Jean Aitchison is a professor of language and communication whose work delves into socio-historical linguistics. She explores the intricate relationship between language and the mind, examining how our thoughts are shaped by linguistic structures. Furthermore, her research investigates the profound impact of language as it is used within the media. Her scholarship illuminates the dynamic evolution of language over time and its influence on human cognition and societal discourse.
Exploring the origins and evolution of human language, this comprehensive introduction delves into its development over time. It offers insights into linguistic diversity and the factors that have shaped communication among humans. With its accessible approach, the book serves as a valuable resource for readers interested in understanding how language has evolved and its significance in human society.
How and why do languages change? Where does the evidence of language change come from? How do languages begin and end? This introduction to language change explores these and other questions, considering changes through time. The central theme of this book is whether language change is a symptom of progress or decay. This book will show you why it is neither, and that understanding the factors surrounding how language change occurs is essential to understanding why it happens. This updated edition remains non-technical and accessible to readers with no previous knowledge of linguistics.
The 4th edition of "Words in the Mind" explores the latest insights into how we learn, remember, and understand words, focusing on the mental lexicon of native English speakers. It includes new chapters on brain and language, enhanced coverage of lexical corpora, and is designed to be accessible for students and non-specialists.
This new edition of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English includes 80,000 words and phrases, with 3,000 of the most frequent words in written and spoken English
An introduction to linguistics. This fifth edition contains a new chapter on language and style, discussing literature, advertising and newspapers. There are also new sections on language origin, the role of verbs, language and power, and sign language.
Requiring no prior knowledge of the subject, this text tackles basic questions central to the study of psycholinguistics, such as whether language is restricted to humans, whether there is biological evidence for innate language activity, how children learn language, and how we understand, plan and produce language. The author investigates these issues with regard to animal communication, child language and the language of adults, and provides references and suggestions for further reading.;The book has been substantially revised, in particular taking account of the considerable changes in Chomsky's recent ideas. As a result, the chapters on grammatical innateness, child language acquisition and speech comprehension have been largely rewritten.
This book is a straightforward introduction to linguistics for those approaching this fascinating and fast-expanding field of study for the first time.
