Edinburgh Textbooks on the English Language - Advanced

Presents pragmatics as a framework to analyse the discourse of fiction

• Draws on a range of fictional genres including novels, plays, fan fiction, poems, lyrics, movies and TV series
• Each chapter includes an introduction and conclusion, a list of key concepts, exercises and suggestions for further reading
• Three part structure explores fiction as communication, the pragmatics of story worlds and themes in fiction

Drawing on a wide range of fictional texts from Shakespeare and Austen to Game of Thrones and the lyrics of ‘We Shall Overcome’, this textbook shows how pragmatic analyses can uncover the performative elements that create and shape characters for an audience.

By exploring fictional language, the book investigates different forms of interpersonal communication, such as politeness and impoliteness, as well as the nature of poetic language and the language of emotion. With exercises, discussion topics, suggestions for small-scale research projects and further reading, it shows just how fascinating a challenge fictional language can pose to pragmatics, and illustrates the richness of fictional language as a source of data for pragmatic research.

A textbook survey of how English morphology has evolved from Old English to the present

• Explores four sources of linguistic innovation: learner errors in categorical inflectional systems, lexical analogy, productivity in derivational systems and language and dialect contact
• Includes inflectional and derivational morphology
• Organized chronologically navigating Old, Middle and Early Modern English and Modern English
• Draws on data from English, Germanic, French, Greek and Latin
• Includes discussion questions, exercises and suggestions for further reading

Charting the major developments in the morphology of English, this book introduces students to English inflectional and derivational morphology, presenting them with a long-range perspective of language change. It is built around the chronological periods crucial for each type of important large-scale change in the morphology of English, moving from Old, Middle and Early Modern English, to Modern English.The book also explores four sources of linguistic innovation - learner errors in categorical inflectional systems, lexical analogy, productivity in derivational systems and language and dialect contact - illustrating the extent to which the history of English Morphology offers significant information about morphological change in general.

Delivers a firm grounding in the tools of syntactic analysis using a minimalist framework

• Applies the Minimalist framework to data from a number of varieties of English
• Each chapter includes a ‘pre-Minimalist’ section, highlighting differences between the Minimalist framework and previous syntactic theory
• Each chapter works through an example of a ‘puzzling’ syntactic phenomenon
• Exercises focus on English and include at least one ‘Beyond English’ exercise
• Includes a glossary of key terms and additional materials will be available online

Do you find the technical architecture of theoretical syntax intimidating? Are you grappling with a great deal of unfamiliar linguistic examples? This textbook will introduce you to the main aspects of Minimalist syntax through the use of data from a number of varieties of English. In doing so it will equip you with a firm grounding in tools of syntactic analysis, while demonstrating the potential for variationist linguistics and theoretical syntax to feed into each other. Through examples and exercises, this textbook demonstrates that all varieties of language are rule-based and can be observed and described systematically, regardless of how ‘standard’ or socially valued they are.

An exploration of English pragmatics with a thorough integration of theoretical and experimental research

A central goal of pragmatics is to identify the capabilities that underpin our ability to communicate ‘non-literal’ meanings. Guiding students through the many facets of English pragmatics, this textbook discusses the ways in which people successfully convey and recover meanings that are not simply associated with the combinations of words that they use.

The book draws on a broad range of data, including psycholinguistic experimentation, studies of acquisition and corpus research, and uses real examples from English to illuminate contemporary debates in pragmatics and related fields. With exercises and discussion topics at the end of each chapter, it invites students to explore how pragmatic meaning can be explained in theoretical terms and contemplate whether these explanations command empirical support.

• Wide-ranging treatment of the major topics in English pragmatics
• Thorough integration of theoretical and experimental research
• Accessible introduction to relevant empirical methods, assuming no prior expertise
• Extensive reference to real examples of usage
• Exercises and discussion topics

Introduces Construction Grammar as a cognitive-functional theory of language, applied to the structures of English

What do speakers of English know in order to produce utterances that other speakers will understand? Construction Grammar explains how knowledge of language is organized in speakers' minds. The central and radical claim of Construction Grammar is that linguistic knowledge can be fully described as knowledge of constructions, which are defined as symbolic units that connect a linguistic form with meaning. The implications of this claim are far-reaching: in Construction Grammar, not only lexical items, but also syntactic patterns are seen as symbolic, meaningful units. Instead of being meaningless structural templates, syntactic patterns actively contribute to the overall meaning of an utterance. Knowledge of language is thought of as a vast repository of interrelated symbolic units, and nothing else in addition. This book expands on this idea and familiarizes readers with the central concepts of Construction Grammar, as applied to English constructions. In the process, it explains how the theory of Construction Grammar relates to issues of language processing, language acquisition, and language variation and change.

