N. J. Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. He has carried out extensive field work in mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos, with a focus on language, culture, cognition, and social interaction. His books include Ethnosyntax (OUP 2002), Linguistic Epidemiology (Routledge 2003), A Grammar of Lao (Mouton de Gruyter 2007), The Anatomy of Meaning (CUP 2009), Relationship Thinking (OUP 2013), and The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology (with P Kockelman and J Sidnell, 2014). He has published over 100 academic articles and reviews.

a new and different approach, one that connects a wide range of discipline areas and offers an account of linguistic meaning that is like no other ... those who love language and who love playing with words and their meanings will surely relish this book.

• Conventions for linguistic examples ; List of figures and tables ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Meanings are layered ; 3. Meanings are multiple ; 4. Meanings are anthropocentric ; 5. Meanings are cultural ; 6. Meanings are distributed ; 7. Conclusion: Meanings are useful ; References ; Index

N. J. Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. He has carried out extensive field work in mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos, with a focus on language, culture, cognition, and social interaction. His books include Ethnosyntax (OUP 2002), Linguistic Epidemiology (Routledge 2003), A Grammar of Lao (Mouton de Gruyter 2007), The Anatomy of Meaning (CUP 2009), Relationship Thinking (OUP 2013), and The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology (with P Kockelman and J Sidnell, 2014). He has published over 100 academic articles and reviews.

a new and different approach, one that connects a wide range of discipline areas and offers an account of linguistic meaning that is like no other ... those who love language and who love playing with words and their meanings will surely relish this book.

• Conventions for linguistic examples ; List of figures and tables ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Meanings are layered ; 3. Meanings are multiple ; 4. Meanings are anthropocentric ; 5. Meanings are cultural ; 6. Meanings are distributed ; 7. Conclusion: Meanings are useful ; References ; Index

N. J. Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. He has carried out extensive field work in mainland Southeast Asia, especially Laos, with a focus on language, culture, cognition, and social interaction. His books include Ethnosyntax (OUP 2002), Linguistic Epidemiology (Routledge 2003), A Grammar of Lao (Mouton de Gruyter 2007), The Anatomy of Meaning (CUP 2009), Relationship Thinking (OUP 2013), and The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Anthropology (with P Kockelman and J Sidnell, 2014). He has published over 100 academic articles and reviews.

a new and different approach, one that connects a wide range of discipline areas and offers an account of linguistic meaning that is like no other ... those who love language and who love playing with words and their meanings will surely relish this book.

• Conventions for linguistic examples ; List of figures and tables ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Meanings are layered ; 3. Meanings are multiple ; 4. Meanings are anthropocentric ; 5. Meanings are cultural ; 6. Meanings are distributed ; 7. Conclusion: Meanings are useful ; References ; Index