David Crystal
Author
Language
English
Formats
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
Language
English
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
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
English
Description
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 stimulating and richly illustrated guide to the variety, structure, history and theory of language. David...
Author
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
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...
Author
Publisher
Overlook Press
Pub. Date
2008.
Language
English
Description
Combines personal reflections, historical allusions, and traveler's observations about the author's encounters with language and its users throughout the English-speaking world.
David Crystal has been described by The Times Higher Education Supplement as a "latter-day Samuel Johnson." Now in a delightfully decisive journey through the groves and thickets of the English language, he combines personal reflections, historical allusions, and traveler'...
Author
Series
Publisher
Blackwell
Pub. Date
1992.
Language
English
Description
The aim of this book is to provide a succinct, accessible and comprehensive guide to linguistic concepts and names. 'Linguistic' here does not mean the technical terminology of linguistic sciences, but language in a more everyday sense. Terms are drawn from the various applied areas of language study, such as language teaching, speech pathology, stylistics, typography, and lexicography, as well as from core topics such as grammar, figures of speech,...
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
[2016]
Language
English
Description
This dictionary is a comprehensive description of Shakespearean original pronunciation (OP), enabling practitioners to deal with any queries about the pronunciation of individual words. It includes all the words in the First Folio, transcribed using IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), and the accompanying website hosts sound files to further aid pronunciation. It also includes the main sources of evidence in the texts, notably all spelling variants...
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2014.
Language
English
Description
"Words in Time and Place showcases the unique and excellent resource that is the Historical Thesaurus and reveals the linguistic treasures to be found within. This fascinating book will appeal to anyone with an interest in words and in the development of the English language."
Author
Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Pub. Date
©2004
Language
English
Description
"First, it is a guide to the rapidly emerging jargon associated with the Internet and its use, and to the associated terminology of mobile communications. Secondly, it provides definitions and examples of the way this terminology has been adopted by young (or young-minded) Internet users and adapted for use in non-Internet settings."--Page [vii].
Author
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Pub. Date
2010
Language
English
Description
How can a work published in 1611 have had such a lasting influence on the language? To answer this question, Crystal offers fascinating discussions of phrases such as "The skin of one's teeth" or "Out of the mouth of babes," tracing how these memorable lines have found independent life in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists, politicians, and journalists, and how more recently they have been taken up with enthusiasm by advertisers, Hollywood,...