Bøger af David Crystal

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.

An enthusiastic and practical approach to language learning A riveting and valuable combination of David Crystal's language expertise and Geoff Barton's sound, practical classroom experience. Essential reference for every class working towards GCSE and Standard Grade.

From the first words of an infant to the peculiar modern dialect of text messaging, this book reveals language's myriad intricacies and quirks. It sheds light on the development of unique linguistic styles, the origins of obscure accents, and the search for the first written word.

This dictionary includes descriptions of hundreds oflanguages from A to Z and definitions of literary and grammatical concepts, as well as explanations of terms used in linguistics, language teaching, and speech pathology.

A collection of 366 facts about language to enliven each day of the year. In this ingenious and diverse collection of 366 stories, events, and facts about language, David Crystal presents a selection of insights from literary and linguistic writers, poets, and global institutions, together with the weird and wonderful creations of language enthusiasts to enliven each day of the year. This day-by-day treatment illustrates the extraordinary, the weird, and the wonderful creations of language, covering everything from holidays like "Morse Code Day" and "Talk Like William Shatner Day" to the forensic phonetics used to catch serial killers. The book covers writers from many different eras and cultures, including William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, R. K. Narayan, Wole Soyinka, and many more. Some days focus on pronunciation, orthography, grammar, or vocabulary. Others focus on the way language is used in science, religion, politics, broadcasting, publishing, the arts, and the Internet. Some days acknowledge the achievements of language study, such as in language teaching, speech therapy, deaf education, and forensic science, as well as technological progress, from the humble pencil to digital software. Several days celebrate individual languages, including those spoken in small language communities. A celebration of creativity and change, this book will inspire readers to make a daily date with language.

La muerte de ls lenguas es real. Importa?, Deberia importarnos? Este libro responde afirmativmente a ambas preguntas. El objectivo es establecer los hechos y, despues, explicarlos: que es exactamente la muerte de una lengua?, que lenguas estan muriendose?, Por que se mueren las lenguas? y Por que especialmente ahora? La necesidad de informacion acerca de la perdida de la lengua es urgente."

David Crystal answers fifty questions about language usage, from general enquiries to specific points of grammar, pronunciation, orthography, vocabulary, idiom, and style. In this compact, user-friendly book, David Crystal draws on his extensive knowledge and experience to answer questions from English language teachers and learners from around the world. The book covers topics ranging from general enquiries about the language as a whole to specific points of grammar, pronunciation, orthography, vocabulary, idiom and style. The author's responses are illustrated by personal anecdotes, placed within historical and literary context and supported by research and corpus data to provide unique, authentic insights.

Frontmatter -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- CONTENTS -- 1. INTRODUCTION -- 2. DEVELOPMENTS IN PARALINGUISTIC STUDY -- 3. CATEGORIES OF PARALANGUAGE -- 4. PROSODIC FEATURES -- 5. CONSPECTUS -- APPENDIX: SPECTROGRAPHS EVIDENCE -- INDEX TO AUTHORS CITED -- Backmatter

The vocabulary of past times is always fascinating, especially when we see how it was pilloried by the satirists of the day. In this intriguing collection, David Crystal has pored through the pages of the satirical magazine 'Punch', and reveals how many present-day feelings about words have their origins over a century ago.

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.

David Crystal shows how our feelings about pronunciation today have their origins in the way our Victorian predecessors thought about the subject, as revealed in the pages of the satirical magazine, 'Punch'. Richly illustrated, this is a fascinating and highly entertaining insight into our ongoing amusement and prejudice at how we speak.

It's the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: 'to be'. Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word. As he reveals be's multiple incarnations, David Crystal takes us to the heart of our flexible and changing language, with the help of wonderfully entertaining examples and cartoons.

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 situations (wedding speeches, business presentations, storytelling) as well as the oratory of great public gatherings. A Crystal focuses on the here and now of eloquent speaking-from pitch, pace, and prosody to jokes, appropriateness, and how to wield a microphone. He explains what is going on moment by moment and examines each facet of eloquence. He also investigates topics such as the way current technologies help or hinder our verbal powers, the psychological effects of verbal excellence, and why certain places or peoples are thought to be more eloquent than others. In the core analysis of the book, Crystal offers an extended and close dissection of Barack Obama's electrifying "e;Yes we can"e; speech of 2008, in which the president demonstrated full mastery of virtually every element of eloquence-from the simple use of parallelism and an awareness of what not to say, to his brilliant conclusion constructed around two powerful words: dreams and answers.

Wherever you go in the English-speaking world, there are linguistic riches from times past awaiting rediscovery. All you have to do is choose a location, find some old documents, and dig a little. In The Disappearing Dictionary, linguistics expert Professor David Crystal collects together delightful dialect words that either provide an insight into an older way of life, or simply have an irresistible phonetic appeal. Like a mirror image of The Meaning of Liff that just happens to be true, The Disappearing Dictionary unearths some lovely old gems of the English language, dusts them down and makes them live again for a new generation.dabberlick [noun, Scotland]A mildly insulting way of talking about someone who is tall and skinny. 'Where's that dabberlick of a child?'fubsy [adjective, Lancashire]Plump, in a nice sort of way. squinch [noun, Devon]A narrow crack in a wall or a space between floorboards. 'I lost sixpence through a squinch in the floor'.

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 6000 or so languages in the world are 'safe' from the threat of extinction. A leading commentator and popular writer on language issues, David Crystal asks the fundamental question, 'Why is language death so important?', reviews the reasons for the current crisis, and investigates what is being done to reduce its impact. The book contains not only intelligent argument, but moving descriptions of the decline and demise of particular languages, and practical advice for anyone interested in pursuing the subject further.

Therefore, the series will provide an authoritative source of up-to-date scientific and clinical informa tion relating to the whole field of normal and abnormal speech communication, and as such will succeed the earlier monumental work "Handbuch der Stimm und Sprachheilkunde" by R.

Esta obra se investiga la naturaleza del impacto que internet esta teniendo sobre el lenguaje. Crystal plantea que internet esta haciendo posible una impresionante expansion para ocupar un lugar en la categoria variedad del leguaje, y que esta ofreciendo oportunidades sin precedentes para la creatividad personal."

'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 how can we better understand Shakespeare? How did he manipulate language to produce such an unrivalled body of work, which has enthralled generations both as theatre and as literature? David Crystal addresses these and many other questions in this lively and original introduction to Shakespeare's language. Covering in turn the five main dimensions of language structure - writing system, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and conversational style - the book shows how examining these linguistic 'nuts and bolts' can help us achieve a greater appreciation of Shakespeare's linguistic creativity.

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, with 1,500 million speakers worldwide; but Crystal avoids taking sides and tells the story in a measured but engaging way, backed by facts and figures. This new edition of his classic book includes new material (on the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation of New Englishes), footnotes, new tables, and a full bibliography. There are updates throughout. This is a book for anyone of any nationality concerned with English: teachers, students, language professionals, politicians, general readers and anyone with a love of the language.

Featuring Latinate and Celtic words, weasel words and nonce-words, ancient word ('loaf') to advanced ('twittersphere') and spanning the indispensable words that shape our tongue ('and', 'what') to the more fanciful ('fopdoodle'), the author takes us along the winding byways of language via the rude, the obscure and the downright surprising.