The Encyclopaedia meets the need for a comprehensive work of reference and deals with all important areas of linguistics and language studies. The work makes systematic effort to analyse and describe the current research ad thinking in this field, emphasizing the multi-disciplinary nature of the subject. The volumes are arranged thematically with each volume dedicated to a particular area of specialisation.
In planning the presentation of the Encyclopaedia the main consideration has been in selecting material which presents particular theme or idea in a most comprehensive manner making the understanding of this subject much easier. The main focus in the preparation of this work has been to make it useful for not only the specialist scholars and researchers but also for those wide range of potential users-individuals and institutions-in need of information in this diverse field.
Although the main thrust is on dealing with all major areas in the field of language and linguistics in as comprehensive a manner as possible by treating the "core" areas thoroughly, the focus is also on including the new and emergent issues as well. A significant feature of the Encyclopaedia is its inter-disciplinary nature, thus enough space is devoted to aspects of Sociology, Social Development, Anthropology, Psychology and Philosophy that impinge on Language. The work is full of examples and illustrations and contains references and bibliography for each individual subjects being covered.
The comprehensiveness f the scope of this Encyclopaedia is indicated by the vast amount of material included covering on one hand linguistics as a Science and on the other the Philosophy of linguistics. It includes Structural linguistics trying to discover the rules of phonology, morphology and syntax that predict how most speakers of the language talk. The Historical Linguistic covers comparative analysis of cognates and grammar testing the notion that certain languages derive from common ancestral language. The goals are to reconstruct the features of the Protolanguage, to hypothesize how the off spring languages separated from each other and to establish its common origin.
The volume on Applied linguistics includes contributions from leaders in this field covering the concepts, language development and functions in detail. Development of language and its principles has been dealt with separately. Recently linguists have begun to study variations in how people actually use language. This type of linguistic study called Sociolinguistics concerned with the ethnography of speaking is also dealt with in separate volume.
The Encyclopaedia includes important contributions on the fast developing area of Psycholinguistics by contributors who are working on the "frontiers" of the study of Language and Linguistics. Apart from this, the Encyclopaedia covers all major core areas in Applied Linguistics, Development of Language, Syntax Phonetics, Language and Social Development, Problems and Methods in Linguistics and Strategies for Growth and Change.
Readable, comprehensive and current, the Encyclopaedia of Language and Linguistics is intended to serve as a standard reference work in this fast developing and changing discipline. |
