The new textbook by Prof. Pokrivcakova Basics of Linguistics for Future Teachers of English serves as a primary information source for the subject of the same name. It functions as the introduction to the study of language for students who study English-focused philological study programmes. The content of the textbook is divided into 8 chapters. The first chapter positions the study of language in a broader academic perspective of the theory of communication and semiotics. It shows how language relates to other modes of human and non-human communication. The second chapter introduces basic myths and research theories explaining the origin of languages, continues with a brief overview of contemporary definitions of language, and concludes by outlining constitutive features which distinguish language from other means of communication. The third chapter briefly overviews languages worldwide, language families and groups, their classification and typology. The fourth chapter deals with linguistics as a scientific branch that studies various language aspects through research methods. The equal attention is paid to the branches of general and applied linguistics. In the following chapters, the sound of language (Chapter 5), language structure (Chapter 6), and language meaning (Chapter 7) are discussed. The chapters synthesise the latest knowledge from respective disciplines of general linguistics (phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicology) and some disciplines of applied linguistics, mainly anthropological and cultural linguistics. The eighth chapter focuses on written language as a younger form of verbal communication and introduces various writing systems that have developed during the history of humankind.
The textbook has been published in the Electronic Library of the Faculty of Education.
