Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction

by Kristin Denham, Anne Lobeck

This book is for students with majors in English, linguistics, secondary education, foreign languages, communication sciences, and other disciplines that need a basic introduction to linguistics.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Textbooks, School, Reference, College, Language

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Chadi Raheb · Rating 4 out of 5]

خانوم لوبک عزیز،
با وجود تمام علاقه ای که به کتابتون دارم و لذتی که از نصفه نیمه خوندنش بردم و ارادتم نسبت به خودتون،
حالا که کورس مقدمات زبانشناسی رو ۱۹ شدم، میتونید برید به درک :))))

[Amin Abootalebi Yazdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always regarded George Yule's book, "The Study of Language," as the book one should read first if they want to enter the realm of languages, but now, I grant this high place of an introductory book to this astonishing work of Kristin E Denham.

[katyjanereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. This is the first textbook I’ve ever read cover to cover. It’s that good.
2. It could probably do with a new edition. I read the second edition published in 2013.
3. I loved the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and copied most of them in my quote book.
4. I’ve used this book as a reference in many conversations.
5. This book helped me better understand people and not to be so judgemental with how people speak.
6. Through the class I took over this book, I was able to understand my mom’s Arkansas accent more and let go of some of the things I correct her on.
7. I’ve learned that I’m a descriptive grammarian.
8. I haven’t diagrammed sentences since my undergrad in 2008 and we did it the old way. I enjoyed making the trees instead.
9. I enjoyed researching things on my own mentioned in the book.
10. This is essential for all linguistic enthusiasts.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I'm a nerd, but this is something I would just read for fun! It's a great introduction to linguistics -as it says- for everyone. It's clear, it gives great examples, and according to a professor of mine, it's the most professional and respectful book she's used in regards to taboo words.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh.

[R.E.S. Tidmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, Love, this book. I learned so much. So many things that were not explained as a child.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I have to read it for school I WILL be adding it to my goodreads idc. Very easy to understand and informational!

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an accessible book, but it could be clearer. I really needed more details aboout what was not acceptable in building CL trees. Just studying things as they should be doesn't help. It would be more helpful if the book talked more about unacceptable ways to make trees vs. correct ways.

[David Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read, studied, and consulted for an Introduction to Linguistics course at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) as part of my first semester's courseload towards a Master's in Linguistics.

Read in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico (Aug-Dec 2025)

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a really interesting text book. I felt like I learned a lot.

[Christopher Opacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it for college. Lots of interesting information about languages.

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is an introduction to linguistics, and it does a fair job of surveying the different subfields of linguistics and a lot of the major concepts. Some problems with this book, though, are the following: the author does not show you how to draw sentence diagrams well, and sometimes the author will go off on a tangent in the chapters. Aside from these shortcomings, I feel as though I understand more about linguistics.

[Gleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Provides a broad overview of Language Science, spends a lot of time explaining the basics. Does have a drastic focus on English, at least 3 chapters are devoted to it, I wish it was introduced more as a case study of a language rather than diminishing the importance of other language histories.

Also some of the linguistic terms and the phonetics table are incorrect. This book does not use the standard International Phonetic Alphabet phonetic table and terms.

[Cass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yay... I love how my book choices for the year reflect where I am at... Is it obvious that I am back at university studying french and linguistics??

I have to add the textbooks... because they are good.... and because I don't have time to read anything else.... my reading count for the year is going to be very low. It will be all textbooks and Winnie-the-Pooh

[Siti Zafira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 'lovely content'. Explained analytically. Read this and I bet that you'll wow after you learned that linguistics is an interesting subject. Yes, of course, as a linguistics student, I'd recommend this book to my friends or they'll 'lose' something.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful. I read this for an Intro to the English Language class, and holy guacamole do I have a better understanding of how and why we speak the way we do in different parts of the world. Lots of fun facts, and there are definitely a few sassy parts. Good textbook to learn from.

[Abeer Abdullah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very effective and easy introduction into the branches of linguistics. I think it's very appropriately named.

[Kaitlin Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a few glaring inaccuracies and worded a few of the concepts weirdly but overall it was a useful textbook for an Intro to Linguistics course.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting approach to the study of linguistics, languages, and sociolinguistics.
Read for Linguistics course Summer 2016.

[Donna Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

While working in the public library, I have devoted a lot of time to books and words. However, this textbook, along with the Linguistics course, proved that I still have much to discover about the English language. Even though "My Fair Lady" was one of my all-time favorite musicals, I hadn’t really considered the topic of linguistics much beyond that film. Since going back to school, Linguistics is now my favorite class taken so far. Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction was engaging and had snippets of extra information throughout the chapters. It truly is a textbook for "everyone."

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so confusing to read in the beginning and then, when we had gotten far into it as a class and the introductory terms weren't talked about anymore, I forgot what I learned. Ultimately, I was less confused about language than before I started reading this.

Conclusion

This might be good for people wanting to study linguistics, but for the rest of us this book shouldn't be used.