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An Introduction to Language (w/ MLA9E Updates), 11th Edition

Victoria Fromkin, Robert Rodman, Nina Hyams

  • Copyright 2019
  • {{checkPublicationMessage('Published', '2018-01-01T00:00:00+0000')}}
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An Introduction to Language (w/ MLA9E Updates) 11th Edition by Victoria Fromkin/Robert Rodman/Nina Hyams
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Overview

AN INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE, 11th Edition, offers an entirely up-to-date look at language studies and linguistics in today's world. Written from the ground up as if it were a first edition, the book is fresh, modern, and reflective of the current state of the field. At the same time, it maintains the acclaimed light, friendly, readable style and the breadth of coverage that have made it a perennial best seller. The authors examine grammatical subjects (e.g., morphology, syntax, semantics, phonetics, phonology), childhood language development and adult secondary language acquisition, and the tremendous leap in knowledge achieved in neurolinguistics.

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Meet the Authors

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Victoria Fromkin

Victoria Fromkin was Professor of Linguistics and a member of the faculty of the University of California, Department of Linguistics from 1966 until her death in 2000. She served as its chair from 1972–1976. Dr Fromkin published more than one hundred books, monographs and papers on topics concerned with phonetics, phonology, tone languages, African languages, speech errors, processing models, aphasia and the brain/mind/language interface.

Robert Rodman

Robert Rodman was a Professor of Linguistics and Computer Science at North Carolina State University. His research interests included computational forensic linguistics, speech processing, and in particular, lip synchronisation and voice recognition.

Nina Hyams

Nina Hyams received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Boston University in 1973 and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in linguistics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 1981 and 1983, respectively. She joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1983, where she is a professor of linguistics. Her main areas of research are childhood language development and syntax. She is author of the book LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND THE THEORY OF PARAMETERS (D. Reidel Publishers, 1986), a milestone in language acquisition research. She has also published numerous articles on the development of syntax, morphology, and semantics in children. She has been a visiting scholar at the University of Utrecht and the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and has given lectures throughout Europe and Japan.

What's New

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  • This edition has been rewritten for improved clarity, conciseness, and currency. It includes new developments in linguistics and related fields that strengthen its appeal to a wider audience.
  • The eleventh edition has 10 chapters instead of the 12 of earlier editions. The chapters on computer processing of human language and writing have been eliminated, with some of the material on the history of writing incorporated into Chapter 8, "Language Change." This more streamlined edition enables teachers and students on a quarter system to more fully utilize the material. For those on the semester system, it allows extra time for the more challenging chapters such as phonology and syntax.
  • Additional research-oriented exercises have been added throughout for instructors who wish their students to pursue certain topics more deeply. Some exercises continue to be marked as "challenge" questions: they go beyond the scope of what is ordinarily expected in a first course in language study.
  • The Chapter 2 section on compound words has been expanded to include a detailed discussion of their internal structure.
  • Chapter 3 on syntax is the most heavily revised chapter. The first half of the chapter introduces the universal and easily understood notions of constituency, syntactic categories, phrase structure trees and rules, structural ambiguity, and infinite scope language. The second half delves into the internal structure of phrases, including the concepts of heads, complements, and selection. The chapter ends with a basic introduction to grammatical dependencies, including agreement rules and the transformational analysis of questions, carefully explained and illustrated.
  • Chapter 4, "The Meaning of Language," contains revised sections on argument structure and thematic roles and semantic features, the latter now containing a discussion of how these features affect syntax.
  • Chapter 8, "Language Change: The Syllables of Time," has been updated with the latest research on language families, language relatedness, and language typology. In response to reviewers' requests, the chapter presents a detailed and more complex illustration of the application of the comparative method to two contemporary dialects to reconstruct their ancestor -- often called "internal reconstruction." The thematically related section on the history of writing is also included, moved from its previous location in a separate chapter.

Features

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  • The text has been thoroughly revised to reflect new developments in linguistics and related fields, with topics clarified and many new exercises included -- all to enhance students' understanding and insight. IPA symbols are used throughout.
  • Discussions about the grammar and other linguistic characteristics of American Sign Language, and other sign languages of deaf people, are woven throughout to reveal the pervasive parallels with spoken languages.
  • Each chapter ends with helpful review materials, including a chapter summary, a comprehensive list of references, suggestions for further reading, and exercises.
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  • Exercises offer instructional options and learning opportunities designed to maximize students' comprehension and mastery of text material.
  • The text's signature cartoons illustrate the authors' clear descriptions of complex linguistic points and principles.
  • An extensive glossary of nearly 1000 terms, the largest of its kind among introductory textbooks, appears in an appendix. The book is also thoroughly indexed, allowing students to quickly and efficiently find particular topics of interest.

Table of Contents

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1. WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
Linguistic Knowledge. What Is Grammar? Universal Grammar. What Is Not (Human) Language. Language and Thought.
2. MORPHOLOGY: THE WORDS OF LANGUAGE.
Content Words and Function Words. Morphemes: The Minimal Units of Meaning.
Rules of Word Formation. Sign Language Morphology. Morphological Analysis: Identifying Morphemes.
3. SYNTAX: THE SENTENCE PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE.
What the Syntax Rules Do. Sentence Structure. Phrase Structure Trees. The Internal Structure of Phrases. Grammatical Dependencies. UG Principles and Parameters. Sign Language Syntax.
4. THE MEANING OF LANGUAGE.
What Speakers Know about Sentence Meaning. Compositional Semantics. When Compositionality Goes Awry. Lexical Semantics (Word Meanings). Pragmatics.
5. PHONETICS: THE SOUNDS OF LANGUAGE.
Sound Segments. Articulatory Phonetics. Major Phonetic Classes. Syllabic Sounds.
6. PHONOLOGY: THE SOUND OF LANGUAGE.
The Pronunciation of Morphemes. Phonemes: The Phonological Units of Language. Distinctive Features of Phonemes. The Rules of Phonology. Prosodic Phonology. Sequential Constraints of Phonemes. Why Do Phonological Rules Exist? Phonological Analysis.
7. LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY.
Dialects. Social Dialects. Languages in Contact. Language and Education. Language in Use.
8. LANGUAGE CHANGE: THE SYLLABLES OF TIME.
The Regularity of Sound Change. Phonological Change. Morphological Change. Syntactic Change. Lexical Change. Reconstructing "Dead" Languages. Extinct and Endangered Languages. The Genetic Classification of Languages. Types of Languages. Why Do Languages Change? The History of Writing.
9. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION.
The Linguistic Capacity of Children. The Role of the Linguistic Environment: Adult Input. Knowing More Than One Language.
10. LANGUAGE PROCESSING AND THE HUMAN BRAIN.
The Human Mind at Work. Brain and Language. Language and Brain Development. The Modular Mind: Dissociations of Language and Cognition.
Glossary.
Index.

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  • ISBN-10: 1337675474
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  • ISBN-10: 0357698126
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Cengage provides a range of supplements that are updated in coordination with the main title selection. For more information about these supplements, contact your Learning Consultant.

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