Sunita Anne Abraham

Lang101 Workbook offers 460 commented exercises and activities, designed for absolute beginners to the study of language. Whether you’re doing introductory linguistics or are just curious about language, this thought-provoking workbook will help you discuss (why) language matters, based on empirical observation of 20 typologically distinct languages, including English and other languages you’re familiar with. We designed Lang101 Workbook as a companion tool to our textbook The Language of Language. A Linguistics Course for Starters. Part 1 of the workbook contains 360 exercises and activities corresponding to the textbook's 12 chapters (30 per chapter), meant to broaden your thinking beyond the material addressed in the textbook. There are also 100 cross-chapter exercises, aimed at synthesis alongside analysis. Part 2 contains commented answers to all exercises. Topics include the nature of scientific investigation; the structure of words, sounds and sentences; typical vs. disordered uses of language; child language, language learning and language play, as well as politeness, persuasion and humour. The companion website, Lang101, contains more activities for self-study or for the classroom, instructors' resources which include teaching slides and class handouts, and a blog dedicated to linguistics for starters. Visit

If you’ve ever wondered why we need concepts like noun and verb or word and phrase when discussing language, this book is for you. Deliberately selective in its approach and assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, The Language of Language. A Linguistics Course for Starters explores the nature of language and linguists’ agreed-upon ways of talking about the object of their inquiry. Our focus is on modes of thinking rather than content knowledge. Our goal is to encourage informed thinking about (why) language matters, so that you can continue puzzling about language issues long after you’ve worked your way through this book and its companion website.