An Introduction To Language, 6e [Paperback]

Victoria Fromkin (Author), Robert Rodman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 003018682X | ISBN-13: 978-0030186820 | Publication Date: August 18, 1997 | Edition: 6th

A comprehensive introduction to the study of language and linguistics, An Introduction to Language 6/e covers all the major topics in linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics as well as pragmatics, historical change, social and regional dialects, child language, writing, language processing, and the neurobiology of language. The comprehensive approach uses humour to enhance student interest in the diverse study of language from its origins to current areas of research and discovery. Features: * Covers all the major topics in linguistics: phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics as well as pragmatics, historical change, social and regional dialects, child language, writing, language processing, and the neurobiology of language. * Exercises and data problems give students the chance to perform in-depth analysis of human language structures. * Improved glossary makes technical terms easy to locate and understand. * Text uses cartoons and quotations from literature to heighten interest and clarify complex topics. New to this edition: * Reorganization of chapters starts with studies of the brain as the key to understanding the nature of language structure, piquing the student's natural interest and making this a viable textbook for programs in cognitive science. * Up-to-the-minute material included in a new chapter on the brain and language, including PET and MRI scans of patients by foremost neurologist, Dr. Hanna Damasio. * "How to" sections have been added to provide students with procedures for phonological and morphological analysis. * The sign languages of the deaf are now discussed throughout the book (rather than in an isolated section) showing how all languages--signed and spoken--share universal features. * Chapters on child language acquisition, psycholinguistic studies of language processing, and computer processing of natural language have been updated. * Expanded chapter on Latino English. * Chapters and sections on semantics and pragmatics have been expanded. * The study of syntax and phonology has been revised to be less formal, emphasizing substantive characteristics of languages of the world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing; 6th edition (August 18, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 003018682X
• ISBN-13: 978-0030186820
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #437,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read, especially for any professional communicator., January 10, 2000

By 

"artym" - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction To Language, 6e (Paperback)

20 years ago, I was toying with the idea of taking the linguistics option as part of my English degree at Oxford University. My course tutor recommended I read Fromkin & Rodman to "see if the subject suited me". F & R hooked me completely: All the major areas are covered, simply presented and introduced by a cleverly chosen cartoon which helps to breaks the ice.

I must have recommended the book to more than 100 people since then and am ordering another copy now because a [former!] friend lost my (heavily thumbed and annotated) original. I now lecture on communications-related subjects and still find myself referring regularly to this seminal work. A must for any serious student of communications science; it draws you gently into a complicated subject and makes the process highly enjoyable.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Miserable to learn from, and miserable to teach from, May 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: An Introduction To Language, 6e (Paperback)

Those other bad reviews are right on the mark. I have taught from this book a couple of times at the university level, and I found it a shameful piece of junk. There are many cartoons included in it,which make it appear user-friendly at first glance, but it is so poorly written, and it explains things so poorly, that even many of my brighter students had trouble understanding it. (One colleague of mine, who insists on using it, feels the need to hand out copious explanatory notes with each chapter.) The book is full of glaring errors -- not only in linguistic matters but even in general knowledge, such as in the meaning of certain common acronyms (just one example). Even though these errors are easily spotted and corrected, they remain in the book from one edition to the next. The section on Language and Gender (among others) is pitiful, consisting mainly of research from the 1970s on language phenomena that have probably not been common since the 19th century. (When is the last time you heard a prostitute called a "laundress" or a "needlewoman"? The book goes out of its way to explain how unjust such monikers are, even though they are dead. Besides, my grandfather could recount cases from the turn of the century of call girls claiming they had arrived at Mr. So-&So's apartment to "take the laundry.") Some portions of the book are so inaccurate and badly written that I suspected that they were written by textbook editors and not by linguists. My students found this book a torment to learn from, and I found it a torment to teach from. An instructor would be better off choosing Finegan's "Language: Its Structure and Use" or Yule's "The Study of Language". While these texts have their own problems, they are infinitely better than this one.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for introductionary purposes, June 14, 2000

By 

Steffen Denize (Odense, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction To Language, 6e (Paperback)

At the university I attend we have uses this book in an introduction course for linguistics. It is rather good for in introductionary purposes but it does not go in great depth with the subjects. Use it to figure out whether linguistics is something for you, but if you already are interested in linguistics this book will be to shallow.