The Domain of Language -- Contents -- 1. The back way in -- 2. Semiotics at gunpoint -- 3. Plumbing the depths: from phonetics to phonology -- 4. The library: where words gather -- 5. Of syntax and thumb-tacks -- 6. Feeling the way forward -- 7. Sentenced (almost) to death: an introduction to pragmatics -- 8. A discourse concerning the family archives -- 9. Nursery talk -- 10. The kitchens: where William is witness to a right old morphophonological stew -- 11. In a manner of speaking... -- 12. Back to the apes -- 13. Birds of a feather -- 14. The historical propagation of language -- 15. Language in the wild: a forest walk -- 16. Linguistics through the ages -- 17. Pull-ups and put-downs: how to transform your life by hopping on bars -- 18. A matter of phrasing -- 19. Events come to life -- 20. The inner sanctum -- 21. The way back -- Questions that might be asked.