David Crystal
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The fascinating and surprising history of English spelling from David Crystal, everyone's favorite expert logophile
With The Story of English in 100 Words, David Crystal took us on a tour through the history of our language. Now, with Spell It Out, he takes on the task of answering all the questions about how we spell: "Why is English spelling so difficult?" Or "Why are good spellers so proud of their achievement that when they see a misspelling...
Author
Language
English
Description
In this discursive jaunt through the groves and thickets of the English language, David Crystal creates a mesmerizing and entertaining narrative account of his encounters with the language and its speakers. Woven from personal reflections, historical allusions, and observations of travelers, this fascinating journey through the language we use every day will have readers thinking twice about each word they speak. Starting in Wales and moving from...
Author
Series
Language
Español
Description
Desde las primeras palabras de un niño hasta el peculiar dialecto moderno de los mensajes de texto, "El pequeño libro del lenguaje" abarca una amplia gama de temas, revelando las complejidades y peculiaridades del lenguaje. De forma animada, Crystal arroja luz sobre el desarrollo de estilos lingüísticos únicos, los orígenes de acentos oscuros y la búsqueda de la primera palabra escrita. Habla de la difícil situación de las lenguas en peligro,...
6) Making Sense
Author
Language
English
Description
In Making Sense, David Crystal confronts the foe of many: grammar. Once taught relentlessly to all students in the English-speaking world, grammar disappeared from most school curricula, so that terms such as “preposition” and “conjunction” now often confound children and adults alike. Explaining the nuts and bolts of grammar presents a special challenge, because, far more than is the case with spelling and punctuation, the subject is burdened...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"The Stories of English is a history of the language by David Crystal. Crystal turns the history of English on its head and provides an 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 world. Whatever their regional, social, or ethnic background, each group has a story worth telling, whether it is in Scotland or Canada, South Africa or...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
David Crystal, one of the world's leading commentators on language, tackles the proverbs of the world. In this anthology of global proverbs Crystal brings his customary keen eye and linguistic expertise to this wonderfully rich topic.
Proverbs are fascinating in what they tell us about a culture's view of everyday life: whether it be the importance of animals or the significance of the weather, proverbial wisdom is a key factor in understanding...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
"We all know eloquence when we hear it. But what exactly is it? And how might we gain more of it for ourselves? This entertaining and, yes, eloquent book illuminates the power of language from a linguistic point of view and provides fascinating insights into the way we use words. David Crystal, a world-renowned expert on the history and usage of the English language, probes the intricate workings of eloquence. His lively analysis encompasses everyday...
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation. We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual. It has been described...
Author
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
English
Description
"This new, thoroughly revised edition of the acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language incorporates the major developments in language study which have taken place since the mid-1990s. Two main new areas have been added: the rise of electronic communication in all its current forms, from email to tweeting, and the crisis affecting the world's languages, of which half are thought to be so seriously endangered that they will the out this century."...
Author
Publisher
Overlook Press
Pub. Date
2006
Language
English
Description
"This book is not about music, cookery, or sex. But it is about how we talk about music, cookery, and sex--or, indeed, anything at all." Language is so fundamental to everyday life that we take it for granted. But as linguist Crystal makes clear, language is an extremely powerful tool that defines the human species. Crystal offers general readers a personal tour of the intricate workings of language. He moves effortlessly from big subjects like the...
Author
Publisher
St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date
2015.
Language
English
Description
"The triumphant concluding volume in David Crystal's classic trilogy on the English language combines the first history of English punctuation with a complete guide on how to use it. Behind every punctuation mark lies a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality, is founded on arbitrariness and littered with oddities. For a system of a few dozen marks it generates a disproportionate degree of uncertainty and passion,...
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
[2015]
Language
English
Description
The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary is the first of its kind, a brand new illustrated alphabetical dictionary of all the words and meanings students of Shakespeare need to know. Every word has an example sentence selected from the twelve most studied plays including Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Henry V. Usage notes and theatre notes provide additional background to Shakespearean times and the performance...