How language works: how babies babble, words change meaning, and languages live or die

Introducing language

Spoken language

Written language

Sign language

Language structure

Discourse

Dialects

Languages

Multilingualism

Looking after language.

INTRODUCING LANGUAGE. How what works? ; How to treat body language ; How we use the 'edges' of language

SPOKEN LANGUAGE. How we make speech sounds ; How we transmit sounds ; How we hear speech sounds ; How we perceive speech ; How we describe speech sounds ; How we describe consonants and vowels ; How we organize the sounds of speech ; How we use tone of voice ; How children learn speech sounds : the first year ; How children learn speech sounds : later years ; How speech can go wrong

WRITTEN LANGUAGE. How we write ; How we make writing systems : early times ; How we make writing systems : modern times ; How we read ; How we write and spell ; How we learn to read and write ; How reading and writing can go wrong ; How writing and speech differ ; How the electronic medium differs

SIGN LANGUAGE. How sign language works ; How sign languages vary

LANGUAGE STRUCTURE. How the brain handles language ; How to investigate language structure ; How we mean ; How we analyse meaning ; How we learn vocabulary ; How children learn to mean ; How dictionaries work ; How names work ; How vocabulary grows ; How we study grammar ; How words work ; How we classify words ; How sentences work ; How we learn grammar

DISCOURSE. How we discourse ; How conversation works ; How we choose what to say ; How we can't choose what to say

DIALECTS. How we know where someone is from ; How to study dialects ; How we know what someone is : the ethnic issue ; How we know what someone is : the social issue ; Howe we know who someone is : the stylistic issue ; How we know where someone is : the contextual issue ; How dialects differ from languages

LANGUAGES. How languages die ; How languages are born ; How language began ; How language changes ; how language families work ; How the Indo-European family is organized ; How other Eurasian families are organized, part one ; How other Eurasian families ore organized, part two ; How the Indo-Pacific Island families are organized ; How African families are organized ; How American families are organized

MULTILINGUALISM. How multilingualism works ; How we cope with many languages : translate them ; How we cope with many languages : supplement them ; How we cope with many languages : learn them ; How we cope with many languages : teach them ; How we cope with many languages : plan them ; How not to look after languages

LOOKING AFTER LANGUAGE. How to look after languages : recognizing principles ; How to look after languages : recognizing functions ; How to look after languages : recognizing varieties ; Teaching people to look after languages.

Introducing language

Spoken language

Written language

Sign language

Language structure

Discourse

Dialects

Languages

Multilingualism

Looking after language.