Key Features
• The first textbook to offer a full introduction to Construction Grammar, as applied to English
• Includes exercises and questions to stimulate reflection
• Provides a thorough grounding in the central concepts of Construction Grammar
• A series of ten video lectures accompanying the book are available via YouTube

A textbook overview of the structure, use and diversity of Modern Scots

This textbook overview of Modern Scots provides a description and analysis of the language covering lexical, phonological and structural patterns. It presents evidence for the diversity of the language through illustrations from newly collected fieldwork material. Frequent, detailed analysis of local variation and dialect is combined with a central focus is on the overall patterning of Scots. McColl Millar also examines the present and future of Scots, considering both its use in literature and other media and ongoing language policy and planning.

A dedicated chapter introduces the reader to the various research methods and available resources – including corpora, atlases and dictionaries – and provides guidance on how to use them effectively. Each chapter concludes with a series of exercises to complete and issues to discuss, encouraging active engagement and development of skill and knowledge in relation to the subject matter. This textbook offers a practical and engaging survey of Modern Scots making this an essential resource, aptly structured for course use .

Key Features

• Provides analysis of the structure and use of Modern Scots
• Presents complex material for student use
• Maps out similarities and large-scale patterns in a clear and accessible way
• Includes chapters on lexis, phonology, grammar and sociolinguistics
• Includes exercises, issues for discussion and guided suggestions for further reading

Provides a clear introduction to the key terms and frameworks in cognitive poetics and stylistics

How do texts create meaning? How do we arrive at our textual interpretations? Why do we become ‘lost in a book’ or feel deep emotion in response to a literary character? Through close attention to the way texts are written and the language they use, as well as what we know about the human mind, Contemporary Stylistics provides readers with the tools to begin answering these questions. In doing so, it introduces the theoretical principles and practical frameworks of stylistics and cognitive poetics, supplying the practical skills to analyse your own responses to literary texts. Including innovative activities for students and with case studies of work by writers like Dylan Thomas, EL James and Kazuo Ishiguro, this is a detailed analysis of contemporary stylistics that offers both historical contextualization of the discipline and points towards its possible future direction.

• Introduces the key terms for each contemporary stylistic framework
• Outlines the foundations of the discipline and addresses cutting-edge developments such as reader response research, corpus methods, multimodality and reader emotion
• Contains practical analyses, innovative exercises for students, and further reading suggestions in each chapter
• Addresses the recent attention to multimodal and digital literature and research into empiricism and emotion
• Each topic is explored through original analyses of a wide range of texts, including poetry, prose, dialogue, song lyrics, political discourse, and linguistic transcripts

There are stylistic and cognitive poetic analyses through the book. The key case studies include:

• The Canal – Lee Rourke (2010)
• ‘Zang Tumb Tumb’ by Marinetti (1914)
• ‘River in Spate’ by Louis MacNeice
• Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (1954)
• ‘Space Sonnet & Polyfilla’ by Edwin Morgan (1977)
• ‘In Defense of Our Overgrown Garden’ by Matthea Harvey (2000)
• House of Cards
• What is the What by Dave Eggers (2006)
• Ash Wednesday by Ethan Hawke (2002)
• Fresh Meat
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (2012)
• ‘Received Pronunciation’ by Sally Goldsmith (2012)
• ‘The house is not the same since you left’ by Henry Normal (1993)
• The Lives of Others by Neel Mukherjee (2014)
• My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Stroud (2016)
• How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid (2013)
• The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro (2005)
• The One Ronnie
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (2015)
• ‘I Am The Song’ by Charles Causley
• ‘Hypothetical’ by Maria Taylor
• ‘This is the Poem in which I Have Not Left You’ by Julia Copus (2012)
• 13, rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro (2011)
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (2015)
• Karen by Blast Theory (2015)
• ‘Blood Story’ by Melvin Burgess

A lively hands-on introduction to the use of electronic corpora in the description and analysis of English

The second edition of this successful text provides an ideal introduction for university students of English at the intermediate level. Students planning papers, dissertations or theses will find the book a particularly valuable guide.

After introducing corpora and the rationale and basic methodology of corpus linguistics, the authors present a number of recent case studies providing new insights into vocabulary, collocations, phraseology, metaphor and metonymy, syntactic structures, male and female language, and language change. A final chapter shows how the web and social media can be used as a source for linguistic investigations and contains information on how to compile your own corpus. Each chapter includes study questions, exercises and updated suggestions for further reading.

The second edition features:

• New coverage on social media, DIY corpora and ethical concerns
• New material on metonymy and pragmatics
• Updated example investigations, corpus exercises and study questions
• Examples of how to create your own corpus data
• Information on new corpora with accompanying links

A descriptive and comprehensive account of English syntax and grammar

Tackling the role of syntactic constructions in text, this companion brings out the connections between syntactic structures and semantics/pragmatics and the function of different clausal structures in written and spoken texts. It also draws attention to variation in standard written English, to the grammatical structures and discourse devices in spoken English, and to ongoing changes in English grammar. It focuses on the concepts of descriptive grammar as extended and refined over the last fifty years.

