The Five-Minute Linguist: Bite-Sized Essays on Language and Languages

The Five-Minute Linguist has been a popular introduction to the subject of language because it is succinct, clear, accurate - and fun to read. It is used by beginning students of linguistics, language education and anthropology, and has broad appeal for general readers, people who read for enjoyment as well as knowledge. The book sta

E. M. Rickerson has a Ph.D from the University of California at Berkeley and is Director Emeritus of the award-winning language program at the College of Charleston (S.C.). Formerly a language program director in the U.S. government, he now consults on the development and improvement of language programs at the university level. In 2005 Dr. Rickerson created a radio series on languages (＂Talkin’ About Talk＂), which was broadcast on public and college radio stations -- and on which The Five-Minute Linguist was based. Barry Hilton is a freelance writer/editor and independent scholar living in Maine. He was a member of the editorial board that reviewed the radio scripts on which The Five-Minute Linguist was based. He has travelled and lived in both Europe and Asia, making professional use of Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, French, and German in a variety of jobs. He describes himself as an ＂armchair philologist and recovering polyglot.＂