English Linguistics : Essentials This is the completely revised updated and enlarged 2nd edition of a classic textbook widely used at German universities for more than 20 years. It serves both as an introduction for beginners and as a companion for more advanced students familiarizing its readers with the major and distinctive properties of English and its major varieties including an in depth structural comparison with German. Written in an accessible style and with many reader friendly features (including checklists with key terms basic and advanced exercises with solutions) the book offers a state of the art survey of English linguistics as practiced in the 21st century. Preface 1. Linguistics: Major concepts and research traditions 2. Phonetics and phonology: On sounds and sound systems 3. Morphology: On the structure and formation of words 4. Grammar: The ground plan of English 5. Contrastive Linguistics: English and German 6. Semantics: Word and sentence meaning 7. Pragmatics: The study of meaning in context 8. Sociolinguistics: Regional and social varieties of English 9. Turns and trends in 21st century linguistics 10 General Refenrence works 11 Online resources and appetizers 12. Index.