The Logic of Language

This book serves as a basis for the exploration of language in a more systematic way. By surveying the several major divisions of language (phonology, morphology, syntax, lexis, tropology) and explicating the way in which sound and meaning cohere in them, this text lays barefor students, scholars and advanced readers alikethe lineaments of an understanding of what makes language the sign system par excellence, in the service of its most important function as the instrument of cognition and of communication. This book is intended as a companion volume to Shapiros The Speaking Self: Language Lore and English Usage. The two volumes taken in tandem will provide a solid grounding in the observational science of linguistics, linking theory with practice in a way that will expand ones understanding of language as a global phenomenon.