A concise introduction to the languages of mainland Southeast Asia that provides a new look at this unique area.

N. J. Enfield is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Sydney. He is a leading expert on the languages of mainland Southeast Asia. His publications include A Grammar of Lao (2007), Dynamics of Human Diversity: The Case of Mainland Southeast Asia (2011), and Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art (2015, with Bernard Comrie). He is working on a reference grammar of Kri, a Vietic language spoken in Laos.

1. Context; 2. Typological overview; 3. Sounds and sound systems; 4. Word formation; 5. Reference and nominal syntax; 6. Predication and clausal syntax; 7. Postface.