The Frameworks of English: Introducing Language Structures

by Kim Ballard

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

Genres: Linguistics, Academic, Nonfiction, Language

413 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2001

Reviews

[cukrkandl]

def not gonna be a favorite of this year... please pray for me so i get an A and pass my exam lol

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

There doesn't seem to be a single grammatical concept this book does not cover. However, it is written in the most fast-paced, informational way that it does not leave room for comprehension as one goes. I found the chapters about context and larger bodies of text like conversations and paragraphs towards the end easier to follow along with than the earlier ones that are sentence example after sentence example. This functions best as a grammatical dictionary of sorts and not just another informative linguistics read. I had to really focus to pull through it and obviously did not pick up even half of everything that was mentioned. Even though as a native English speaker it covers things I already know, it adds labels to them and defines them in new ways that I am not used to and will take repetition to become familiar with, of course. For me, the glossary was of the greatest value and teaches terms more clearly than the example situations found in the rest of the book.

[Fernando · Rating 5 out of 5]

A comprehensive, very well written linguistics book.

[izzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

the only good thing about this book is that i can add it to my goodreads challenge