Where did human language come from? How many languages are there? How do we acquire our first language or learn a second one? The highly acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal answers these and other questions about language. From hieroglyphics to trucker talk, from Shakespeare in pidgin to sneezing in Tongan, this is a ...
The author explores the many facets and varieties of the English language, bringing life to this large and complex subject. The structural features of English are throughly described, including grammar, pronunciation, writing systems, and vocabulary.
David Crystal, world authority on the English language, presents a lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language and explores the whys and wherefores of the history, current status and future potential of English as the international language of communication. English has been lauded as the most 'successful' language ever, ...
Crystal turns the history of the language on its head and provides a startlingly original view of where the richness, creativity, and diversity of the language truly lies: in the accents and dialects of nonstandard English users all over the globe.
"Words, Words, Words" is all about the wonder of words. Drawing on a lifetime's experience, David Crystal explores language in all its rich varieties through words: the very building blocks of our communication. Language has no life f its own: it only exists in the mouths and ears, hands, eyes and brains of its users. As we are guided expertly and ...
This book takes a long hard look at the text-messaging phenomenon and its effects on literacy, language, and society. Young people who seem to spend much of their time texting sometimes appear unable or unwilling to write much else. Media outrage has ensued. "It is bleak, bald, sad shorthand," writes a commentator in the UK Guardian. "It masks ...
Crystal offers general readers a personal tour of the intricate workings of language in this work of unprecedented scope. He discusses the power of language by looking at its origins, exploring how children learn to speak, and revealing how conversation works.
The rapid endangerment and death of many minority languages across the world is a matter of widespread concern, not only among linguists and anthropologists but among all concerned with issues of cultural identity in an increasingly globalized culture. By some counts, only 600 of the 6,000 or so languages in the world are 'safe' from the threat of ...
'You speak a language that I understand not.' Hermione's words to Leontes in The Winter's Tale are likely to ring true with many people reading or watching Shakespeare's plays today. For decades, people have been studying Shakespeare's life and times, and in recent years there has been a renewed surge of interest into aspects of his language. So ...
David Crystal's "A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics" has long been the standard single-volume reference for its field. Now available in its sixth edition, it has been revised and updated to reflect the latest terms in the field. This book includes in excess of 5,100 terms, grouped into over 3,000 entries. It offers coverage that reflects ...
Using a lively, modern and entertaining approach, leading language expert David Crystal offers teachers a wealth of clear advice on the everyday use and teaching of English grammar.
A vital resource for scholars, students and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood by or are unknown to a modern audience. Displayed panels look at such areas of Shakespeare's language as greetings, swear-words and terms of address. Plot summaries are included for all Shakespeare's plays and ...
Edited by David Crystal, the UK's most widely respected reference editor, this second edition of The Penguin Encyclopedia is the most authoritative and topical one-volume encyclopedia available. New entires in this edition include: Hans Blix and Jay Garner, Ricky Gervais and Ozzie Osbourne, David Blaine and Jonny Wilkinson, David Kelly and John ...
In this captivating tour of humanity's received wisdom, one of Britain's best-known and best-selling authorities on language, David Crystal, brings together more than 2,000 delightful proverbs from 110 countries--the first new book of world proverbs to appear in nearly eighty years. Here readers will find proverbs they have known all their lives ...
Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' injected new life into the long-standing arguments over rights and wrongs in English usage. Now David Crystal brings together his own distinctive style and unique expertise to provide the first thorough-going assessment of the ongoing debate. With a lively, humorous, and accessible approach, Crystal charts ...
Have you been flamed recently? Or pinged? Or felt 404? Do you know the difference between a MUD and a MOO? Or between a WAP and a WISP? Can you translate 8-o ? Or cu4T? Do you know what your country's domain name is? This exciting glossary provides all the answers. It includes an A to Z of the jargon entering the English language with the rise of ...
A new popular reference book which aims to provide the quickest and most accurate answers to the widest possible range of questions. The book is a storehouse of general and not-so-general knowledge for anyone needing information in a hurry - from students, schoolchildren and businesspeople to quiz and competition enthusiasts. With more up-to-date ...
For the first time, "The Routledge David Crystal Lectures" bring together three of Professor David Crystal's most popular lectures on the future of language. One of the world's foremost experts on language, and arguably the most accessible and entertaining writer and lecturer on the English language, Crystal delivers these informative and highly ...
The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia is an exciting, new kind of book - a book which combines the ease of use of an A-Z dictionary with the overview and readability of a thematic encyclopedia. Fully illustrated and with a range of unique features, The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia features unrivalled coverage of the world's most prominent ...
This reference book contains 4,000 quotations regarding many aspects of language. Memorable comments by T. S. Eliot, Henry James, Ambrose Bierce, and hundreds of others illuminate issues of style, usage, and the philosophy of language. A thorough key word and subject index helps organize the collection.
In recent years, the Internet has come to dominate our lives. E-mail, instant messaging and chat are rapidly replacing conventional forms of correspondence, and the Web has become the first port of call for both information enquiry and leisure activity. How is this affecting language? There is a widespread view that as 'technospeak' comes to rule, ...
David Crystal, world authority on the English language, presents a lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language and explores the whys and wherefores of the history, current status and future potential of English as the international language of communication. English has been lauded as the most 'successful' language ever, ...
The Cambridge Paperback Encyclopedia is a new, rapid-response reference tool for home, school and office. Its clear, easy-to-read entries - nearly 20,000 of them on all topics - contain the essential information for the 1990s. Technology, the environment, sport, politics, literature, history, art, music, medicine, geography - the basic facts in ...
A delightfully discursive, Bill Bryson-esque and personal journey through the groves and the thickets of the English language, by our foremost scholar of the history and structure of the English language. David Crystal has been described (by the Times Higher Education Supplement) as a sort of 'latter day Dr Johnson', a populist linguist who has ...
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
