The Design of Language is a comprehensive introduction to general descriptivelinguistics and the typology of language. The book is divided into nine chapters, which discusslinguistic levels, sounds and phonemes, more abstract phonology, grammatical categories,morphemes, morphophonemics, morphosyntax, syntax, and more abstract syntax. The chapterson abstract phonology and syntax introduce slightly more advanced issues (such as underlyinglevels, transformational rules, and Universal Grammar); otherwise, the book covers topicsintroduced at the undergraduate level. The supplementary readings at the end of most sectionsrefer students to other textbooks and primary literature.