Introduction to English linguistics (review)

This new addition to the list of introductory textbooks on linguistics is co-authored by a team of linguists with considerable experience in teaching English linguistics in German universities.

The textbook is divided into seven chapters: 1. The sounds: phonetics; 2. The sound system: phonology; 3. The structure of words: morphology; 4. The structure of sentences: syntax; 5. The meaning of words and sentences: semantics; 6. Studying language in use: pragmatics; and 7. Extensions and applications: historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. The textbook also contains a fourteen-page glossary with over 250 terms, five pages of bibliographical references and a four-page subject index. The back inside cover of the book includes a chart with the symbols of the 2005 version of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

This introductory textbook is intended for use by university students of English as a second language who do not have previous courses in linguistics. While most of the examples are drawn from English and the comparisons are between English and German, the linguistic concepts presented in the textbook are very well explained and can be used with great profit in any university setting.

The overall structure of the chapters has been well thought-out. The chapters do not assume previous knowledge and begin with a concise, accessible account of the material to be covered. The contents of each chapter are presented so that the main concepts are introduced with progressively more depth and complexity. Each chapter ends with suggestions for further reading and a series of exercises divided into Basic level and Advanced level that reinforce and extend the material presented. The organization into seven chapters makes this textbook ideal for a one semester (twelve or thirteen week) introductory course on linguistics.

The first chapter, “The sounds”, provides a clear and well-documented definition of articulatory phonetics as applied to English. The chapter begins with a section on spelling and pronunciation in which phonetic symbols are introduced. The following sections describe the vocal tract and then explain the articulatory properties of English consonants and vowels. One of the most engaging aspects of this chapter is its highly accessible style that uses a question and answer approach. This allows the reader to feel directly engaged and participate in the material rather than absorbing the concepts in a passive manner.

The second chapter, “Phonology”, provides concise definitions of the basic concepts of phonological analysis such as phoneme, allophonic variation, complementary distribution, minimal pairs, neutralization, and the syllable. A unique aspect of this presentation lies in the use of spectrographic evidence to show the differing acoustic properties of allophones of a single segment. The section on the syllable provides a well-presented explanation of syllabic constituents (nucleus, onset, and coda) and principles of syllabification (Maximize Onset Principle, Sonority Sequencing Principle). This section also takes advantage of the reader’s intuitions of the syllabic properties of their first language (German) as a foundation for the understanding of the properties of their second language (English). Truncation patterns of proper names are used to illustrate the syllabic differences between English and German. This chapter also presents data on the phonological adaptations that occur when English words are borrowed into Japanese. The chapter concludes with an in-depth analysis of the behavior of English liquids to develop further the concept of allophonic variation and its relation to syllabic position.

The third chapter, “The structure of words”, provides explanations of terms such as morpheme, simplex and complex words, morph, unique morphs, zero morphs, free vs. bound morphemes, and stem/base. The analysis of the internal structure of words is particularly well presented with numerous examples that serve to illustrate the fundamental concepts. Similarly, the notion of allomorphy is described in detail using English plural endings as the primary example. This chapter also contains excellent presentations of derivational and inflectional processes in English, and of the behavior of English compounds.

The fourth chapter, “The structure of sentences” begins with a distinction between grammar and syntax. The first part...