Synopsis
A historical overview of linguistics, revised and updated to the threshold of the 21st century. The author has various concerns. One is that "human language" is manifested in individual varieties of language, hence students of language must have some apprehension of the range of phenomena encountered in the world's languages. A second is that no approach to the study of language has a monopoly of "The Truth". It is therefore imperative that students should be encouraged to think and to question the pronouncements of even the most eminent linguistics, while appreciating the undoubted value of their advances in our understanding of the nature of language. A third is that an understanding of articulatory phonetics is indispensable for an adequate discussion of most aspects of the field, including in particular the social implications of language. The scope of this text, while remaining the same in broad outline, has been enlarged to include greater attention to semantics than previously, consideration of systemic and cognitive approaches to language in addition to those of the lines of investigation initiated by the work of Noam Chomsky, and the relationship between spoken language and written language. Exercises are provided to support the text and stimulate the student's analytical skills.
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