The Social Art: Language and Its Uses

The Social Art is an engagingly written, highly accessible tour through the world of languages. Macaulay uses jokes, anecdotes, quotations, and examples to introduce readers to the full range of current linguistic knowledge, covering in 35 chapters, topics like language acquisition, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, dialects, conversation, narrative, swearing, and many others.

In this revised and expanded second edition, Macaulay brings the book up to date with the last decade of progress in linguistics, adding more American examples, and updating bibliographies. Two new chapters have been added, on theories of language development and on the evolution of language. The Social Art is perfect for general readers and students who want to learn about what it is that linguists do.

Author: Ronald K. S. Macaulay
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 02/02/2006
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.81lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.32w x 0.58d
ISBN: 9780195187960

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2006 pg. 477

About the Author
Ronald K. S. Macaulay is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at Pitzer College. He is the author of Language, Social Class and Education (1977), Locating Dialect in Discourse (1991), Standards and Variation in Urban Speech (1997), and Talk that Counts: Age, Gender, and Social Class Differences in Discourse (OUP, 2005). The first edition of The Social Art was published in 1995.

This title is not returnable