An okay intro, but there are better. Okay if you can pick it up cheap and know so little about the field that it at least shows you how a linguist thinks aboutlanguage as opposed to a layperson ( )

Includes Introduction on why language is importance, with a short "history" of its study. Part Two examines the structures--grammar, syntax, phonological systems. Part Three is titled "Linguistic Relationships" showing language change (stages) and interconnectedness-- in their "surprisingly extensive structural similarities" [vi].