内容

目次

1. Introduction; 2. Talking to Garfield: human and animal communication;3. Did I hear that right? The sounds of language; 4. Twisted words: wordstructure and meaning; 5. Fitting words together: phrase structure andmeaning; 6. Meaning one thing and saying another: indirect speech andconversational principles; 7. Fitting the pieces together: the structure ofdiscourse; 8. 'Kids say the darndest things': children acquiring language; 9.Variety is the spice of life: language variation; 10. Cross-cultural gaffes:language and culture; 11. The language police: prescriptivism andstandardization; 12. So long, and thanks for all the fish.