The frameworks of English : introducing language structures

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

How does language work? What are the different elements? How do they all fit together?

The Frameworks of English is a step-by-step guide through the various levels of language, describing the morphological, lexical, grammatical and phonological frameworks of contemporary English in a clear and logical way. Beginning with words as the building blocks of language, it investigates their internal structure and shows how words can be combined into larger and larger units, from phrases to sentences and beyond. The sound system of language is explored, covering the production of individual sounds as well as the features of syllable structure and connected speech.

The third edition of this popular textbook:
- Features a new chapter on how to approach accent and dialect variation in English throughout the world
- Includes both spoken and written examples of electronically mediated language
- Offers updated suggestions for further reading and research

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• List of Tables (p. xii)
• List of Figures (p. xiv)
• Acknowledgements (p. xv)
• Part I Introduction
• 1 Introduction (p. 3)
• 1.1 A voyage around the English language (p. 3)
• 1.2 Frameworks and levels (p. 4)
• 1.3 Speech and writing (p. 7)
• 1.4 Which English? (p. 8)
• 1.5 Using this book (p. 9)
• Part II Lexical Frameworks
• 2 Word Classes (p. 15)
• 2.1 Words: the building blocks of language (p. 15)
• 2.2 Word classes (p. 20)
• 2.3 Open and closed classes of words (p. 21)
• 2.4 Nouns (p. 24)
• 2.5 Lexical verbs (p. 26)
• 2.6 Adjectives (p. 27)
• 2.7 Adverbs (p. 29)
• 2.8 Pronouns (p. 33)
• 2.9 Determiners (p. 39)
• 2.10 Auxiliaries (p. 42)
• 2.11 Prepositions (p. 44)
• 2.12 Conjunctions (p. 45)
• 2.13 Wh-words (p. 46)
• 3 Word Formation (p. 49)
• 3.1 Simple and complex words (p. 49)
• 3.2 Some terms and concepts (p. 50)
• 3.3 Word-formation strategies (p. 52)
• 3.4 Affixation (p. 53)
• 3.5 Compounding (p. 57)
• 3.6 Multi-word verbs (p. 59)
• 3.7 Conversion and back-formation (p. 61)
• 3.8 Other word-formation strategies (p. 62)
• 3.9 Meanings and meaning relations (p. 63)
• Lexical frameworks: exercises (p. 70)
• Lexical frameworks: suggestions for further reading (p. 73)
• Part III Grammatical Frameworks
• 4 Inflections (p. 79)
• 4.1 Inflections as an aspect of grammar (p. 79)
• 4.2 Inflections in contemporary English (p. 80)
• 4.3 Noun inflections (p. 81)
• 4.4 Verb inflections (p. 85)
• 4.5 Adjective and adverb inflections (p. 89)
• 4.6 Pronoun inflections (p. 91)
• 5 Phrases (p. 93)
• 5.1 What is a phrase? (p. 93)
• 5.2 Noun phrases (p. 96)
• 5.3 Verb phrases (p. 101)
• 5.4 Adjective and adverb phrases (p. 110)
• 5.5 Prepositional phrases (p. 112)
• 5.6 Embedding (p. 114)
• 5.7 Coordination and apposition of phrases (p. 116)
• 6 Clauses (p. 118)
• 6.1 What is a clause? (p. 118)
• 6.2 The five clause elements (p. 119)
• 6.3 Subject element (p. 120)
• 6.4 Verb element (p. 121)
• 6.5 Object element (p. 122)
• 6.6 Complement element (p. 123)
• 6.7 Adverbial element (p. 124)
• 6.8 Clause structures (p. 127)
• 6.9 Active and passive clauses (p. 128)
• 6.10 Non-finite clauses (p. 129)
• 6.11 Main and subordinate clauses (p. 130)
