Linguistics An Introduction to Linguistic Theory Book Download Free

This textbook is intended for introductory courses in linguistic theory for undergraduate linguistics majors or first-year graduate students. It aims to provide students who have no previous knowledge of linguistics with the background necessary to continue with courses in the core areas of the field – phonetics, phonology, syntax, morphology, and semantics. In each part the book is concerned with discussing the underlying principles of Universal Grammar common to all languages, showing how these are revealed in language acquisition and the specific grammars of the world’s languages. Theoretical concepts are introduced by analyzing a wide set of linguistic data from Arabic to Zulu. Students will learn how to do linguistics by working through real linguistic data. The interplay between theory and data is highlighted in all the chapters. In addition to the basic components of grammar, the book includes a discussion on child language acquisition of the core components of mental grammar. This reflects the recognition that understanding the child’s ability to acquire language is central to the theory of Universal Grammar.