Part I. 'Using Language to Expose Language': Setting the Scene: 1. What is language?; 2. What linguists do; 3. Ways to study language; Part II. 'In the Beginning Was the Word': Words, Word Structure, and Meaning: 4. What's in a word?; 5. Morphology: the structure of words; 6. Semantics: the meaning of words; Part III. 'The Deep Grooves of Language': Sounds and Grammar: 7. Phonetics; 8. Phonology: the sound system; 9. Syntax: the structure of sentences; Part IV. 'Language Is a Social Fact': Variation and Change: 10. Variation and identity; 11. Structure across time; 12. Languages and cultures in contact; Part V. 'Language That Rolls up its Sleeves': Language at Work: 13. Language, text and interaction; 14. Language, context and understanding; 15. Language and social values; Part VI. 'Language Is the Dress of Thought': Language, Mind and World: 16. Language, the mind and the brain; 17. Language acquisition; 18. Computational linguistics.