Effects of morphological structure on phonetic detail present us with two challenges. The empirical challenge is that some predictors have produced inconsistent effects. The theoretical challenge is that it is unclear where morpho-phonetic effects originate from. Do speakers decompose words into morphemes? Or can such effects also originate from non-decompositional structure? This book investigates the durational properties of English derived words in four large-scale corpus studies. In the decompositional perspective, durations are modeled as a function of frequency and segmentability, prosodic structure, and affix informativeness. In the non-decompositional perspective, durations are modeled with predictors derived from linear discriminative learning networks. Results show that the decompositional predictors are far less reliable than previously thought. Meanwhile, some non-decompositional predictors model durations successfully. Discriminative learning is shown to be a promising alternative for modeling speech production. However, the book also demonstrates that many investigated predictors are conceptually interrelated. It ultimately cautions against taking the metaphors we use to describe these predictors as final explanations.

The study of grammar is a process through which learners will acquire the necessary skills for all kinds of activities. The New English Grammar was designed to elaborate on the three major grammatical divisions related to learning and usage of English as a modern language. The first part called 'Phonetics' will teach learners the formation of words a " the written and the spoken word in correlation with the letters of the alphabet and their phonetic values. The use of the parts of speech and their inflections, agreements in gender, number, etc., in the formation of sentences, is known as 'Morphology.' The division called 'Syntax' will teach language learners and users how words relate with other words in a sentence; it will also show how sentences can relate with other sentences in the process of achieving clear and concise communication . The essential grammatical skills acquired from this text, in summary, will enable learners of all ages and backgrounds, and professionals from all walks of life to communicate thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely, without doubt or hesitation. Horace Dalmolin is an experienced writer, a linguist, grammarian and lexicographer. Fluent in five languages including English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, he has more than thirty combined years of teaching experience and has worked with the Middle Atlantic States Evaluating Committee."

A new edition of this textbook discusses the learned vocabulary of English - the words borrowed from the classical languages.

In this book, the development of the English dictionary is examined, along with the kinds of dictionary available, the range of information they contain, factors affecting their usage, and public attitudes towards them. As well as an descriptive analysis of word meaning, the author considers whether a thematic, thesaurus-like presentation might be more suited than the traditional alphabetical format to the description of words and their meaning.

The teaching of the phonetics and the phonology of British English to undergraduate students is often based on a bare, uncritical presentation of facts as they are usually portrayed in classic publications such as Gimson-Cruttenden, Collins & Mees, Roach, Car, etc. While they present a welcome canonical view of language, there is a danger that students will end up holding a quasi-dogmatic opinion of the phonology of English, with little awareness of other views and approaches. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, the contributors to this volume have tried to combine theory and praxis in tackling different aspects of the phonology of English. The result is this book of readings which will hopefully provide students with reliable and up-to-date information on key issues both at segmental and supra-segmental level.

For the past forty years, linguistics has been dominated by the idea that language is categorical and linguistic competence discrete. It has become increasingly clear, however, that many levels of representation, from phonemes to sentence structure, show probabilistic properties, as does the language faculty. Probabilistic linguistics conceptualizes categories as distributions and views knowledge of language not as a minimal set of categorical constraints but as a set of gradient rules that may be characterized by a statistical distribution. Whereas categorical approaches focus on the endpoints of distributions of linguistic phenomena, probabilistic approaches focus on the gradient middle ground. Probabilistic linguistics integrates all the progress made by linguistics thus far with a probabilistic perspective. This book presents a comprehensive introduction to probabilistic approaches to linguistic inquiry. It covers the application of probabilistic techniques to phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. It also includes a tutorial on elementary probability theory and probabilistic grammars.

This book has been prepared with special attention to the needs of students in Nepal at the certificate and diploma levels. It is also a basic textbook for students in India at the level of undergraduate English.

Max Weinreich’s History of the Yiddish Language is a classic of Yiddish scholarship and is the only comprehensive scholarly account of the Yiddish language from its origin to the present. A monumental, definitive work, History of the Yiddish Language demonstrates the integrity of Yiddish as a language, its evolution from other languages, its unique properties, and its versatility and range in both spoken and written form. Originally published in 1973 in Yiddish by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and partially translated in 1980, it is now being published in full in English for the first time. In addition to his text, Weinreich’s copious references and footnotes are also included in this two-volume set.