This accessible and engaging text introduces the field of pragmatics, the study of the relationship between linguistic meaning and context. Assuming no prior knowledge, Siobhan Chapman surveys the development of pragmatics from the very beginning to the present day, and engages with many of the most recent debates in the field, including topics such as experimental pragmatics and (im)politeness theory. This highly-readable text focuses on core theoretical pragmatics, but also considers how pragmatics has been applied to the study of various aspects of language in use, such as literature,...

This is a unique and accessible reference guide to the work of figures who have played an important role in the development of ideas about language. It includes 80 entries on individual thinkers in the Western tradition, ranging from antiquity to the present day, chosen because of their impact on the description or theory of language.

Thinking about Language encourages students to begin thinking about ways of seeing language and introduces past debates and current disputes on the way that human language works. The second half of the book explores some of the specific questions addressed by theorists, and the implications of different types of linguistic theory for the answers they have suggested. Chapman offers a balance between theory and application and provides an interesting and accessible introduction to the history of linguistic theory, the variety of different theoretical approaches to language study, and to the...