• 6.12 Clauses as clause elements (p. 131)
• 6.13 Clauses within phrases (p. 134)
• 6.14 Nominal relative clauses (p. 140)
• 6.15 Negative clauses (p. 141)
• 6.16 Verbless clauses (p. 142)
• 7 Sentences (p. 144)
• 7.1 What is a sentence? (p. 144)
• 7.2 Sentence types (p. 145)
• 7.3 Declarative sentences (p. 146)
• 7.4 Interrogative sentences (p. 147)
• 7.5 Imperative sentences (p. 151)
• 7.6 Exclamative sentences (p. 152)
• 7.7 Other structural variations (p. 152)
• 7.8 Simple sentences (p. 158)
• 7.9 Compound sentences (p. 161)
• 7.10 Complex sentences (p. 165)
• 7.11 Adverbial clauses (p. 171)
• Grammatical frameworks: exercises (p. 174)
• Grammatical frameworks: suggestions for further reading (p. 178)
• Part IV Discourse Frameworks
• 8 Beyond Sentences (p. 183)
• 8.1 Discourse (p. 183)
• 8.2 Text and context (p. 184)
• 8.3 Spoken and written discourse (p. 186)
• 8.4 Lexical cohesion (p. 188)
• 8.5 Repetition (p. 191)
• 8.6 Reference (p. 193)
• 8.7 Ellipsis (p. 196)
• 8.8 Cohesion in interactional discourse (p. 198)
• 8.9 Structure in interactional discourse (p. 199)
• 8.10 Discourse markers (p. 203)
• 8.11 Register (p. 206)
• 8.12 Electronically mediated discourse (p. 210)
• Discourse frameworks: exercises (p. 213)
• Discourse frameworks: suggestions for further reading (p. 216)
• Part V Phonological Frameworks
• 9 Phonetics and Phonemes (p. 221)
• 9.1 Phonetics and phonology (p. 221)
• 9.2 A representative accent (p. 222)
• 9.3 Phonemes (p. 223)
• 9.4 The International Phonetic Alphabet (p. 224)
• 9.5 The vocal tract (p. 225)
• 9.6 The consonants of English (p. 227)
• 9.7 The vowels of English (p. 234)
• 9.8 Phonetic transcriptions (p. 246)
• 10 Segmental Phonology (p. 248)
• 10.1 What is segmental phonology? (p. 248)
• 10.2 The distribution of consonants (p. 249)
• 10.3 The distribution of vowels (p. 253)
• 10.4 Syllable structure (p. 256)
• 10.5 The syllable template (p. 264)
• 10.6 Connected speech (p. 267)
• 11 Suprasegmental Phonology (p. 270)
• 11.1 What is suprasegmental phonology? (p. 270)
• 11.2 Word stress (p. 270)
• 11.3 Rhythm (p. 276)
• 11.4 Intonation and tone groups (p. 279)
• 11.5 Semantic functions of intonation (p. 283)
• 11.6 Grammatical functions of intonation (p. 284)
• 11.7 Other suprasegmental features (p. 285)
• Phonological frameworks: exercises (p. 287)
• Phonological frameworks: suggestions for further reading (p. 289)
• Part VI Broader Perspectives
• 12 Variation in English (p. 293)
• 12.1 Beyond RP and Standard British English (p. 293)
• 12.2 Variation in English: an overview (p. 296)
• 12.3 Studying and analysing variation (p. 298)
• 12.4 Lexical variation (p. 299)
• 12.5 Grammatical variation: inflections (p. 305)
• 12.6 Grammatical variation: phrase structure (p. 308)
• 12.7 Grammatical variation: clauses and sentences (p. 310)
• 12.8 Variation in discourse (p. 312)
• 12.9 Phonological variation: consonants (p. 313)
• 12.10 Phonological variation: vowels (p. 318)
• 12.11 Phonological variation: prosodic features (p. 320)
• 12.12 An example (p. 320)
• Broader perspectives: exercises (p. 324)
• Broader perspectives: suggestions for further reading (p. 327)
• Phonetic and Other Symbols (p. 330)
• Answers to Exercises (p. 333)
• Glossary (p. 346)
• Index (p. 387)