Linguistics: Why It Matters

by Geoffrey K. Pullum

Language is the medium in which we humans compose our thoughts, explain our thinking, construct our arguments, and create works of literature. Without language, societies as complex as ours could not exist.

Geoffrey Pullum offers a stimulating introduction to the many ways in which linguistics, as the scientific study of language, matters. With its close relationships to psychology, education, philosophy, and computer science, the subject has a compelling human story to tell about the ways in which different societies see and describe the world, and its far-reaching applications range from law to medicine and from developmental psychology to artificial intelligence.

Introducing Polity's Why It Matters series: In these short and lively books, world-leading thinkers make the case for the importance of their subjects and aim to inspire a new generation of students.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Writing

140 pages, Paperback

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Geoffrey K. Pullum is a British-American linguist and regular contributor to Language Log. He has taught at the University of Washington; Stanford University; University of California, Santa Cruz; and University of Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Dan Ust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent short introduction to linguistics. There’s a whole chapter on AI (or why it’s not really AI at this point). If you already have gone through any popular level linguistics books, just skim this one. It’s aimed at the neophyte.

[Maria del Mar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introducció a l'estudi científic del llenguatge. La tria de temes que s'hi han tractat és totalment subjectiva com reconeix el mateix autor al prefaci però a mi m'han semblat ben pertinents. És una bona lectura per a estudiants de batxiller!

[Koen Crolla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short little book, light on substance. I'm not necessarily opposed to these meandering typing exercises that mainly serve to dump trivia the author thought was interesting, but Pullum manages to miss most of the subfields of linguistics that are actually worth caring about. I particularly don't understand why the chapter on NLP had to be so long—almost forty pages, a little under a third of the book—when Pullum very obviously doesn't know anything about it and just spends his time speculating on what it hypothetically would have to involve (and getting it almost 100% wrong). I suppose we should be grateful it was written in 2018, before the LLM explosion.
It really isn't so bad as to merit the endorsements by both John McWhorter and Steven Pinker on the back cover (can you sue a publisher for malpractice?), but it's hard to imagine anyone coming away from this book with an increased enthusiasm for the field.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a linguist, I think this book offered a nice overview of several branches and job areas of linguistics. It is great for somebody who has no idea about linguistics, but there's nothing new to expect for somebody who already has linguistic knowledge. Pullum gives specific examples, but takes popular, already known examples (ELIZA, that eskimos have 100 words for snow etc.)

[mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick read, but with some revelations about how our use of language can affect us at a deeper, psychosocial level. For instance, when a 17-year old boy was fatally shot, the testimony of a woman was completely ridiculed because she spoke a dialect of English that wasn't standard. However, non-standard doesn't imply sub-standard, yet we tend to build a social hierarchy based on popular use, race, and population. It made me think about my own background; I speak Taiwanese Mandarin, but have been learning Chinese Mandarin, and this book's revelation allowed me to make peace with the idea that there will always be variations of Chinese, but just because the Chinese form is the standard doesn't disregard the Taiwanese form at all. There was also a reference to Koko and other great apes who learned "sign language" - in reality, they were only taught signs with which they were able to convey some meaning, but this doesn't mean that they learned sign language because the language itself has a level of complexity that even we (hearers) can't fully grasp.
All in all, there are myriads of nuances and complexities of language that influence us at a societal level. Learning about them helps us become more aware of them, allowing us to make more conscientious choices and, most importantly, be more inclusive and understanding to those coming from seemingly alien backgrounds.

[Georgi Stefanov · Rating 4 out of 5]

20 more pages and it'd be 3 stars.
No surprise here, a linguist puts forward that his science matters. I, for one, was not as convinced as I'd expect to be from his tone or from the positive online reviews of the book. Some clear personal beliefs and ideology were passed as fact and glaring logical conclusions were omitted (perhaps with reason, though that matters little in the absence of an explanation).
This did not, however, prevent me from mostly enjoying the book and learning a thing or two. Notably, it turns out Eskimos don't have dozens of words for ''snow''. Can we believe anything these days?
If you've got a couple of hours and a healthy share of curiosity, give it a read.

[Jakob Scherm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Påståelig

[Rodney Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly what I expected when I bought the book.

Although the book is quite short, a substantial amount of space is dedicated to demonstrating the shortcomings of the Google search algorithms, the Microsoft grammar and spell checkers, and the various AI experiments in allowing a computer to enter into some meaningful conversation with humans. The intent, it appears, of this demonstration, is that 'Linguistics Matters' because linguists must work with software engineers on improving these features. Interesting as this is - and I would be surprised if Google, Microsoft et al. would spurn the interest of such linguists - the space taken is at the expense of more fundamental issues without the knowledge of which it is difficult for the reader to determine whether or not Linguistics does matter. As an example the interesting topic of using phonics in the teaching of reading to children is mentioned and the author obviously objects to the refusal of American schools to adopt the method. But Phonics is used in UK schools, and a useful expansion on what Phonics is and why the two main users of English - UK and USA - take such opposite views on its usefulness would have been interesting. Similarly, the subject of word order in sentences is discussed, but the book has no room for expansion on what appears to be an interesting topic.
That said, there is much to stimulate further inquiry, and so whether or not Mr Pullum has convinced me that Linguistics Matters, he has caused me to use his bibliography to take my own inquiries further.

[Matthew Bramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Reading: 2026.01.11

Third book of the year!

