# Any good books on linguistics? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972 "2017-10-27T09:42:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Poo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Poo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Poo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/1 "2017-10-27T09:42:53Z")
This is a bit vague but I’m not sure where to start, just don’t want anything to do with etymology. Cheers ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/2 "2017-10-27T10:19:02Z")
Finegan’s _Language: Its Structure and Use_ is a really good textbook. McWhorter’s _The Power of Babel_ would make for an ideal fun, yet serious and illuminating, companion read. Later, you might get into one of Steven Pinker’s more specialized books, like \* Words and Rules\* — he’s a terrific writer. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/3 "2017-10-27T10:22:23Z")
Do you want books about the study of languages, or about languages? (If you see the subtle difference I’m making.) Anyway, you could try _[The Language Instinct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_Instinct)_, _[Through the Language Glass](https://us.macmillan.com/throughthelanguageglass/guydeutscher/9780312610494/)_, or _[In the Land of Invented Languages](http://inthelandofinventedlanguages.com/)_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/4 "2017-10-27T10:45:04Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Later, you might get into one of Steven Pinker’s more specialized books, like \* Words and Rules\* — he’s a terrific writer. I’ll second Steven Pinker. He’s very opinionated, and very persuasive; I have to remind myself when reading him that good rhetoric doesn’t always mean a person is 100% right. Even so I’ve been strongly influenced by reading his books. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/5 "2017-10-27T11:18:59Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ll second Steven Pinker. He’s very opinionated, and very persuasive; I have to remind myself when reading him that good rhetoric doesn’t always mean a person is 100% right. Even so I’ve been strongly influenced by reading his books. Well put — I agree with every word! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Poo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Poo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Poo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/6 "2017-10-27T12:41:14Z")
Yeah, pinker looks good. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Do you want books about the study of languages, or about languages? (If you see the subtle difference I’m making.) > > Anyway, you could try _[The Language Instinct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Language_Instinct)_, _[Through the Language Glass](https://us.macmillan.com/throughthelanguageglass/guydeutscher/9780312610494/)_, or _[In the Land of Invented Languages](http://inthelandofinventedlanguages.com/)_. Study of languages mainly, wouldn’t object to the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/7 "2017-10-27T15:25:51Z")
Andred Radford’s _Transformational Syntax_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/8 "2017-10-27T15:29:55Z")
Not a book, exactly, but John McWhorter’s lectures for The Teaching Company/The Great Courses are good. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/9 "2017-10-27T16:07:46Z")
I would also recommend Pinker’s _The Language Instinct_. If you’re looking for something a bit shorter/lighter but still written by people who know what they’re talking about, there’s a book called _[Language Myths](https://www.amazon.com/Language-Myths-Laurie-Bauer/dp/0140260234)_ that contains essays by different linguists tackling common misconceptions about language. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/10 "2017-10-27T22:59:27Z")
Linguistics is a very scientific discipline. Not only is every proposed law refutable, they are virtually all refuted often only a short time after they are proposed. I’m not saying there are no rules, but after spending years studying it fairly seriously, I realized that they are at the stage of alchemy trying, trying, to become chemistry. They will get there but not in my lifetime. I started with Chomsky’s Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Clear and well written. And wrong in virtually every detail. Okay that was more than 50 years ago. But when I lost interest in the mid 80s, it still seemed that rules were getting more involved and less convincing. Maybe it has gotten better recently. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/11 "2017-10-27T23:10:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not a book, exactly, but John McWhorter’s lectures for The Teaching Company/The Great Courses are good. And his books are good too. I second the recommendation for “In the Land of Invented Languages” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/12 "2017-10-27T23:23:32Z")
My mother had a Ph.D in linguistics. I read her textbooks when I was in intermediate school, and I enjoyed most of them. There’s nothing to stop you from going to the nearest college bookstore and browsing the linguistics department. Although, if you are interested in a book in the graduate section, I’d note the title and author, then buy it elsewhere, because schools tend to order just enough books for the students in grad courses. That is, assuming that college bookstores still exist, and students don’t just get all their books on ereaders now. That would kinda bum me out. One of my happier moments was the day after my college graduation, when I repeatedly backed my car over the text for my math class that I’d gotten the D in, but it had been just enough to squeak me through graduation. I had spent four years worrying that I was wasting my time, because I’d never pass a math course. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/13 "2017-10-28T00:20:48Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > . One of my happier moments was the day after my college graduation, when I repeatedly backed my car over the text for my math class that I’d gotten the D in, but it had been just enough to squeak me through graduation. I had spent four years worrying that I was wasting my time, because I’d never pass a math course. A college buddy of mine told me he had accidentally (?) ruined a EE textbook (by leaving the window in his car ajar during a rainstorm, when the book was on the floor), but got some joy from the event by tying the remains of the book to a tree and shooting it with a crossbow bolt (the semester was over). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/14 "2017-10-28T00:31:36Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ll second Steven Pinker. He’s very opinionated, and very persuasive; I have to remind myself when reading him that good rhetoric doesn’t always mean a person is 100% right. Even so I’ve been strongly influenced by reading his books. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not a book, exactly, but John McWhorter’s lectures for The Teaching Company/The Great Courses are good. Pinker and McWhorter get my seal of approval, too. I’ll add [Mario Pei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Pei) to the list, although his books are going to be a bit older. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/15 "2017-10-28T01:01:36Z")
[David Crystal](https://www.amazon.com/David-Crystal/e/B000AP940C/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1509152398&sr=1-1)has written or edited over 100 books on language, at all levels. He’s the place I would start. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/16 "2017-10-28T01:28:27Z")
Here are a lot of suggestions: > **[Best Books about Linguistics (215 books)](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/796.Best_Books_about_Linguistics)** > > 215 books based on 217 votes: Course in General Linguistics by Ferdinand de Saussure, The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pink... Besides the books that have already been mentioned in this thread so far, I would recommend these: _The Unfolding Of Language_ by Guy Deutscher _Far from the Madding Gerund: And Other Dispatches from Language Log_ by Mark Liberman and Geoffrey K. Pullum _Don’t Sleep, There are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle_ by Daniel L. Everett _Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends_ by David Wilton _The Linguistics Wars_ by Randy Allen Harris _Ideology and Linguistic Theory: Noam Chomsky and the Deep Structure Debates_ by John A. Goldsmith and Geoffrey J. Huck _Women, Fire, & Dangerous Things_ by George Lakoff ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/17 "2017-10-28T03:26:33Z")
As an undergraduate, I quite enjoyed Raimo Antilla’s _Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics._ Lots of Finno-Ugric examples–yum! ---
**Author:** ![Itself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/18 "2017-10-31T06:50:02Z")
If you want something nontechnical, check out anything by David Crystal, but particularly _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_ or _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language_. They’re both broad surveys, but they’re fun to leaf through. If you want something technical, check out Clackson’s _Indo-European Linguistics_. It’s a good example of what linguists actually do, and there’s enough stuff there (including some unresolved problems) to at least whet your appetite for the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/19 "2017-10-31T12:50:37Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Andred Radford’s _Transformational Syntax_. You are evil. But in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2017, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972/20 "2017-11-03T17:54:01Z")
The Routes of English by Melvin Bragg MiM [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-good-books-on-linguistics/799972.md?page=2)