This text provides a wide-ranging introduction to language which should be of interest to students and general readers alike. It explores the most intriguing questions about the nature of human language, drawing on basic insights that have been developed by linguistics this century. The author introduces the reader to the study of language through chapters on grammar, sounds, writing and words, emphasizing these as systems within the overall system of language. Later chapters look at the stages through which children learn language and the theories that explain their rapid progress, at what can go wrong with speech in childhood and maturity, and at how speakers of a language show their different origins and class.