Books on Linguistics

The study of languages.

Here are my favorite books on linguistics. If you are going to teach languages, it's important to understand what language is all about!
These books talk about what language is, how it is learned, and how it is taught.

The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language By Steven Pinker Steven Pinker is a linguistic genius. He explains where language comes from. Inspect/Order The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language from Amazon.com

Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language By Steven Pinker Words are put together in sentences according to rules. Steven Pinker explains how with depth of understanding and humor. He uses regular and irregular verbs to show that there is a a system in the brain that applies rules to produce correct utterances. Inspect/Order Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language from Amazon.com

The Unfolding of Language: An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention By Guy Deutscher The author explains very well how some features of language got to be that way. It's about how languages evolved. Very readable and humorous. Inspect/Order The Unfolding of Language from Amazon.com

Language By Edward Sapir Language, by Edward Sapir was my first book on linguistics. I still have my original one, from around 1958. A real classic book for those interested in languages. First published in 1955. Very readable. Inspect/Order Language from Amazon.com

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language By David Crystal An interesting book on languages. Broad view of the world's languages. Inspect/Order The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language from Amazon.com

How Languages Are Learned By Spada, Lightbown This book is a good introduction to Second Language Acquisition. The ideas you need before you teach languages to others. Inspect/Order How Languages Are Learned from Amazon.com

Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics, and Grammar By David E. Freeman Essential Linguistics: A short but very useful book for those who want to teach languages and don't have a formal linguistics background. Inspect/Order Essential Linguistics from Amazon.com

Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching By Diane Larson-Freeman If you are serious about teaching languages, you must buy this book and read it carefully. It explains clearly the various methods that are used in teaching spoken languages. It does not judge or criticize. It lets you decide for yourself which of the methods you will use. You may want to use a little of each method. Inspect/Order Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching from Amazon.com

An Introduction to Language By Victoria Fromkin 9th edition. This is an excellent book on linguistics, the science of language. If you are going to buy only 1 book on linguistics, this can be the one. It is very clear and does not waste any time criticizing other linguists. It's isn't really about teaching languages, but you need to understand this before you teach ... Inspect/Order An Introduction to Language from Amazon.com

The Romance Languages By Martin Harris, Nigel Vincent An excellent reference to the romance languages. It discusses Latin and the similarities and characteristics. of languages which descended from Latin. (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, Rhaeto-Romance and Sardinian) Each chapter is an essay written by a different person, so the ability to directly compare the languages is limited. Inspect/Order The Romance Languages from Amazon.com

The Ape That Spoke: Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind By John McCrone Very interesting thesis. If you are interested in the origin of language, you'll find this book well worth reading. (No ape has ever spoken. The first humans spoke. Humans are not apes. Apes are not humans.) Inspect/Order The Ape That Spoke: Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind from Amazon.com

An Introduction to Sociolinguistics By Ronald Wardhaugh This book is a good introduction to sociolinguistics and the sociology of language. Great for a college course, and anyone interested in language and culture. Inspect/Order An Introduction to Sociolinguistics from Amazon.com

Language Change: Progress or Decay? By Jean Aitchison Sloppiness in speaking leads to change in languages. Is this change decay or progress? Interesting thesis. Not too technical. Inspect/Order Language Change: Progress or Decay? from Amazon.com

Language: The Basics By R. L. Trask A good introduction to the study of language. A basic book, as its name implies. Inspect/Order Language: The Basics from Amazon.com

The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain By Terrence W. Deacon The central thesis is that human brains and human language have coevolved over millions of years. For those who know about evolution and linguistics, this book ties the two together. Inspect/Order The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain from Amazon.com

Some interesting books on language, linguistics, second language acquisition.
The Language Instinct: Steven Pinker where language comes from.
Words and Rules.
Unfolding of Language An Evolutionary Tour of Mankind's Greatest Invention Guy Deutscher,
Edward Sapir linguistics,
David Crystal Encyclopedia of Language,
Lightbown Second Language Acquisition,
Martin Harris, Nigel Vincent romance languages,
John McCrone Ape that Spoke Language and the Evolution of the Human Mind,
Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language,
How the Mind Creates Language By Steven Pinker,
John McCrone Ape that Spoke,
An Introduction to Language By Victoria Fromkin,
Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching,
The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain By Terrence W. Deacon,
Wardhaugh sociolinguistics and the sociology of language,
Aitchison Language Change Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain. Deacon.