ABSTRACT
This book is about some of the concepts you need to analyse language as a speech and language therapist. What do we mean by ‘language’? Language is one of the many forms of communication human beings have at their disposal. It is a system for conveying and receiving meanings through sounds (oral language), characters (writing), and hand-gestures (sign language). In this sense, it is like gesture, touch, painting, drawing, photography, music, sculpture, dancing and any other form of communication you can think of, but is also quite different, with its own properties and unique ways of conveying meanings. Much of this book is about these properties and what you need to describe them – you can dip your toes in language straightaway by reading Chapter 2.
