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): 0-521-40179-8 First Edition Pb (1997): 0-521-59655-6 David 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.
Now in its third edition, Penguin Encyclopedia: is the one reference book that every family and office needs. It contains over 28,000 entries on the facts, events, issues, people, beliefs and achievements that make up the sum of human knowledge and experience written in a clear, direct style that illuminates even the most intricate concept. The book is designed so that it is easy to locate the information you require quickly and there are over 350 maps and diagrams to aid understanding. Penguin Encyclopedia is part of the Penguin Reference Library and draws on over 70 years of experience in bringing reliable, useful and clear information to millions of readers around the world making knowledge everybody's property.
In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts of language in his usual highly illuminating way. Along the way we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we talk show not just how old we are but where we're from and even who we want to be.
A resource for students, scholars and actors, this book contains glosses and quotes for over 14,000 words that could be misunderstood or unknown to a modern audience. Plot summaries for all Shakespeare's plays are included as well as notes on specific areas of his language.
The New Penguin Concise Encyclopedia is an abridged edition of the bestselling New Penguin Encyclopedia. With over 21,000 entries, and nearly one million words, it is an invaluable and up-to-date source of information on subjects as diverse as current affairs and history, science and philosophy, sport and music, written in a clear direct style that illuminates even the most intricate concept.
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 ...
