versions of columns that appeared in the electronic journal Glot International, and partly of lectures and reviews that have either not been previously published or have been radically changed. They were initially addressed to an audience with some basic expertise in linguistics. As this cannot be expected of everyone reading this collection, and as I wish to make the essays as accessible as possible, I have provided a lengthy introduction to one version of current linguistics: that associated most closely with the work of Noam Chomsky. I have also compiled a glossary in which I have defined and exemplified any terms that may be unfamiliar or used in ways that differ from their normal non-linguistic usage.