English Linguistics: Essentials

by Bernd Kortmann

This is the completely revised, updated and enlarged 2nd edition of a classic textbook used in many English and linguistics departments in Germany for more than 20 years. It serves both as an introduction for beginners and as a companion for more advanced undergraduate and graduate students, familiarizing its readers with the major and distinctive properties of English (Standard English as well major national, regional and social varieties), including an in-depth structural comparison with German. Written in an accessible style and with many reader-friendly features (including checklists with key terms and concepts, basic and advanced exercises with solutions), the book offers a state-of-the-art-survey of the core terminology and issues of the central branches of linguistics, including an account of the major current research traditions and methodologies.

Genres: Nonfiction, Linguistics

312 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1999

Reviews

[Carl Müller · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the required book in my course on English linguistics at university. As a learning university student, for whom this book presumably is written, it is unnecessarily complicated and not straight forward in the least. Why make up a confusing allegory for something, instead of simply explain a concept in a straightforward way? Or give five examples for something, but not explain what it is about those examples which constitute the given concept? Do you know what a transitive verb is? No? Well you're shit out of luck if you think this book will tell you. These are just some examples that have driven me up the wall several times. Often I tried to understand the description of something explained in the book, did not get it, proceeded to google it, where it consequently was explained in a simple and understandable manner. I even have the 2020 revised edition. Honestly, they could have just given us a list of terms to google and it would have been easier, better and cheaper.
Fuck this book. When I am done with the course I will burn it.

[sabisteb aka callisto · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Freiburg hat man die Wahl zwischen zwei Einführungen in die Linguistik. Diese und Christian Mairs English Linguistics (bachelor-wissen). Letztendlich nehmen sich die beiden Bücher nichts, was nicht verwundert, denn beide Autoren arbeiten im selben Institut und haben das Buch des anderem in Regal stehen. Eigentlich stehen bei fast allen Linguistik Profs beide Bücher im Regal (wahrscheinlich die Belegexemplare).
Inhaltlich decken beide Bücher also die gleichen Bereiche ab, das Kortmann Buch hat aber das gruseligere Layout und die Englische Satzstruktur hat im Mair Buch auch definitiv deutlich mehr und bessere Schaubilder. Beim Kortmann Buch sind die Lösungen im Anhang beim Mair Buch gibt es die Lösungen online beim Verlag. Letztendlich fällt die Entscheidung in Freiburg, welches Buch man nimmt, danach, wer von beiden gerade die Vorlesung hält.
Ich persönlich finde das Mair Buch besser geeignet für das 1. Semester, es ist einfacher geschrieben und hat ein besseres Layout. Das Kortmann Buch ist besser zur Wiederholung der absoluten Basics vor dem Examen, denn es hat denn besseren Fließtext und liest sich ein bisschen besser und geht ein winzig kleines bisschen tiefer in die Thematik.
Beides gute Bücher für die absoluten basic Grundlagen in Linguistik auf dem Stand des 1. oder 2. Semesters, somit fast auch für interessierte Laien geeignet, die mit hässlichen Farben und eher unschönen Grafiken leben können.

[Marie (find me on StoryGraph) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I actually for once read a book for university cover to cover!

Though this book has everything you need for a English Linguistics basic module exam, I don't particularly like it.

First of all it's butt ugly. What were they thinking when they gave it a baby pink and baby blue cover? Is this supposed to represent English Linguistics as infantile?

Secondly, the layouter obviously never heard anything about readability. The text is way too small and too close to the spine of the book, making it sometimes painful to read this book. There also could have been more chapterisation in order to make it easier to find what you're looking for.

And thirdly, the pages are too thick.

My advice: get a better cover, make the pages thinner, the font bigger and find a new concept for the keywords at the side of the pages. Then I probably wouldn't have anything to complain.

[Eden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been working at this book all semester and finally finished it. It is very difficult to read, and time consuming. It uses dense jargon and often with unclear explanations of what exactly things are (though usually it is embedded in there somewhere). I must say, my course recommended a newer version of it, which might be a little easier to read, but I had already gotten a copy of the older version, so perhaps this problem has already been addressed. It does get easier when you get into it, and it does contain a lot of information which is very relevant at least for my classes. Also, the sociolinguistics chapter was extremely interesting, and didn't feel so difficult to read, and the charts and diagrams generally were a very good summary of everything, and helped compensate for some of the overcomplication. Overall though, not very accessible or direct, and take some time to read yourself into.

[Jules · Rating 3 out of 5]

We've only used part of the book in class so far. While I found phonetics, phonology and morphology to be done well and rather easily understandable, semantics felt awful and just glossed over. I'll probably have to pick it up again next semester for syntax & co., but for now this is my evaluation.

[dreamwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

the essentials. true.

[Nadja · Rating 1 out of 5]

this must be the worst linguistics book ive ever come across