplicit Illocutionary Acts
  • Direct Versus Indirect Illocutionary Acts
  • Expressed Versus Implied Locutionary Acts
  • Literal Versus Nonliteral Locutionary Acts
  • Overview of Speech Act Theory

3. Semantics

• Background
• Sense
• Reference
• Truth

4. Syntax

• Categories
• Left-to-Right Ordering
• Constituent Structure
• X-Bar Syntax
• Transformations
  • Movement
  • Constraints on Movement

5. Morphology

• Morphemes
• Lexical and Grammatical Morphemes
• Free and Bound Morphemes
• Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes
  • Inflectional Affixes
  • Derivational Affixes
  • Differences Between Types of Affixes
• Word-Formation Processes

6. Phonology

• Vocal Tract
• Segments
• Phonemic Alphabet
  • Vowels
  • Consonants
• Levels of Representation
• Phonological Rules
  • Aspiration
  • Vowel Lengthening
  • Vowel Nasalization
  • Flapping
  • Rule Ordering

7. Language Processing

• Sentence-Level Phenomena in Language Processing
  • Resolving Syntactic Ambiguity
  • Resolving Ambiguous Pronoun Reference
  • Understanding Negative Sentences
  • Processing Passive Sentences
  • Processing Complex Sentences
  • Processing Heavy NPs
• Discourse-Level Phenomena in Language Processing
  • Readability
  • Schemata and Scripts
  • Cohesion
  • Thematic Roles
  • The Given-New Contract
  • Reading Between the Lines

8. Language Variation

• Language Universals, Languages, Dialects, and Idiolects
• Regional Variation
  • Regional Lexical Variation
  • Regional Phonological Variation
• Social Variation
  • Nonstandard Phonological Variation
  • Nonstandard Morphological Variation
  • Nonstandard Syntactic Variation
• Language and Gender
  • Gender as a Social Variable
  • Gender Patterns Within Standard English
• Stylistic Variation
  • Stylistic Lexical Variation
  • Stylistic Phonological Variation
  • Stylistic Morphological Variation
  • Stylistic Syntactic Variation

9. Language Change

• Background
• Semantic Change
• Syntactic Change
  • Word Order Typology
  • Rule Change
• Morphological Change
• Phonological Change
• Causes of Change

10. First-Language Acquisition

• Prelinguistic Stages
• Linguistic Stages
  • Acquisition of Phonology
  • Acquisition of Morphology
  • Acquisition of Syntax
  • Acquisition of Semantics
• Issues in Language Acquisition
  • Nativism and Empiricism
  • Language-Specific and General Cognitive Capacities
  • Chomsky’s Position

11. Second-Language Acquisition

• Issues in Second-Language Acquisition
  • Interlanguage Theory
  • Language Transfer
  • Other Linguistic Factors
• Patterns in Second-Language Acquisition
  • Phonology
  • Morphology
  • Syntax
  • Semantics
• Nonlinguistic Influences on Second-Language Acquisition

12. Written Language

• Writing Systems
• The English Spelling System
  • Reasons for Inconsistency in English Spelling
  • English Spelling and Morphophonemics
• Analyzing Errors in Written English
  • Phonology and Spelling
  • Morphology and Writing

13. The Neurology of Language

• Anatomy of the Nervous System
  • Lobes
  • Convolutions and Fissures
  • Broca’s Area
  • Wernicke’s Area
  • Supplementary Motor Cortex
• Hemispherical Specialization
  • Left-Hemisphere Dominance for Language
  • Left Brain Versus Right Brain
  • Handedness
• Aphasia

References

Glossary

Answers to Selected Exercises

Author Index

Subject Index