Section Section Description Page Number
1 A Language Like English
The Story of Aks
Language, Language Everywhere
The Power of Language
Name Calling
Judging by Ear
A Puzzle: What Makes Us Hear an Accent?
The System of Language
Arbitrariness and Systematicity
A Scholar to Know: Ferdinand de Saussure
Creativity
Grammar
Linguistics
Human Language vs. Animal Communication
Birds and Bees
Language and Society: Relevance of Brain Size
Chimps and Bonobos
Distinctive Characteristics of Human Language
The Process of Language Change
A Puzzle: Do Languages Have Families
Mechanics of Language Change
Progress or Decay?
Attitudes about Language Change
Special Focus: Evolution of Human Language
Summary
Suggested Reading
Exercises
2 Language and Authority
Who Is in Control?
Language Academies
Language Academies
Language Mavens
Defining Standard English
Descriptive versus Prescriptive Grammar Rules
Case Study One: Double Negatives
Case Study Two: Ain''t
Case Study Three: Who/Whom
Spoken versus Written Language
A Puzzle: Which Is More Permanent
The Written or the Spoken Word
Language and Society: 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 vs
Descriptive Tendencies in Grammars of English
Modern Approaches to English Usage
Special Focus: Corpus Linguistics
Origins of Corpus Linguistics
Corpora Linguistics in the Twenty-first Century
Summary
Suggested Reading
Exercises
3 English Phonology
Definitions of Phonetics and Phonology
The Anatomy of Speech
The International Phonetic Alphabet
English Consonants
Stops
Fricatives
Affricates
A Puzzle: Does English Have Initial/¿/?
Nasals
Language Variation at Work: Who Drops Their g''s?
