Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction

Citation

O'Grady, W., Archibald, J., Aronoff, M., & Rees-Miller, J. (2017). Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (7th ed.). Bedford/St. Martin's.

Chapter Summary

The seventh edition has fifteen chapters and about 590 pages. The publisher presents it as a comprehensive introduction to the fundamentals of linguistics, balancing engaging aspects of language study with solid coverage of the basics, in a direct and lucid style. The four authors bring different specialisms: William O'Grady (University of Hawaii at Manoa) works on syntactic theory, language acquisition and Korean; John Archibald (University of Calgary) on the acquisition of phonology; Mark Aronoff (Stony Brook University, a past President of the Linguistic Society of America) on morphology, writing systems and sign language; and Janie Rees-Miller (Marietta College) on making linguistics accessible to non-linguists. Every chapter closes with a summary ("Summing Up"), key terms, recommended reading and exercises; the three core analysis chapters on phonology, morphology and syntax add appendices on how to solve problems; and "Language Matters" boxes run through the book. A glossary, a list of sources and a language index complete it.

Chapter 1: Language: A Preview

The preview sets out the human specialisation for language, its creativity, and five properties of grammar and linguistic competence: all languages have a grammar, all grammars are equal, grammars are alike in basic ways, grammars change over time, and grammatical knowledge is subconscious.

Chapters 2–3: Phonetics: The Sounds of Language; Phonology: The Function and Patterning of Sounds

Chapter 2 builds phonetic transcription from the sound-producing system: consonant places and manners of articulation, vowels, transcription of American English, suprasegmentals (tone, intonation, length, stress), and articulatory processes in speech production. Chapter 3 moves from contrast (minimal pairs) to phonemes and allophones, phonemic transcription, syllables and phonotactics, features, and derivations and rules, with an appendix of hints for phonology problems.

Chapters 4–5: Morphology: The Analysis of Word Structure; Syntax: The Analysis of Sentence Structure

Chapter 4 covers morphemes, derivation, compounding (including other languages), inflection and its difference from derivation, other morphological processes and morphophonemics, with an appendix on identifying morphemes in unfamiliar languages. Chapter 5 treats word categories and phrase structure with tests for constituents, complement options, movement (yes–no questions, deep and surface structure, do insertion, wh movement), Universal Grammar and parametric variation, and coordination, modifiers and passives, with an appendix on building tree structures.

Chapter 6: Semantics: The Analysis of Meaning

Meaning is approached through semantic relations among words and sentences, the conceptual system (fuzzy concepts, metaphor, lexicalisation), the contribution of syntax (constructional meaning, structural ambiguity, thematic roles, pronoun interpretation), and other factors in interpretation, ending with Grice's conversational maxims.

Chapters 7–8: Historical Linguistics: The Study of Language Change; The Classification of Languages

Chapter 7 covers the causes and systematicity of change; sound, morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic change; the spread of change; comparative reconstruction and the discovery of Indo-European. Chapter 8 distinguishes typological classification (in phonology, morphology and syntax, with an account of universals) from genetic classification into families and phyla.

Chapters 9–10: First Language Acquisition; Second Language Acquisition

Chapter 9 follows phonological, vocabulary, morphological and syntactic development from babbling to later stages, then asks what makes acquisition possible: adult speech, feedback, cognitive development, inborn knowledge and the critical period. Chapter 10 treats interlanguage, the role of the first language, L2 phonology, syntax and morphology, age and individual differences, and the L2 classroom, including bilingual education.

Chapters 11–12: Psycholinguistics: The Study of Language Processing; Brain and Language

Chapter 11 covers research methods (slips of the tongue, experiments on words and sentences, event-related potentials, corpora) and processing at each level of language, ending with psycholinguistic modelling. Chapter 12 introduces the brain and methods of investigating it, aphasia, acquired dyslexia and dysgraphia, and what aphasia shows about linguistic theory, including agrammatism across languages.

Chapter 13: Language in Social Contexts

The sociolinguistics chapter organises variation by place, time, isolation (with Smith Island, Quebec French and urban African American English as cases), contact (code-switching, borrowing, pidgins and creoles), class, ethnicity and gender, then turns to social interaction and how societies deal with language.

