Preface 1
Chapter One The Scope of the Subject 1
Chapter Two The Origins of Language 7
Chapter Three What Is Language 13
Chapter Four Some Pairs of Linguisic Terms 24
Chapter Five The Design Features and Functions of Human Language 31
Chapter Six Phonetics 38
Chapter Seven Phonology 49
Chapter Eight Morphemes and Words 54
Chapter Nine Some Characteristics of Morphemes 60
Chapter Ten The Major Grammatical Morphemes of English 66
Chapter Eleven Syntax 74
Chapter Twelev Semantics 97
Chapter Thirteen Language Variation 135
Chapter Fourteen Pragmatics 174
Chapter Fifteen First-Language Acquisition 203
Bibliography 249
Glossary 250
编后记 261