Sabine Lappe – författare

The project had its origins in a small analysis of a few structural aspects of English truncated names that I did as part of the requirements for a graduate se- nar on Prosodic Morphology at the University of Marburg, taught by Ingo Plag and Birgit Alber.

In the past years I have spent much of my time writing what in the end has become a very long book about very short words. What has emerged is a complex, but also a clear and empirically founded picture of the structural properties of English tr- cated words as well as an optimality-theoretic model of these properties in the research tradition of Prosodic Morphology. These will be of use to linguists int- ested in the structure of English as well as to those interested in phonological and / or morphological theory. I have deliberately kept separate the empirical analysis and the theoretical account of the data, so that the book can be used by scholars working within OT as well as by those who do not. Finally, the style as well as the structure of the text are such that the book may not only have an academic readership, but may also be recommended as supplementary reading in pertinent university courses at both undergraduate and graduate levels. The project had its origins in a small analysis of a few structural aspects of English truncated names that I did as part of the requirements for a graduate se- nar on Prosodic Morphology at the University of Marburg, taught by Ingo Plag and Birgit Alber.

The book introduces beginning university students of English to the study of English linguistics. The major difference between this book and its potential competitors lies in its hands-on didactic orientation, with a strong focus on linguistic analysis and argumentation. Language and linguistic theory are approached from a strictly empirical perspective: given a certain set of data to be accounted for, certain theoretical and methodological problems must be solved in order to analyze and understand the data properly. Thus, the theoretical apparatus is crucially developed in conversation with the data, and not presented as a set of given facts. After having worked with the book, the students should be able to use necessary methodological tools to obtain relevant data (such as corpora, dictionaries, experiments), and to systematically analyze their data and relate their findings to theoretical problems. The book is not written from the perspective of a particular theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions. Introduction to English Linguistics concentrates on gaining expertise and analytical skills in the traditional core areas of linguistics, i.e. phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The final chapter on "Extensions and applications" widens the perspective to other areas of linguistic research, such as historical, socio- and psycholinguistics. Exercises and a glossary are also provided.

This successful textbook introduces beginning university students of English to the study of English linguistics. Now updated and expanded, the second edition features a more detailed discussion of the differences between British and North American English, and explains the differences in the two traditions of phonetic transcription.

The major difference between this book and its potential competitors lies in its hands-on didactic orientation, with a strong focus on linguistic analysis and argumentation. Language and linguistic theory are approached from a strictly empirical perspective: given a certain set of data to be accounted for, theoretical and methodological problems must be solved in order to analyze and understand the data properly. The book is not written in the perspective of a particular theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions. Introduction to English Linguistics concentrates on gaining expertise and analytical skills in the traditional core areas of linguistics, i.e. phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. The final chapter on "Extensions and applications" widens the perspective to other areas of linguistic research, such as historical, socio- and psycholinguistics. Each chapter is accompanied by exercises and suggestions for further reading. A glossary and an index facilitate access to terms and topics.