How English works : a linguistic introduction.

Brief Contents Glossary Inside Front Cover Dialect Map of American English, Consonant Phonemes of American English, Vowel Phonemes of American EnglishInside Back Cover Brief Timeline for the History of the English LanguageDetailed Contents List of Symbols, Linguistic Conventions, and Common Abbreviations What's New to This Edition Preface to Instructors Letter to Students Chapter 1 A Language like English Chapter 2 Language and Authority Chapter 3 English Phonology Chapter 4 English Morphology Chapter 5 English Syntax: The Grammar of Words Chapter 6 English Syntax: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences Chapter 7 Semantics Chapter 8 Spoken Discourse Chapter 9 Stylistics Chapter 10 Language Acquisition Chapter 11 Language Variation Chapter 12 American Dialects Chapter 13 History of English: Old to Early Modern English Chapter 14 History of English: Modern and Future English Bibliography Credits Index Detailed Table of Contents Glossary Inside Front Cover Consonant Phonemes of English, Vowel Phonemes of English, Phonetic Alphabet for American EnglishInside Back Cover Brief Timeline for the History of the English LanguageList of Symbols, Linguistic Conventions, and Common Abbreviations xviiiWhat's New to This Edition Preface to Instructors Letter to Students Chapter 1 A Language Like English The Story of Aks Language, Language Everywhere The Power of Language Name Calling Judging by Ear A Question to Discuss: What Makes Us Hear an Accent?The System of Language Arbitrariness and Systematicity A Scholar to Know: Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) Creativity Grammar Linguistics Human Language versus Animal Communication Birds and Bees Chimps and Bonobos Distinctive Characteristics of Human Language The Process of Language Change Language Genealogies A Question to Discuss: Can Your Language Peeves Be Rethought? Mechanics of Language Change Progress or Decay? Special Focus: Attitudes about Language Change Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 2 Language and Authority Who Is in Control? Language Academies Language Mavens A Question to Discuss: Does the SAT Know Good Grammar from Bad? Defining Standard EnglishDescriptive versus Prescriptive Grammar Rules Case Study One: Multiple Negatives Case Study Two: Ain't Case Study Three: Who and Whom The Status of Prescriptive Rules Spoken versus Written Language A Question to Discuss: Are We Losing Our Memories? Dictionaries of English The Earliest Dictionaries of English The Beginnings of Modern Lexicography Historical Lexicography American Lexicography A Question to Discuss: Should Dictionaries Ever Prescribe? English Grammar, Usage, and Style The Earliest Usage Books Prescriptive versus Descriptive Tendencies in Grammars of English Modern Approaches to English Usage Special Focus: Corpus Linguistics Brief History of Corpus Linguistics Applications of Corpus Linguistics in the Twenty-first Century Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 3 English Phonology Phonetics and Phonology The Anatomy of Speech The International Phonetic Alphabet English Consonants Stops Fricatives Language Change at Work: Is /h/ Disappearing from English? Affricates A Question to Discuss: Does English Have Initial or Final /Z/? Nasals Liquids and Glides Syllabic Consonants English Vowels Front Vowels Back Vowels Central Vowels Diphthongs Language Change at Work: The cot/caught and pin/pen Mergers Natural Classes Phonemes and Allophones Sample Allophones Minimal Pairs Phonological Rules Assimilation Deletion Insertion Metathesis Language Change at Work: Is larynx Undergoing Metathesis? Syllables and Phonotactic Constraints Perception of Sound Special Focus: History of English Spelling Should English Spelling Be Reformed? Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 4 English Morphology Morphology Open and Closed Classes of Morphemes A Question to Discuss: Exceptions to the Closedness of Closed Classes? Bound and Free Morphemes Inflectional and Derivational Bound Morphemes Inflectional Morphemes Derivational Morphemes Language Change at Work: The Origins of Inflectional -s Affixes and Combining Forms Morphology Trees A Question to Discuss: What about Complex Words That Seem to Have Only One Morpheme? Ways of Forming English Words Combining Language Change at Work: Where do Contractions Fit In?Shortening A Question to Discuss: Is It Clipping or Backformation? Language Change at Work: Alice in Wonderland and the Portmanteau Blending Shifting Language Change at Work: Success Rates for New Words Reanalysis, Eggcorns, and Folk Etymology Reduplication Frequency of Different Word-Formation Processes Borrowing and the Multicultural Vocabulary of English A Question to Discuss: What's Wrong with amorality? Special Focus: Slang and Creativity Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 5 English Syntax: The Grammar of Words Syntax and Lexical Categories Open-Class Lexical Categories NounsAdjectives Language Change at Work: Is It fish or fishes, oxen or oxes? A Question to Discuss: Am I Good or Well? Verbs A Question to Discuss: Did I Lie Down or Lay Down? Adverbs Closed-Class Lexical Categories Prepositions Conjunctions A Question to Discuss: What Is the up in call