Ralph Fasold is Professor Emeritus and past Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. He is the author of four books and editor or co-editor of six others. Among them are the textbooks The Sociolinguistics of Society (1984) and The Sociolinguistics of Language (1990). Jeff Connor-Linton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where he has been Head of the Applied Linguistics Program and Department Chair. He is a past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. He has supervised a multi-section introductory linguistics course and supervises the pedagogical training of graduate students in the linguistics department.

'This is a great textbook covering all the major topics in language structure and use. It offers a comprehensive survey of the field as well as intriguing insights into many current issues, from formal syntax, through language and the brain to computational linguistics.' Alexander Bergs, Universität Osnabrück

• Introduction; 1. The sounds of language; 2. Words and their parts; 3. The structure of sentences; 4. Meaning; 5. Discourse; 6. Child language acquisition; 7. Language and the brain; 8. Language change; 9. Dialect variation; 10. Language and culture; 11. The politics of language; 12. Writing; 13. Second language acquisition; 14. Computational linguistics; Glossary.

Ralph Fasold is Professor Emeritus and past Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. He is the author of four books and editor or co-editor of six others. Among them are the textbooks The Sociolinguistics of Society (1984) and The Sociolinguistics of Language (1990). Jeff Connor-Linton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where he has been Head of the Applied Linguistics Program and Department Chair. He is a past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. He has supervised a multi-section introductory linguistics course and supervises the pedagogical training of graduate students in the linguistics department.

'This is a great textbook covering all the major topics in language structure and use. It offers a comprehensive survey of the field as well as intriguing insights into many current issues, from formal syntax, through language and the brain to computational linguistics.' Alexander Bergs, Universität Osnabrück

• Introduction; 1. The sounds of language; 2. Words and their parts; 3. The structure of sentences; 4. Meaning; 5. Discourse; 6. Child language acquisition; 7. Language and the brain; 8. Language change; 9. Dialect variation; 10. Language and culture; 11. The politics of language; 12. Writing; 13. Second language acquisition; 14. Computational linguistics; Glossary.

Ralph Fasold is Professor Emeritus and past Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University. He is the author of four books and editor or co-editor of six others. Among them are the textbooks The Sociolinguistics of Society (1984) and The Sociolinguistics of Language (1990). Jeff Connor-Linton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University, where he has been Head of the Applied Linguistics Program and Department Chair. He is a past President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics. He has supervised a multi-section introductory linguistics course and supervises the pedagogical training of graduate students in the linguistics department.

'This is a great textbook covering all the major topics in language structure and use. It offers a comprehensive survey of the field as well as intriguing insights into many current issues, from formal syntax, through language and the brain to computational linguistics.' Alexander Bergs, Universität Osnabrück

• Introduction; 1. The sounds of language; 2. Words and their parts; 3. The structure of sentences; 4. Meaning; 5. Discourse; 6. Child language acquisition; 7. Language and the brain; 8. Language change; 9. Dialect variation; 10. Language and culture; 11. The politics of language; 12. Writing; 13. Second language acquisition; 14. Computational linguistics; Glossary.