The chapters in this volume were written in response to a call for papers in August 1999, inviting linguists to explore properties of verbs which are used to describe some key at-rest positions: sitting, standing and lying. Such verbs are referred to as ''posture verbs'' in this volume, even though these verbs may have various uses in addition to being used to refer to human posture. The volume was envisaged as being a continuation, in some ways, of the approach adopted in the earlier volume ''The Linguistics of Giving''.