These recommendations for preliminary reading are based on the four Part I papers, which all Linguistics Tripos undergraduates study in their first year. 

Sounds and Words

Crystal, D. (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (Chapters 27-29, 40). Cambridge University Press. Pinker, S. (1995) The language instinct (Chapters 5 & 6). Penguin. Ashby, M. & Maidment, J. (2005) Introducing Phonetic Science. Cambridge University Press. Davenport, M. & Hannahs, S.J. (2005) Introducing Phonetics and Phonology. Hodder Education. International Phonetic Association (1999) Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press.

Structures and Meanings

Aitchison, J. 2003 Words in the mind: An introduction to the mental lexicon Oxford: Blackwell. Third edition. Baker, M. 2001 Atoms of Language Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larson, R. 2010 Grammar as Science Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Levinson, S.C 1983 Pragmatics Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Mey, J. L. 2001 Pragmatics: An introduction Oxford: Blackwell. Second edition. Pinker, S. 2007 The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature New York: Viking Tallerman, M. 1998/2005 Understanding syntax London: Arnold.

Language, Brains and Machines

Harley, T. A. 2008 [1995]. The psychology of language: From data to theory. Hove: Psychology Press. Jurafsky. D, Martin, J. M. 2023. Speech and Language Processing. 3rd Edition. Available online at: https://web.stanford.edu/~jurafsky/slp3/ O'Grady, W. (2005). How Children Learn Language (Cambridge Approaches to Linguistics). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Smith, N. & Tsimpli, I. M. 1995. The mind of a savant: Language learning and modularity. Oxford: Blackwell.  

Linguistic Variation and Change

Crystal, D. 2003 [2001]. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. Cambridge: CUP. Crystal, D. 2002. The English language. London: Penguin. Denison, D., and Hogg, Richard. 2006. A history of the English language. Cambridge: CUP. Graddol, D., Leith, D. & Swann, J.. 2002 [1996]. English: History, diversity and change. London: Routledge. Hughes, A., Trudgill, P. & Watt, D. 2005. English accents and dialects. London: Hodder Arnold. Kortmann, B. & Upton, C. 2008. Varieties of English: The British Isles. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Song, J.J. 2011. The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Van Gelderen, Elly. 2006. A history of the English language. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Whaley, L. 1997. Introduction to Linguistic Typology. The Unity and Diversity of Language.  London: Sage Publications.