ABSTRACT

This companion offers a unique introductory study of linguistics in India. Well supplemented with sample problems and linguistic puzzles to bolster analytical skills and logical reasoning, it promotes a unique inquiry-based approach to learning linguistics. The volume looks at all the major subdisciplines of linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, and the interdisciplinary domains of psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics. It provides a wealth of data not only from many Indian languages belonging to the primary language families present in the country – Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic, and Tibeto-Burman – but also from the endangered languages of the Tai-Kadai family of Assam and the Greater Andamanese family.

The author gives a holistic view of the linguistic landscape of India and fills a significant gap in the study of the lesser-known languages of South Asia. This volume will be an excellent resource for students and researchers of Indian languages, cultural studies, South Asian studies, and all branches of linguistics.

chapter 1|17 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|16 pages

Language and Linguistics

chapter 4|43 pages

Learning to Expand and Dissect Words

Morphology

chapter 5|61 pages

Learning the Rules

Syntax

chapter 6|52 pages

Understanding Meaning

Semantics

chapter 7|34 pages

Language and Social Identity

Sociolinguistics

chapter 8|27 pages

Language and the Brain

Neurolinguistics

chapter 9|48 pages

Acquiring and Processing Language

Psycholinguistics

chapter 10|23 pages

Natural vs. Computer Languages

Computational Linguistics

chapter 11|2 pages

Conclusion