Intended for people with little or no training in linguistics, this book initially deals with such basic concepts as the definition of linguistics, the nature of language, and the linguistic variations within a society. The discussion then moves to a more detailed, non-historical analysis of language structure, focusing on lexical items, syntactical and phonological systems, and the ways in which language matches meanings to sound sequences. Finally, an examination of linguistic relationships is concerned with language modifications within a single language, genetic relationships between linguistic systems, the nature of language acquisition, and the structural similarities among all languages. (LH)