An understanding of language as a complex system helps us to think differently about linguistics, and helps us to address the impact of linguistic interaction. This book demonstrates how the science of complex systems changes every area of linguistics: how to make a grammar, how to think about the history of language, how language works in the brain, and how it works in social settings. Kretzschmar argues that to construct the best grammars of languages it is necessary to understand the complex system of speech. Each chapter makes specific recommendations for how linguists should manage...