Linguistics: Why It Matters by Geoffrey Pullum is an awesome introduction to the study of linguistics, especially for readers encountering the field for the first time. Pullum’s deep expertise is evident on every page, yet the book never feels inaccessible or overly technical.

What makes this book stand out is how clearly Pullum explains why linguistics matters at all. He moves beyond grammar rules and terminology to show how language actually works—how it’s structured, how it changes, and how misunderstandings about language shape education, culture, and public discourse. In classic Pullum fashion, he also challenges common myths about “proper” language and prescriptivism, helping readers rethink assumptions they may not even realize they hold.

The writing is engaging, thoughtful, and often quietly humorous. Pullum respects the reader’s intelligence while making complex ideas approachable through concrete examples and clear explanations. For someone new to linguistics, this book doesn’t just inform—it invites curiosity and further study.

For me, this was an excellent entry point into linguistics. It clarified what the field is about and why it’s worth taking seriously, without requiring prior background knowledge.

Highly recommended for beginners, educators, and anyone who loves language and wants to understand it better.

[Alicias Picias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geoffrey Pullum is currently one of the most important communicators in the field of liguistics trying to explain the importance of the cientific study of human language to the general public. This book is a great example of this difficult task. Linguistics is a young discipline, very much perverted by political and ideological ideas and preconceptions. He gives us concise and on-the-point arguments on why there are no languages nor varieties of languages better than others, and why understanding more languages would help us understand better the ones we already know. And what it's perhaps more relevant: he stresses the importance of linguistics in the future we have ahead. A scientific understanding of language and linguistics is critical in this new technology age we are entering.

Because of the massively spread misconceptions we have about language in all spheres of life, this is a a must read for everyone.

[Samuel Banina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could be good if you've never thought about or read anything about linguistics before. It has five sections which each tackle a different cross-disciplinary angle to discuss the importance of the science of linguistics. I enjoyed the discussion of the social impact of linguistics and legitimizing/destigmatizing dialect variants. But general didn't find much new in this book. It also had the misfortune to come out right before LLMs burst onto the scene, so the section about computational linguistics (the largest of the five sections in the book) feels like it is from another era despite being published in 2018.

[CORSAK fan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess this book is good for people who have had close to no exposure to linguistics but there was a lot left out. Obviously, there had to be for brevity's sake, but why is the NLP chapter so long? It would have been nice to see the structural side of linguistics tied in with the applied side, for example, using pragmatics in second language classrooms, using IPA to teach pronunciation in a second language, etc. Or maybe not those specific examples, but just finding other ways to explain more of how the field is applied outside of theory in ways that aren't NLP, or speech pathology.

[Lou ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book, in the author’s word, is similar to the discoveries of penicillin, X-rays, microwave cooking. I wanted to sharpen my linguistic knowing yet eventually ran into chapters that suggest how linguistics can apply to or benefit from machine language processing. It made a lot of sense to raise this question now — why it matters — and more important than ever.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly was tempted to rate this as 5 stars cuz UGH I love this stuff. Wishing my college had a course on linguistics. 😩 Guess I’ll have to continue my own reading on it, especially given how (intentionally) introductory this book is.

Also I was not expecting that last chapter on computers/AI. Super interesting.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that discusses how language is a very human thing and how it reflects our perceived role in society and social hierarchy due to which dialects of a certain language or which languages we speak. Also, I love the discussion on AI in the last chapter about how AI is inherently flawed because of how the computational linguistics actually work behind search engines such as Google. It explains why Bing is so bad.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has basic principles of linguistics in it. It tells about what languages are, how we comprehend language, how AI is being used for languages, and other topics. It has an Index at the back of the book.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gets a bit rambley, but ultimately swings back around to "hey, linguistics is important because people are important, and people communicate with language." But it's very readable and does what it set out to do: tell us what linguistics is and why it's important.

[CaroP · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow and focused on AI, I'd liked it better if there had been more examples in everyday life.

[Jarda Kubalik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting way to approach the labyrinth of current linguistics studies, lots of tips for further reading and thinking about language.

[siso.sofy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very simple overview of what linguistic is and the importance of linguistic to the world. If you're interested to know about linguistic, this is a good book to start with.

[Hana "Nara"]

p. 51 / 21 Dec 24

[Jakub Sláma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess it can be a nice introduction to linguistics if you're an outsider. Apart from the last chapter, only like two pages of the book and another two pages of the conclusion actually focus on why linguistics matters, the rest is more or less Linguistics 101.

Some parts felt a bit misleading, e.g. the debate of the famous slash notorious issue of linguistic relativity, or the discussion of the concept of word, and some parts are somehow awkward, especially the last chapter which feels like the author is not exactly aware of what is actually going on within computational linguistics, resulting in him saying things like "When the time comes..." when the time has already come.

Also, if you tend to be a bit of a linguistic nitpicker like me, some claims might trigger you, like "Our knowledge of grammar is independent of our knowledge of words," which is simply false, from the point of view of grammar as well as its acquisition.

[Katy Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good quick overview of the main subcategories of linguistic study. The sociolinguistics chapter just solidified how much I love my emphasis. If you're thinking of pursuing linguistics, this is a good distillation of some of the many possibilities in the field. Still, it is an incredibly broad discipline with innumerable possibilities, so don't stop here.

[Jumanah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative on what linguistics actually is and inclusive of many of the issues it covers.