Mark Aronoff is Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. His research touches on almost all aspects of morphology and its relation to other aspects of language. He is a member of a team studying a newly-created sign language, Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, and he has served as Editor of Language, the Journal of the Linguistic Society of America, and as President of the Society. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Janie Rees-Miller is professor emerita of Modern Languages at Marietta College, USA. Before retirement, she held the William R. and Marie Adamson Flesher Chair in the Humanities. She established the ESL Program at Marietta College, USA and served as its director for over 20 years. She also taught linguistics courses for undergraduates and acted as an editor with Mark Aronoff of Contemporary Linguistics (2017), now in its seventh edition. Her research interests include second language pedagogy, pragmatics, Native American languages, and making linguistics accessible to non-linguists.

"The first edition of this Handbook is built on surveys by well-known figures from around the world and around the intellectual world, reflecting several different theoretical predilections, balancing coverage of enduring questions and important recent work. Those strengths are now enhanced by adding new chapters and thoroughly revising almost all other chapters, partly to reflect ways in which the field has changed in the intervening twenty years, in some places radically. The result is a magnificent volume that can be used for many purposes." David W. Lightfoot, Georgetown University
"The Handbook of Linguistics, Second Edition is a stupendous achievement. Aronoff and Rees-Miller have provided overviews of 29 subfields of linguistics, each written by one of the leading researchers in that subfield and each impressively crafted in both style and content. I know of no finer resource for anyone who would wish to be better informed on recent developments in linguistics." Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University
"Linguists, their students, colleagues, family, and friends: anyone interested in the latest findings from a wide array of linguistic subfields will welcome this second updated and expanded edition of The Handbook of Linguistics. Leading scholars provide highly accessible yet substantive introductions to their fields: it's an even more valuable resource than its predecessor." Sally McConnell-Ginet, Cornell University
"No handbook or text offers a more comprehensive, contemporary overview of the field of linguistics in the twenty-first century. New and thoroughly updated chapters by prominent scholars on each topic and subfield make this a unique, landmark publication."Walt Wolfram, North Carolina State University
This second edition of The Handbook of Linguistics provides an updated and timely overview of the field of linguistics. The editor's broad definition of the field ensures that the book may be read by those seeking a comprehensive introduction to the subject, but with little or no prior knowledge of the area.
Building on the popular first edition, The Handbook of Linguistics, Second Edition features new and revised content reflecting advances within the discipline. New chapters expand the already broad coverage of the Handbook to address and take account of key changes within the field in the intervening years. It explores: psycholinguistics, linguistic anthropology and ethnolinguistics, sociolinguistic theory, language variation and second language pedagogy. With contributions from a global team of leading linguists, this comprehensive and accessible volume is the ideal resource for those engaged in study and work within the dynamic field of linguistics.

List of Contributors ix
Preface to the Second Edition xi
Preface to the First Edition xiii
List of Abbreviations xvii
Part I Starting Points 1
1. Origins of Language 3
Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy
2. Languages of the World 21
Bernard Comrie
3. Typology and Universals 39
William Croft
4. Field Linguistics: Gathering Language Data from Native Speakers 57
Pamela Munro
5. Writing Systems 75
Peter T. Daniels
Part II Theoretical Bases 95
6. The History of Linguistics: Approaches to Linguistics 97
Lyle Campbell
7. Generative Grammar: Rule Systems for Describing Sentence Structure 119
Thomas Wasow
8. Functional Linguistics: Communicative Functions and Language Structure 141
Robert D. Van Valin, Jr.
Part III Core Fields 159
9. Linguistic Phonetics: The Sounds of Languages 161
John Laver
10. Phonology: Sound Structure 185
Abigail C. Cohn
11. Morphology 211
Andrew Spencer
12. The Lexicon 235
D. A. Cruse
13. Syntax 255
Mark C. Baker
14. Formal Semantics 279
Shalom Lappin
15. Historical Linguistics: Language Change Over Time 299
Brian D. Joseph
Part IV Languages and the Mind 321
16. Neurolinguistics 323
David Caplan
17. Psycholinguistics 345
Kiel Christianson
18. Sign Languages 371
Wendy Sandler and Diane Lillo-Martin
19. First Language Acquisition 397
Brian MacWhinney
Part V Languages in Use 415
20. Pragmatics: Language and Communication 417
Ruth Kempson
21. Discourse Analysis 445
Agnes Weiyun He
22. Linguistics and Literature 463
Nigel Fabb
23. Linguistic Anthropology and Ethnolinguistics 479
Steven P. Black and Elizabeth A. Falconi
24. Sociolinguistic Theory: Systematic Study of the Social Uses of Language 505
J. K. Chambers
25. Language Variation: Sociolinguistic Variationist Analysis 519
Kirk Hazen
26. Multilingualism 541
Suzanne Romaine
27. Second Language Acquisition: One Person with Two Languages 557
Vivian Cook
Part VI Applications of Linguistics 583
28. Second Language Pedagogy: Where Theory Meets Practice 585
Janie Rees-Miller
29. Educational Linguistics 603
James Paul Gee
30. Linguistics and Reading 617
Rebecca Treiman
31. Language and Law 627
Roger W. Shuy
32. Translation 645
Christoph Gutknecht
33. Language Planning and Policy 655
Kathryn D. Stemper and Kendall A. King
Index 675