Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics

The fully updated new edition of the essential single-volume reference, covering the full fields of linguistics and phonetics

Now in its seventh edition, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics remains the definitive resource work for students of linguistics and phonetics. Originally created by David Crystal and revised for the new seventh edition with Alan C. L. Yu, this dictionary features a wealth of new entries by a team of experts in phonetics, phonology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and psycholinguistics. Throughout the text, most pre-existing entries have been updated to reflect the current body of knowledge in the areas of linguistics and phonetics.

Covering more than 5,100 terms, the new seventh edition reflects the latest state of the field and accounts for evolutions in research and theory since the publication of the prior edition. The entries provide clear and authoritative definitions of each term and are supported by additional information such as the historical context in which a term was used or the relationship between a term and others from associated fields. This useful work:

• Features new and updated entries reflecting the way established terms are now perceived in light of changes in the field
• Integrates ideas from the minimalist program, situating linguistic theory in the broader cognitive sciences
• Includes tables of abbreviations, symbols, and the International Phonetic Alphabet
• Offers unique insights into the historical development of linguistics
• Identifies major lexical variants as separate headwords, enabling readers to quickly find the location of a term
• Provides word-class identifiers and usage examples for single-word headwords, especially useful for non-native English speakers

A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Seventh Edition is an invaluable reference work for professionals, students, and general readers alike, and remains an essential resource for anyone studying linguistics or phonetics at the university level.

David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Bangor, formerly at the University of Reading, and a Fellow of the British Academy. He has been author, co-author, or editor of over 120 books, including several benchmark reference volumes such as The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1987, 1997, 2010) and The New Penguin Encyclopedia (2003), and books that have spread awareness of linguistics to general readers, such as The Stories of English (2004).

Alan C. L. Yu is the William Colvin Professor of Linguistics and the College at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on language variation and change, particularly from an individual-difference perspective. He is the author of A Natural History of Infixation (2007), the editor of Origins of Sound Change: Approaches to Phonologization (2013), and co-editor of The Handbook of Phonological Theory, Second Edition (2011, Wiley Blackwell). He is co-General Editor of Laboratory Phonology and Associate Editor of the International Journal of American Linguistics.