Originally published in 1986, this text surveys intonation in all its aspects, both in English and universally. In this updated edition, while the basic descriptive facts of the form and use of intonation are presented in the British nuclear tone tradition, there is nevertheless extensive comparison with other theoretical frameworks, in particular with the ToBI framework, which has become widespread in the United States. In this new edition Alan Cruttenden has expanded the sections on historical background, different theoretical approaches and sociolinguistic variation. After introductory...

The Indo-European language family consists of many of the modern and ancient languages of Europe, India and Central Asia, including Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, German, French, Spanish and English. Spoken by an estimated three billion people, it has the largest number of native speakers in the world today. This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of the Indo-European languages. It clearly sets out the methods for relating the languages to one another, presents an engaging discussion of the current debates and controversies concerning their classification, and offers...

Clearly organized and written, this textbook provides a useful introduction to the relationship between language and cognitive processing in the human brain. It covers the topics likely to be encountered in a course or seminar, and provides a synthesis of study and research in a fast-growing field of linguistics. The much-needed introduction will be welcomed by undergraduates and graduates in linguistics and cognitive science.

Clearly organized and written, this textbook provides a useful introduction to the relationship between language and cognitive processing in the human brain. It covers the topics likely to be encountered in a course or seminar, and provides a synthesis of study and research in a fast-growing field of linguistics. The much-needed introduction will be welcomed by undergraduates and graduates in linguistics and cognitive science.

The sounds of language can be divided into consonants, vowels, and tones--the use of pitch to convey meaning. Seventy percent of the world's languages use pitch in this way. Assuming little or no prior knowledge of the topic, this textbook provides a clearly organized introduction to tone and tonal phonology. Comprehensive in scope, it examines the main types of tonal systems found in Africa, the Americas, and Asia, using examples from the widest- possible range of tone languages.

Drawing on data from over five hundred languages, Anna Siewierska compares the use of person within and across different languages, and examines the factors underlying variation. Siewierska demonstrates how person forms vary in substance (how large they are), in the nature of the semantic distinctions they convey (e.g., gender, number, case), and in their use in sentences and discourse. The textbook covers the grammatical category of person, which includes the first person (the speaker), the second person (the hearer), and the third person (neither the speaker nor the hearer).

The problem of reducing language to writing and conversely that of interpreting written signs as language has been resolved through the development of different writing systems. This illustrated textbook introduces the major writing systems of the world (from cuneiform to English spelling) and analyzes their structure and function. It includes a review of the history of writing and a discussion of the literate mind and society.

Case, a system which marks the relationships between words in a sentence, is fundamental to every language. Looking at how different theories of syntax have accounted for the distribution of case across languages, this accessible 2006 textbook introduces the various approaches to case that have been proposed in modern linguistics. Clearly organised into topics, it provides beginning students with a solid understanding of the ideas behind the development of theories of case. For the more advanced reader, it presents theories that have been formulated about the interaction between case...

Since the publication of F. R. Palmer's Mood and Modality in 1986, when the topic of "modality" was fairly unfamiliar, there has been considerable interest in the subject as well as in grammatical typology in general. Modality is concerned with mood (subjunctive etc.) and with modal markers such as English modal verbs (can, may, must etc.) and is treated as a single grammatical category found in most of the languages of the world. Palmer investigates this category, drawing on a wealth of examples from a wide variety of languages.

This study explores how different kinds of nominal expressions such as names, noun phrases and pronouns develop anaphoric relations among each another that have reference to physical elements. Providing a thorough and comprehensive introduction to modern binding theory, this book introduces a variety of nominal and, especially, pronominal expressions from the world's languages. Including numerous exercises and examples, the textbook will be invaluable to graduate and advanced undergraduate students of syntax and semantics.