ABSTRACT
The field of linguistics is daunting. The content of linguistics covers an impressive range: from the study of sound patterns in Bantu languages, to explorations of the distinction between the modal adverbs possibly and conceivably in British English. Even within the narrower field of English language variation, the abundance of technical language—e.g., syllable-initial consonant deletion, cluster reduction—can leave an adept English teacher feeling lost. When I began studying linguistics, I was overwhelmed.
