Below I’ll give you my selections for the best Linguistic books by a few categories. I will cover these and other great books more in depth later.
1. Essential Linguistics, Second Edition: What Teachers Need to Know to Teach ESL, Reading, Spelling, and Grammar (2014)
The bestselling first edition of Essential Linguistics presented the basic concepts of linguistics in everyday language, and showed the connections between linguistic theory and classroom practice. David and Yvonne Freeman make the Second Edition even more valuable by: With examples, activities, and end-of-chapter applications that link linguistic theory and classroom practice, the Freemans show teachers how to use their new understandings of linguistics to help student learning. Essential Linguistics, Second Edition will be your go-to resource for all things linguistics,…
2. Linguistics For Dummies (2012)
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics students study how languages are constructed, how they function, how they affect society, and how humans learn language. From understanding other languages to teaching computers to communicate, linguistics plays a vital role in society. Linguistics For Dummies tracks to a typical college-level introductory linguistics course and arms you with the confidence, knowledge, and know-how to score your highest. If you’re enrolled in an introductory linguistics course or simply have a love of human language, Linguistics For Dummies is your one-stop resource for unlocking the…
3. Contemporary Linguistics: An Introduction (2017)
Contemporary Linguistics provides one of the most extensive introductions to the fundamentals of linguistics; ideal for those just beginning to explore this subject. #37,516 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #348 in Literature #14 in Linguistics (Books) #62 in Linguistics Reference Would you like to ?If you are a seller for this product, would you like to ?…
4. Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics, 12th Edition (2016)
Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language and Linguistics has become one of the most widely adopted, consulted, and authoritative introductory textbooks to linguistics ever written. The scope of the text makes it suitable for use in a wide range of courses, while its unique organization into student-friendly, self-contained sections allows for tremendous flexibility in course design. The twelfth edition has been significantly revised, clarified, and updated throughout—with particular attention to the chapters on phonetics, phonology, pragmatics, and especially psycholinguistics….
5. Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication (The MIT Press) (2017)
This popular introductory linguistics text is unique for its integration of themes. Rather than treat morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics as completely separate fields, the book shows how they interact. The authors provide a sound introduction to linguistic methodology, focusing on a set of linguistic concepts that are among the most fundamental within the field. By studying the topics in detail, students can get a feeling for how work in different areas of linguistics is done.As in the last edition, part I covers the structural and interpretive parts of…
6. Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication, 6th edition (The MIT Press) (2010)
This popular introductory linguistics text is unique for its integration of themes. Rather than treat morphology, phonetics, phonology, syntax, and semantics as completely separate fields, the book shows how they interact. It provides a sound introduction to linguistic methodology while encouraging students to consider why people are intrinsically interested in language―the ultimate puzzle of the human mind.The text first treats such structural and interpretive parts of language as morphology, phonology, syntax, and semantics, then takes a cognitive perspective and covers such topics as pragmatics,…
7. Nlp: The Essential Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Programming (2013)
NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) has helped millions to overcome their fears, increase their confidence, and achieve greater success in their personal and professional lives and relationships. Now, from the company that created NLP: The New Technology of Achievement—one of the bestselling NLP books of all time—comes NLP: The Essential Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Programming.This user-friendly guide, written by three seasoned NLP Master Practitioners and coaches, leads you on a personal journey in using and applying NLP in everyday life. Through their real-life stories, you will experience the NLP strategies you need…
8. Statistics in Corpus Linguistics: A Practical Guide (2018)
Do you use language corpora in your research or study, but find that you struggle with statistics? This practical introduction will equip you to understand the key principles of statistical thinking and apply these concepts to your own research, without the need for prior statistical knowledge. The book gives step-by-step guidance through the process of statistical analysis and provides multiple examples of how statistical techniques can be used to analyse and visualise linguistic data. It also includes a useful selection of discussion questions and exercises which you can use to check your understanding. The book…
9. In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius (2010)
Here is the captivating story of humankind’s enduring quest to build a better language—and overcome the curse of Babel. Just about everyone has heard of Esperanto, which was nothing less than one man’s attempt to bring about world peace by means of linguistic solidarity. And every Star Trek fan knows about Klingon. But few people have heard of Babm, Blissymbolics, Loglan (not to be confused with Lojban), and the nearly nine hundred other invented languages that represent the hard work, high hopes, and full-blown delusions of so many misguided souls over the centuries. With intelligence and…
10. Let’s Read: A Linguistic Approach (2010)
Originally published in 1961, Let’s Read is a simple and systematic way to teach basic reading. Developed by noted linguist Leonard Bloomfield, the book is based on the alphabetic spelling patterns of English. Bloomfield offered an antidote to the idea that English is a difficult language to learn to read by teaching the learner to decode the phonemic sound-letter correlations of the language in a sequential, logical progression of lessons based on its spelling patterns. The learner is first introduced to the most consistent (alphabetic) vocabulary and then to…
11. Cognitive Linguistics: A Complete Guide (2019)
Vyvyan Evans covers all aspects of the relationship between language and mind, as well as applications and extensions of cognitive linguistics to the study of text, literature, discourse, and society.Bursting with new content and presented in a new 5-part structure, the book has been fully revised and extensively updated throughout to deliver the complete guide to the cognitive linguistic enterprise. Brand new additions include: an innovative new chapter exploring key topics in language science, a new chapter introducing the range of research methods and approaches for studying…
Best Linguistic Books that Should be on Your Bookshelf
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some linguistic books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Theoretical Linguistics: Natural Semantic Metalanguage
Author(s): Gärtner, Hans-Martin (Ed.)
Publisher: De Gruyer Mouton, Year: May 2004, Size: 329 Kb, Download: pdf
ID: 1511214
Arguments as relations /
Author(s): Bowers, John S.
Publisher: MIT Press,, Year: c2010., Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1012516
Markedness: Reduction and Preservation in Phonology
Author(s): Paul de Lacy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, Year: 3006, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 510667
Language, Social Media and Ideologies: Translingual Englishes, Facebook and Authenticities
Author(s): Sender Dovchin
Publisher: Springer, Year: 2020, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2395861
Linguistic Disobedience
Author(s): Yuliya Komska, Michelle Moyd, David Gramling
Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2251981
Text Linguistics of Qur’anic Discourse: An Analysis
Author(s): Hussein Abdul-Raof
Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2284730
Mandarin Loanwords
Author(s): Tae Eun Kim
Publisher: Routledge, Year: 2019, Size: 5 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2295622
Foreign Language Proficiency in Higher Education
Author(s): Paula Winke, Susan M. Gass
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 5 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2309645
A Critical Introduction to Language Evolution: Current Controversies and Future Prospects
Author(s): Ljiljana Progovac
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Year: 2019, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2310093
Linguistic Ethnography of a Multilingual Call Center: London Calling
Author(s): Johanna Woydack
Publisher: Springer International Publishing;Palgrave Macmillan, Year: 2019, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2311023
Please note that this booklist is not definite. Some books are absolutely chart-busters according to Washington Post, others are drafted by unknown authors. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant links you could recommend? Drop a comment if you have any feedback on the list.