"McGregor's Introduction is a very well-balanced and informative introductory text. It is designed to give the student a sense of being able to think clearly about language, and to engage in the study of language in any of its diverse manifestations -- always in a perspective in which (as McGregor says) "meaning and use play absolutely central roles". The book will make it clear to students what it means to say that linguistics is the science of language." - M. A. K. Halliday, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University of Sydney, Australia.

"William McGregor's new textbook is an excellent introduction to linguistics. It is clear, precise and readable, comprehensible and comprehensive, and it is eminently usable as both a core course text as well as a reference work. It also does not neglect the extensions and applications of linguistics in the real world. This book is likely to become the benchmark for linguistics texts in the next few years." - Peter Stockwell, Professor of Literary Linguistics, University of Nottingham, UK.

Linguistics is a fresh and contemporary introductory textbook for all students of linguistics and language studies. It is firmly based around taught courses and caters to student needs: it addresses all the topics that a student will need in their initial and subsequent study of language.

With key terms, further reading, questions at the end of each chapter, exercises and key paragraphs in stand-out boxes, this is a firmly pedagogic text that takes difficult concepts and explains them in an easy to understand way. Examples are taken from a range of languages across the world. Global in its scope and comprehensive in its coverage, this is the textbook of choice for linguistics students.