Chapters 14–15: Writing and Language; Indigenous Languages of North America

Chapter 14 covers types of writing, the early history and development of writing, some non-European systems (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cherokee), English orthography and the obstacles to its reform, and writing and reading. Chapter 15 surveys the origin and classification of the Indigenous languages of North America, their phonetics and phonology, morphology and syntax, and their future.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–6: Core analysis

• Linguistic competence: speakers' subconscious knowledge of their grammar.
• Phoneme and allophone: contrastive sound units and their predictable variants, identified through minimal pairs and complementary distribution.
• Derivation, inflection and compounding: the main ways words are built.
• Phrase structure and movement: the hierarchical organisation of sentences and the operations relating deep and surface structure.
• Thematic roles and conversational maxims: how syntax and context contribute to meaning.

Chapters 7–10: Change, classification and acquisition

• Comparative reconstruction: recovering features of an ancestor language from its descendants.
• Typological and genetic classification: grouping languages by structure or by common descent.
• Critical period: the hypothesis that language acquisition is constrained by age.
• Interlanguage: the developing grammar of a second language learner.

Chapters 11–15: Mind, society and writing

• Psycholinguistic modelling: models of how language is produced and understood.
• Aphasia and agrammatism: language disorders after brain damage and what they reveal.
• Sociolinguistic variation: differences in language by place, time, isolation, contact, class, ethnicity and gender.
• Logographic and phonographic writing: writing systems that represent words or sounds.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Built for practice. Every chapter ends with a summary, key terms, recommended reading and exercises, and the appendices on phonology problems, identifying morphemes and building trees give step-by-step methods for the three core kinds of analysis.
• Breadth beyond the core. Separate chapters on second language acquisition, psycholinguistics, the brain, writing and the Indigenous languages of North America take the book beyond the core sequence of sounds, words, sentences and meaning.
• Specialist authorship. The authors' fields (syntax and acquisition, phonological acquisition, morphology and writing systems, accessibility for non-linguists) map onto the book's chapters.
• Conventional, cumulative order. Phonetics and phonology come first and syntax and semantics follow, so later chapters can draw on the sound and word analysis already taught.

Limitations

• Length. At about 590 pages and fifteen chapters, the book holds more than a one-term course can cover; instructors and readers must choose among Chapters 7–15.
• North American focus. Phonetic transcription is of American English, and the final chapter is devoted to the Indigenous languages of North America; students elsewhere will need other examples of local varieties and languages.
• Edition date. The seventh edition dates from 2017, so recent work, especially in fast-moving areas such as psycholinguistic and brain research, is not included.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the introductory surveys in the course, this is a broad, fifteen-chapter treatment with a strong emphasis on exercises. Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams's An Introduction to Language covers similar ground in ten chapters in a lighter, friendlier style, placing grammar before sounds; students who find this book dense may prefer to start there. George Yule's The Study of Language is an accessible introduction for a first read. Language Files, a modular textbook of short units, is a useful source of extra practice alongside the exercises here.

Radford and colleagues' Linguistics: An Introduction offers more detailed theoretical discussion and exercises, and Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistic Theory, edited by Fromkin, is a theory-driven survey of the core areas that continues naturally from Chapters 2–6. Ray Jackendoff's Foundations of Language is an advanced synthesis of linguistics with psychology, neuroscience and evolution, best approached after Chapters 9, 11 and 12.

How to Use This Book

The book suits first-year undergraduates in linguistics and students of English, education, psychology or language teaching taking an introductory course. No prior linguistics is assumed.

A practical plan:

• Core (one term): Chapters 1–6 in order, since each analysis chapter builds on the previous one. Work through the appendices of Chapters 3, 4 and 5 before attempting the exercises.
• Electives: add chapters to match the course: 7–8 for historical linguistics and classification, 9–10 for acquisition (Chapter 10 is especially relevant to future language teachers), 11–12 for psycholinguistics and the brain, 13 for sociolinguistics, 14 for writing systems, 15 as a case study of a language area.
• Use the end matter: test yourself on the key terms after each chapter, use the recommended reading for essays, and check transcription and terminology against the glossary.
• Practise with data: do the exercises in writing and compare analyses with classmates; a study guide is sold separately for additional practice.