本书是美国结构主义语言学经典之作，内容涉及语音、句法、词法、语言变化等各个方面，同时也从共时和历时的角度分析了语音结构、句子类型、形态类型、语音演变和语义变化等。书中材料充实，方法严密，对结构主义语言学的形成、发展有深远的影响。

Chapter 1 The Study of Language
Chapter 2 The Use of Language
Chapter 3 Speech-Communities
Chapter 4 The Languages of the World
Chapter 5 The Phoneme
Chapter 6 Types of Phonemes
Chapter 7 Modifications
Chapter 8 Phonetic Structure
Chapter 9 Meaning
Chapter 10 Grammatical Forms
Chapter 11 Sentence-Types
Chapter 12 Syntax
Chapter 13 Morphology
Chapter 14 Morphologic Types
Chapter 15 Substitution
Chapter 16 Form-Classes and Lexicon
Chapter 17 Written Records
Chapter 18 The Comparative Method
Chapter 19 Dialect Geography
Chapter 20 Phonetic Change
Chapter 21 Types of Phonetic Change
Chapter 22 Fluctuation in the Frequency of Forms
Chapter 23 Analogic Change
Chapter 24 Semantic Change
Chapter 25 Cultural Borrowing
Chapter 26 Intimate Borrowing
Chapter 27 Dialect Borrowing
Chapter 28 Applications and Outlook
Notes
Bibliography
Table of Phonetic Symbols