up? Pronouns Language Change at Work: Himself, Hisself, Hisownself Determiners Auxiliary Verbs Challenges to Categorization The Suffix -ing Noun Modifiers Yes and No A Question to Discuss: What Can Phonology Reveal about Modifying -ing Forms? Special Focus: Descriptive Syntax and Prescriptive Rules Hopefully Split Infinitive Sentence-Final Prepositions Its/It's Singular Generic They Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 6 English Syntax: Phrases, Clauses, and Sentences Generative Grammar Universal Grammar A Scholar to Know: Noam Chomsky (1928- ) Constituents and Hierarchies Constituent Hierarchies Clauses and Sentences Constituency TestsPhrase Structure Rules Form and Function Clause Types Basic Phrase Structure Trees Complex Phrase Structure Trees Adverbial Clauses Relative Clauses Language Change at Work: Which Is It, Which or That? Complementizer Clauses Reduced Subordinate Clauses Infinitive Phrases Gerund and Participial Phrases Tense and Auxiliaries A Question to Discuss: What Is the It in "It Is Raining"? Transformations Wh- Questions Negation Yes-No Questions Passive Constructions A Question to Discuss: How Did This Passive Sentence Get Constructed? Relative Pronoun Deletion Does Generative Grammar Succeed? Special Focus: Syntax and Prescriptive Grammar Sentence Fragments and Run-on Sentences Colons, Semicolons, and Comma Splices Dangling Participles Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 7 Semantics Semantics The Limits of Reference The Role of Cognition The Role of Linguistic Context A Question to Discuss: How Do Function Words Mean? The Role of Physical and Cultural Context Language Change at Work: The Formation of Idioms A Brief History of Theories of Reference Deixis Plato and Forms Repairing Plato From Reference to Discourse From Reference to Translation Lexical Fields Hyponym to Homonym (and Other Nyms) Hyponymy Meronymy Synonymy Antonymy Homonymy A Question to Discuss: Does the Thesaurus Have a Bad Name? Organization of the Mental Lexicon Prototype Semantics Lexical Prototype Semantics Analogical Mapping Conceptual Metaphor The Intersection of Semantics, Syntax, and Discourse Projection Rules How Sentences Mean Sentences and Context Processes of Semantic Change Generalization and Specialization Metaphorical Extension Euphemism and Dysphemism Pejoration and Amelioration Linguistic Relativity Special Focus: Politically Correct Language Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 8 Spoken Discourse Defining Discourse Analysis Speech Act Theory: Accomplishing Things with Words Scholars to Know: J. L. Austin (1911-1960) and John Searle (1932- ) Components of Speech Acts Direct and Indirect Speech Acts Performative Speech Acts Evaluating Speech Act Theory The Cooperative Principle: Successfully Exchanging Information Conversational Maxims A Scholar to Know: Robin Tolmach Lakoff (1942-) Conversational Implicature A Question to Discuss: Entailment and Implicature Relevance Politeness and Face: Negotiating Relationships in Speaking Positive and Negative Politeness and Face Face-Threatening Acts A Question: A Question to Discuss: How Do Compliments Work? Discourse Markers: Signaling Discourse Organization and Authority Function of Discourse Markers Language Change at Work: Discourse Markers rom Beowulf to Dude Types of Discourse Markers Language Change at Work: Like, I Was Like, What Is Going On with the Word Like? Conversation Analysis: Taking Turns and the Conversational Floor Structure of Conversation Turn-Taking Turn-Taking Violations Maintenance and Repair Style Shifting: Negotiating Social Meaning Indexical Meaning Style and Creativity Special Focus: Do Men and Women Speak Differently? Performing GenderEarly Language and Gender Research Different Models for Gender Difference Language, Sexuality, and DesireLanguage and Identity Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 9 Stylistics Stylistics Systematicity and Choice The World of Texts: Genres and Registers Variation among Text Types Which Comes First? Textual Unity: Cohesion Elements of Cohesion Cohesion at Work Telling Stories: The Structure of Narratives The Components of a NarrativeLiterature and Speech Acts Speech Acts and Narrative PerspecitivesSpeech Acts in LiteratureInvestigating Dialogue Conversational Structure and PolitenessReporting Speech: Direct and IndirectInvestigating Word Choice Diction Metaphor Modality Language Variation at Work: Literary Forensics Linguistics into PoeticsReading like Alice, Humpty Dumpty, and Michael ToolanPoeticity and Its Axes A Scholar to Know: Roman Jakobson (1896-1982) Meter, Rhythm, and Scansion Prosody and Verse Structure Sound, Meaning, and Poetic Technique Language Change at Work: Hip Hop Rhymes Special Focus: What Makes "Good Writing"? Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 10 Language Acquisition Theories about Children's Language Acquisition Imitation versus Instinct Noam Chomsky and Universal Grammar Debates about Language "Hard Wiring" Language and the BrainChildren Learning Sounds Language Acquisition Tests Acquisition of Phonemic Differences Children Learning Words Babbling and First Words Language Acquisition at Work: Imitating Faces Language Acquisition at Work: Deaf Children Learning ASL Acquisition of Words and Word Meaning A Question to Discuss: Why Do We Talk with Our Hands? Aquistion of Words and Word Meaning Children Learning Grammar Patterns of Children's Errors Acquisition of Complex Grammatical Constructions The Role of Parents in Language Acquisition Features of Parentese Role of Parentese Language Acquisition in Special Circumstances Pidgins and Creoles Nicaraguan Sign Language Critical Age Hypothesis Critical Periods A Case Study: Genie Acquisition of Languages Later in Life When Things Go Wrong Broca's Aphasia Language Variation at Work: Verbal Slips Wernicke's Aphasia Dyslexia Special Focus: Children and Bilingualism Children Learning Two Languages Bilingual Education Programs Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 11 Language Variation Dialect Dialects versus Languages Standard and Nonstandard Dialects A Question to Discuss: Is American English a Dialect or a Language? Dialectology Variationist Sociolinguistics Language Change at Work: Pop versus Soda William Labov's Research A Methodological IssueAnalyzing VariationSociolinguistics versus Generative Grammar A Scholar to Know: William Labov (1927- ) Speech Communities and Communities of Practice A Question to Discuss: Should We Preserve Dialects? Major Factors in Language Variation within Speech Communities Age Gender Class Race and Ethnicity Social Networks Effects of Language Contact Dialect Contact Language Contact Pidgins and Creoles Speaker Attitudes and Language Variation A Question to Discuss: What Does "Linguistic Equality" Mean? Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 12 American Dialects The Politics of American Dialects Speakers Who Control Multiple Dialects Judgments and Humor about Dialects Dialect Diversity and National Unity Language Change at Work: The Inconsistency of Language Attitudes Regional Variation A Sample Walk Language Change at Work: Why Does Unless Mean 'in case' in Pennsylvania? Defining Regions The Emergence of Regional Dialects Retention Naturally Occurring Internal Language Change Language Change at Work: Regional Food Terms Language Contact Coining Language Change at Work: A Dragonfly by Any Other Name Social Factors The History of Regional Dialects in the United States The Beginnings of American English The Northern Dialect Region The Southern Dialect Region The Midland Dialect Region The Western Dialect Region Dialects within Dialect Regions Two Case Studies of Regional Variation Appalachian English Language Change at Work: Jack, Will, and Jenny in the Swamp California English Social Variation Slang and Jargon versus Dialects Social Dialects Two Case Studies of Social Variation Chicano English African American English Special Focus: The Ebonics Controversy A Scholar to Know: Geneva Smitherman (1940-) Summary Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 13 History of English: Old to Early Modern English Old English (449-1066): History of Its Speakers When Did English Begin? Which Germanic Dialect Is "Old English"? Language Change at Work: How English Was Written Down Where Do the Names English and England Originate? Old English Lexicon Latin Borrowing Old Norse Borrowing Native English Word Formation Old English Grammar The Origins of Modern English Noun Inflections The Gender of Things The Familiarity of Personal Pronouns The Many Faces of Modifiers The Origins of Some Modern English Irregular Verbs Variation in Word Order Middle English (1066-1476): History of Its Speakers The Norman Conquest A Scholar to Know: J. R. R. Tolkien the Philologist The Renewal of English The Emergence of a Standard Middle English Dialects The Middle English Lexicon French Borrowing Latin Borrowing Other Borrowing Word Formation Processes Middle English Grammar The Loss of Inflections and Its Effects The Inflections That Survive Early Modern English (1476-1776): History of Its Speakers The Printing Press Attitudes about English The Study of English A Question to Discuss: How Do We Preserve the Evidence of a Language? Early Modern English Lexicon Greek and Latin Borrowing Romance Borrowing Semantic Change in the Native Lexicon Affixation Early Modern English Grammar Older Grammatical Retentions Developments in Morphosyntax Language Change at Work: The Invention of pea The Fate of Final-e Language Change at Work: The Great Vowel Shift Looking Ahead Suggested Reading Exercises Chapter 14 History of English: Modern and Future English Modern English (1776-Present): Social Forces at Work Prescription and the Standard Variety The Media Imperialism Globalization Language Change at Work: The Debated Origins of O.K. Modern English: Language Change in Progress Word Formation Lexical Borrowing Phonological Changes Grammatical Changes A Question to Discuss: "Hey, You Guys, Is This Grammaticalization?" The Status of English in the United States Language Variation at Work: The Myth of the "German Vote" in 1776 A Question to Discuss: Official State Languages The Status of English around the World The Meaning of a "Global Language" English as a Global Language World Englishes The Future of English as a Global Language What Happens after Modern English? Language Change at Work: Retronymy and Reduplication English and Electronically-Mediated CommunicationSuggested Readings Exercises Bibliography Credits Index