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| A Little Book of Language
ISBN: 9780300158755
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / Yale University Press
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Language acquisition;
In the mode of Yale's successful publication of E.H. Gombrich's A Little History of the World, one of the world's leading linguists introduces us to our most critical mode of communication. Crystal (The Story of English) fills this exhilarating romp through the mysteries and vagaries of language, from how infants acquire language to how many words the average adult knows (40,000) and slang ("Linguists love collecting slang. It's a bit like collecting stamps"). In a concluding minimanifesto, he hopes, among other things, that everyone who has a real interest in language will try to preserve the world's languages in all their rich variety, whether remote, dying languages or the variations of dialect and accent in their own language. This is especially important today, he says, to note how we shape language and how language shapes us. Crystal smoothly boils down his vast knowledge about the peculiarities of spelling, grammar, and diction, and the influence of new kinds of linguistic style (computer language, texting) on language development. This is the perfect primer for anyone interested in the subject. Illus. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
David Crystal is one of the world's preeminent language specialists. Writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster, he is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written nearly 100 books, including The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language , By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English , Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 , The Stories of English , and Rediscover Grammar , and has published widely on phonetics, Shakespeare's language, and child language. In 1995 he was awarded the OBE for services to the English language. He lives in Holyhead, UK. |
