David Crystal

This is the definitive survey of the English language - in all its forms. Crystal writes accessibly about the structure of the language, the uses of English throughout the world and finally he gives a brief history of English. The book has been fully revised and there is a fascinating new chapter on 'The effect of technology' on the English language.

Offers an eye-opening tour of the English language through the ages. In this history of the world's ubiquitous language, this title draws on words that illustrate the huge variety of sources, influences and events that have helped to shape our vernacular since the first definitively English word was written down in the fifth century.

David Crystal's classic English as a Global Language considers the history, present status and future of the English language, focusing on its role as the leading international language. English has been deemed the most 'successful' language ever, with 1500 million speakers internationally, presenting a difficult task to those who wish to investigate it in its entirety. However, Crystal explores the subject in a measured but engaging way, always backing up observations with facts and figures. Written in a detailed and fascinating manner, this is a book written by an expert both for specialists in the subject and for general readers interested in the English language.

* Clear demonstration of how language structures link together, description of features and usage and cautions against easy mistakes. * Includes new sections on ethnic variation and electronic communications and analyses of grammar in whole texts to reflect the modern world realistically * Updated to reflect developments in terminology following the National Curriculum and Key Stage 3 framework. * Lively writing style, grammatical examples from a rich range of sources and humorous illustrations.

Now in its third edition, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language provides the most comprehensive coverage of the history, structure and worldwide use of English. Fully updated and expanded, with a fresh redesigned layout, and over sixty audio resources to bring language extracts to life, it covers all aspects of the English language including the history of English, with new pages on Shakespeare's vocabulary and pronunciation, updated statistics on global English use that now cover all countries and the future of English in a post-Brexit Europe, regional and social variations, with fresh insights into the growing cultural identities of 'new Englishes', English in everyday use with new sections on gender identities, forensic studies, and 'big data' in corpus linguistics, and digital developments, including the emergence of new online varieties in social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. Packed with brand new colour illustrations, photographs, maps, tables and graphs, this new edition is an essential tool for a new generation of twenty-first-century English language enthusiasts.Fully updated and expanded with new material to meet the needs of twenty-first century English language enthusiastsPacked with over 100 colour illustrations, maps, tables and graphicsNew online audio resources recorded by David Crystal for this third edition bring the text to life

Superbly illustrated in colour throughout, this is the most comprehensive survey of the history, structure and worldwide use of English ever written.A revolution in language publishing Superbly illustrated in colour throughout, this is the most comprehensive reference book on the history, structure and worldwide use of English ever written. Clear and accessible, the book abounds with insights into how the language evolved and how it works. All aspects of English are covered: * the history of English * grammar, pronunciation and spelling * spoken and written English * regional and social variations - accents and dialects * new words, jargon, slang and cliches * English in use - in science, law, politics, advertising, the media ...* the huge range and creativity of the English vocabulary * language in literature and language in humour * teaching and learning the language * English as a world language * the future of English Photographs, advertisements, cartoons, quotations, newspaper cuttings, poems, anecdotes and examples vividly complement the text throughout, bringing life, surprise and humour to even the most complex topics. No language student or language lover should be without this unique and fascinating book.

David Crystal, world authority on the English language, has written a timely and informative account of the phenomenon of English as a global language. It includes a historical summary of the global development of English; an analysis, well supported by facts and figures, of the current spread and status of English as a first and second language internationally; and an informed assessment - by one of the leading scholars of and general writers about language matters - of the future of English. The book asks three basic questions: what makes a world language? why is English the leading ...

This second edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language presents a mass of new information and introduces the subject of language to a fresh generation of students and general readers. The first edition of the book is probably the most successful general study of language ever published. This second edition extends the range of coverage to include advances in areas like machine translation, speech interaction with machines, and language teaching. There is new material on acoustics, physiological concepts of language, and World English, and a complete update of the language distribution maps, language-speaking statistics, a table of the worlds languages, and further reading. All geopolitical material has been revised to take account of boundary changes. The book has been redesigned and is presented for the first time in full colour, with new pictures and maps added.

Rarely has a book so packed with accurate and well researched factual information been so widely read and popularly acclaimed. This Second Edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language has been fully revised for a new generation of language-lovers. The book is longer and includes extensive new material on world English and Internet English, in addition to completely updated statistics, further reading suggestions and other references.First Edition Hb (1995): 0-521-40179-8First Edition Pb (1997): 0-521-59655-6David Crystal is a leading authority on language, and author of many books, including most recently Shakespeare''s Words (Penguin, 2002), Language and the Internet (Cambridge, 2001) and Language Death (Cambridge, 2000). An internationally renowned writer, journal editor, lecturer and broadcaster, he received an Order of the British Empire in 1995 for his services to the English language.

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 linguisticos unicos, los origenes de acentos oscuros y la busqueda de la primera palabra escrita. Habla de la dificil situacion de las lenguas en peligro, asi como de los casos exitosos de revitalizacion linguistica. Mucho mas que una historia, el trabajo de Crystal mira hacia el futuro del lenguaje, explorando el efecto de la tecnologia en nuestra lectura, escritura y habla diaria. "El pequeño libro del lenguaje" revelara la historia del lenguaje como un cuento cautivador para todas las edades.