Laurie Bauer FRSNZ is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of over twenty books including The Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology (2013), which won the LSA’s Leonard Bloomfield Prize. In 2017 he was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Humanities Medal.Andreea S. Calude is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She has a background in mathematics and linguistics and researches (spoken) grammar, language evolution, loanwords and just about any quantitative language-related question she can get data on. She has authored the TED ED Lesson “Does Grammar Matter?”.

Suitable for expert and non-expert readers alike, this book offers accessible, thought-provoking and up-to-date discussions of a range of language-related topics. Engaging with a variety of questions from across the field of linguistics, the expert authors challenge commonly-held assumptions, prompting the reader to reflect on their own language attitudes and practices.Kate Scott, Kingston University, UK'The authors strike a commendable balance between the technicalities of their subjects and the need to explain them in ordinary prose. The questions are well chosen and leave few stones unturned… Hopefully it will whet the curiosity of lay readers with an interest in language to continue exploring this fascinating discipline. 'Ross Smith MCIL

• List of illustrationsAbout the contributorsIntroduction 1. Do animals communicate using a language?2. Is talking work doing work?3. What makes a language a language?4. Do people swear because they don’t know enough words?5. Is written grammar better than spoken grammar?6. Is language change good or bad?7. Are the sounds of languages influenced by climate, environment and biology?8. Can you tell someone’s sexuality from the way they speak?9. Is learning a signed language easier than learning a spoken language?10. Can you forget your native language?11. Can people really disguise themselves when writing or speaking?12. What is universal about intonation?Index

Laurie Bauer FRSNZ is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He is the author of over twenty books including The Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology (2013), which won the LSA’s Leonard Bloomfield Prize. In 2017 he was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Humanities Medal.Andreea S. Calude is a Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She has a background in mathematics and linguistics and researches (spoken) grammar, language evolution, loanwords and just about any quantitative language-related question she can get data on. She has authored the TED ED Lesson “Does Grammar Matter?”.

Suitable for expert and non-expert readers alike, this book offers accessible, thought-provoking and up-to-date discussions of a range of language-related topics. Engaging with a variety of questions from across the field of linguistics, the expert authors challenge commonly-held assumptions, prompting the reader to reflect on their own language attitudes and practices.Kate Scott, Kingston University, UK'The authors strike a commendable balance between the technicalities of their subjects and the need to explain them in ordinary prose. The questions are well chosen and leave few stones unturned… Hopefully it will whet the curiosity of lay readers with an interest in language to continue exploring this fascinating discipline. 'Ross Smith MCIL

• List of illustrationsAbout the contributorsIntroduction 1. Do animals communicate using a language?2. Is talking work doing work?3. What makes a language a language?4. Do people swear because they don’t know enough words?5. Is written grammar better than spoken grammar?6. Is language change good or bad?7. Are the sounds of languages influenced by climate, environment and biology?8. Can you tell someone’s sexuality from the way they speak?9. Is learning a signed language easier than learning a spoken language?10. Can you forget your native language?11. Can people really disguise themselves when writing or speaking?12. What is universal about intonation?Index