• Encyclopedic format gives immediate access the most relevant topic
• Cross-referencing allows students to follow a thread and explore the interrelationships between syntactic structures
• Innovative structure of the volume enables lecturers to decide the order in which they wish to discuss topics and to prescribe reading

This is a practical yet flexible reference that you can return to again and again, whether it be for learning, research or teaching.

An overview of the structural and cognitive approaches to English historical semantics

This guide gives students a solid grounding in the basic methodology of how to analyse corpus data to study new words entering the language or language change. It uses a number of case studies to provide insights into collocations, phraseology, metaphor and metonymy, syntactic structures, male and female language, and language change. Students will become proficient in the key concepts in semantic change by applying ideas from theoretical semantics to historical data. They will also cover recent work at the intersections between historical semantics and other disciplines.

• Focuses primarily on Lexical Semantics – the study of word meaning
• Offers a solid grounding in the basic methodology for corpus data analysis
• Features extended case studies on colour and kinship terms
• Includes exercises and suggestions for further reading in every chapter

Explores the many factors that influenced syntactic change in English

Aimed at advanced students, this book discusses a number of approaches to charting the major developments in the syntax of English. It does not assume any knowledge of Old or Middle English or of formal syntax, although students should be familiar with traditional syntactic concepts such as verbs and nouns, subjects and objects, and linguistic concepts such as morphology and case. Bettelou Los draws on explanations from both formal and functional approaches to explore how syntactic changes are the product of the interaction of many internal and external factors.

• Discusses internal factors such as the loss of morphology and pressure from analogy
• Covers external factors such as the sociolinguistic impact of language and dialect contact
• Strikes a balance between theoretical explanation and accessibility to readers with no background in formal syntax

A textbook introduction to morphological theory in the context of English

This introduction to morphology offers graduate students and advanced undergraduate students in linguistics an accessible entry point to the primary literature in the field of morphology.

The book specifically focuses on generative theories of morphology. It offers a thorough introduction to the many issues which have shaped the field of morphology over the last few decades and in doing so prepares students for further reading and research in the subject. Topics covered include derivation versus inflection, lexical versus syntactic models of morphology, synthetic compounds and storage versus computation.

• Provides an entry point to the primary literature in the field of morphology
• Includes suggestions for further reading into this complex area
• Includes exercises designed to test understanding of the key theories and issues

Charts the historical development of the English phonological system

A thorough and fascinating exploration of the evolution of English’ phonological structure, this book traces the history of individual sounds and their representation through Old, Middle, Early Modern and Present Day English.

Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book covers the sounds of English, consonantal histories, Middle English dialects, vowel quality and quantity in Early Modern English, the English stress system and Early English verse forms to demonstrate how the present form of the language is indebted to its past.

Key Features
• Places linguistic findings into historical, literary and social contexts
• Explains Modern English’s phonological features in terms of its development
• Please click on the following link to download the online companion to be used together with the book: Online Companion to A Historical Phonology of English

Your guide to historical pragmatics in English studies

Historical pragmatics is an emerging branch within linguistics and one of the most versatile fields in the historical study of English. It is placed at the intersection between pragmatics, historical linguistics and neighbouring disciplines like (historical) sociolinguistics. It is at such interfaces where exciting new developments take place.

English Historical Pragmatics introduces this field to advanced linguistic students coming to the topic for the first time. It critically evaluates data sources and methodological approaches and takes a broad social pragmatics approach to micro issues within historical pragmatics such as discourse markers, terms of address and actions performed through language. It also covers macro issues of genre, medical and news discourse and fictional literature, and it outlines the underlying principles of language change through grammaticalisation, subjectivisation and pragmaticalisation.

With engaging examples throughout and thought-provoking student exercises, this advanced textbook provides students with a thorough grounding in historical pragmatics.

Sociolinguistics provides a powerful instrument by which we can interpret the contemporary and near-contemporary use of language in relation to the society in which speakers live. Almost since the beginning of the discipline, however, attempts have been made to extrapolate backwards and interpret past linguistic change sociolinguistically. Some of these findings have influenced the discussion of the history of the English language as portrayed in the many textbooks for undergraduate courses. A consistent application of sociolinguistic theory and findings has rarely been attempted, however, despite the specialist literature which demonstrates this connection at specific points in the language's development.

This textbook provides students with a means by which a previously existing knowledge of a linear, narrative, history of English can be deepened by a more profound understanding of the sociolinguistic forces which initiate or encourage language change. Uniquely, it discusses not only the central variationist tendencies present in language change and their analysis but also the macrosociolinguistic forces which act upon all speakers and their language. Chapters investigate the political, cultural and economic forces which affect a society's use of and views on language; language contact, language standardisation and linguistic attrition are also covered. Discussion is illustrated throughout by apposite examples from the history of English. The volume enables students to develop a deeper understanding of both sociolinguistics and historical linguistics; it is also be useful as a primer for postgraduate study in the subjects covered.