The handbook of linguistics / edited by Mark Aronoff and Janie Rees-Miller.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"The first edition of this Handbook is built on surveys by well-known figures from around the world and around the intellectual world, reflecting several different theoretical predilections, balancing coverage of enduring questions and important recent work. Those strengths are now enhanced by adding new chapters and thoroughly revising almost all other chapters, partly to reflect ways in which the field has changed in the intervening twenty years, in some places radically. The result is a magnificent volume that can be used for many purposes." David W. Lightfoot, Georgetown University

" The Handbook of Linguistics, Second Edition is a stupendous achievement. Aronoff and Rees-Miller have provided overviews of 29 subfields of linguistics, each written by one of the leading researchers in that subfield and each impressively crafted in both style and content. I know of no finer resource for anyone who would wish to be better informed on recent developments in linguistics." Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University

"Linguists, their students, colleagues, family, and friends: anyone interested in the latest findings from a wide array of linguistic subfields will welcome this second updated and expanded edition of The Handbook of Linguistics. Leading scholars provide highly accessible yet substantive introductions to their fields: it's an even more valuable resource than its predecessor." Sally McConnell-Ginet, Cornell University

"No handbook or text offers a more comprehensive, contemporary overview of the field of linguistics in the twenty-first century. New and thoroughly updated chapters by prominent scholars on each topic and subfield make this a unique, landmark publication." Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State University

This second edition of The Handbook of Linguistics provides an updated and timely overview of the field of linguistics. The editor's broad definition of the field ensures that the book may be read by those seeking a comprehensive introduction to the subject, but with little or no prior knowledge of the area.

Building on the popular first edition, The Handbook of Linguistics, Second Edition features new and revised content reflecting advances within the discipline. New chapters expand the already broad coverage of the Handbook to address and take account of key changes within the field in the intervening years. It explores: psycholinguistics, linguistic anthropology and ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistic theory, language variation and second language pedagogy. With contributions from a global team of leading linguists, this comprehensive and accessible volume is the ideal resource for those engaged in study and work within the dynamic field of linguistics.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Aronoff and Rees-Miller note in their preface the gap between academic and general public thinking about linguistics, a gap largely due to erroneous ideas about language. They hope to bridge that gap with this book, which in their eyes presupposes no prior knowledge of linguistics; but in fact most of it is accessible only to someone with a good knowledge of language history and structure. The editors do include information for people who want to know what linguistics and its subdisciplines are about, and they are successful at showing the state of knowledge of various aspects of human language at the beginning of the 21st century. The volume begins with surveys of the languages and writing systems of the world, goes on to cover the now-traditional disciplines of linguistics (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics), and ends with a survey of newer fields like sociolinguistics, computational linguistics, and even forensic linguistics. Because of its wide range, the book is an essential resource in its area and is more up-to-date than the few other works of its kind. The writers frequently seem at once fascinated and intimidated by the field of linguistics, a reminder that it is an elusive and young science. All linguistics collections. J. B. Beston; formerly, Nazareth College of Rochester