An inviting two-column page design and accessibly written articles make the Encyclopedia indispensable not only to specialists who depend on the scholarly rigor of Oxford reference works, but also to a broad spectrum of students and general readers who may be exploring linguistics for the first time. The Encyclopedia includes more than 900 signed, alphabetically arranged articles: many are extensively revised and more than 100 are new. It also contains discussions of:

• major branches of linguistics—descriptive, historical, comparative, applied, anthropological, functionalist, formalist
• interrelations within branches of linguistics such as the interface of morphology and phonology
• relations of linguistics and other disciplines
• topics of broad public interest such as literacy, bilingual education, and sign language
• all known languages, living and extinct, around the globe
• extensive bibliographies, cross-references, and index, and synoptic outline
• 155 line drawings, maps, tables, and diagrams to illustrate the articles

"A splendid production.Comprehensive and easy to use..."—Language and Literature

"A genuine achievement in information collection and dissemination....It is what a quality encyclopedia should be."—TESOL Quarterly

"This is an excellent work...the very best in the field..."—Linguistics

"...a classic in the study of linguistics and adjacent fields..."—Library Journal