Describes various facets of human language - its biological origin, its uniqueness to humanity, it acquisition by children, its grammatical structure, the production and perception of speech, the pathology of language disorders and the unstoppable evolution of languages and dialects.

Covers not only how language is structured, but also how it functions both socially and culturally, and how it is acquired and processed by speakers. It will prepare students to go on to more advanced work and, at the same time, will serve as a basic reference that students can continue to consult throughout their studies.

Covers the major aspects of linguistics. This guide begins at the 'arts' end of the subject and finishes at the 'science' end, with the discoveries regarding language in the brain. It looks at the prehistory of languages and their common origins, language and evolution, language in time and space, grammar and dictionaries and phonetics.

Suitable for use at all levels and in many different areas of instruction, including education, languages, psychology, anthropology, teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), and linguistics.

One of the world's science superstars presents a brilliantly illuminating, entertaining and cutting-edge account of how language actually works

A text for the study of linquistics. It presents technical terms required for describing speech and transcription symbols and phonetics of English and other languages. It is accompanied by a CD-ROM that contains more than 4,000 audio files, including recordings of speech from southern and northern US cities, London, Dublin, and New Zealand.