A new & exciting introduction to linguistics this textbook presents language in all its amazing complexity while guiding students gently through the basics Students emerge with an appreciation of the diversity of the world's languages as well as a deeper understanding of the structure of human language the ways it is used & its broader social & cultural context Chapters introducing the nuts & bolts of language study (phonology syntax meaning) are combined with those on the 'functions' of language (discourse prosody pragmatics & language contact) helping students gain a better grasp of how language works in the real world A rich set of language 'profiles' help students explore the world's linguistic diversity identify similarities & differences between languages & encourages them to apply concepts from earlier chapter material A range of carefully designed pedagogical features encourage student engagement adopting a step-by-step approach & using study questions & case studies