Portuguese: Linguistic Introduction, A

Description:
This accessible new book provides a comprehensive introduction to the linguistic structure of Portuguese. Clearly organised, it covers the central topics of syntax, phonology, morphology, semantics and pragmatics, and explores the social and historical background of Portuguese, its development and spread in the world, and related sociolinguistic issues such as dialect variation and language planning. It also includes a chapter on Portuguese in Brazil, where approximately 80% of Portuguese speakers live. Assuming very little prior knowledge of linguistic terminology, Portuguese: A Linguistic Introduction is designed to help intermediate and advanced students of Portuguese understand how the language functions at all levels, and to give students of linguistics a useful starting point for work on the structure of Portuguese. Keeping linguistic theory to a minimum, it focuses on presenting the linguistic facts in a clear and lucid way, providing a useful global overview of the Portuguese language and its surrounding issues.

Review:
'An especially strong point for this work as an introductory linguistics text is its clarity and comprehensibility, achieved without 'talking down' to the beginner or excluding more advanced students.' Hispania

Table of Contents:
1. Portuguese in the world; 2. The sounds of Portuguese; 3. Words; 4. Sentences; 5. Portuguese in time; 6. The expansion of European Portuguese; 7. Brazilian Portuguese; 8. Sociolinguistic issues.

Author Biography:
Milton Azevedo is Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Berkeley.