Understanding Language Through Humor

Entertaining usage of language is all around us and can explain more about how language works than we realise. This lively and engaging book explains key linguistic concepts, illustrated throughout with humorous and entertaining examples. Providing an accessible yet comprehensive survey of the field, it is especially helpful for students who might struggle with an overly technical text. Now in its second edition, it has been extensively updated and expanded to be more comprehensive and include culturally relevant content, from memes to smartphone autocorrect errors, to misheard song lyrics. It includes four new chapters on lexical meaning, onomastics, writing systems, and language in the digital world. Key linguistic terminology is clearly introduced throughout, ensuring that students are well equipped for more technical and formal courses in their later studies. With thorough coverage of nearly all linguistic subfields, the book is an ideal text for an introduction to linguistics or language.Stanley Dubinsky is a Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of South Carolina. His broad research interests include general linguistics, research into the syntax and semantics of various languages, and the role of language in global intrastate conflicts. He has produced three books, four edited volumes, and several dozen articles and book chapters on a variety of topics. Books in print: A 2004 book, with William D. Davies, is titled The Grammar of Raising and Control: A Course in Syntactic Argumentation (Blackwell); a 2007 co-edited collection, also with William D. Davies, is New Horizons in the Analysis of Control and Raising (Springer); a 2015 co-edited book with Harvey Starr, The Israeli Conflict System: Analytic Approaches (Routledge); a 2011 book, with Chris Holcomb, Understanding Language through Humor (Cambridge University Press); and a 2018 book, with William D. Davies, Language Conflict and Language Rights: Ethnolinguistic Perspectives on Human Conflict (Cambridge University Press). He is currently engaged in a project, with Michael Gavin and Harvey Starr, titled The Language Conflict Project.