How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die [Hardcover]

David Crystal (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1585678481 | ISBN-13: 978-1585678488 | Publication Date: November 16, 2006

A parrot uncomprehendingly rattles off a string of words learned by rote. And we marvel! Yet we seem to take our own astonishing linguistic powers for granted—the ability to speak, listen, and understand, to read and write. We all understand why language works—we have to communicate to survive—and now David Crystal, the world authority on language, shows us how.

How are languages born? How does conversation work? How do we learn how to read? How do gestures and tone of voice impact communication? And what happens when a language goes wrong? How Language Works answers questions about the innumerable facets of language, from how we absorb all those grammatical rules to how we decide if a word is rude or polite.

Whether looking at the whistle languages of the Canary Islands, or describing the layout of the human throat; whether assessing the importance of eyebrow flashes in conversation, or showing how the way we speak betrays who we want to be—How Language Works is a book that will enrich the lives of everyone who reads it. Illuminating and intriguing, this landmark book is the ultimate guide to the mysteries of the language we all use every day.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A world authority on language, Crystal (The Stories of English) offers an impeccably organized guide to language and communication that brings clarity to a scholarly subject, and is sure to become a standard reference. Written in an unadorned style, Crystal's chapters are purposeful lessons ("How we use tone of voice"; "How children learn to mean"; "How we choose what to say") that demonstrate his pedagogical genius for rendering complex matters simple. Crystal's tome imparts a vast amount of knowledge concerning intricate and interrelated aspects of speech, the written word, lexicography, grammar and neurological aspects of communication; it encompasses issues of identity, ethnicity and the preservation of disappearing languages, the structural organization of the world's different language families, multilingualism, and the pragmatic uses of artificial and natural languages. A feat of academic distillation, Crystal's book abounds in wisdom and dry wit. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Longtime language writer and linguistics professor Crystal (The Stories of English, 2004) offers a well-organized, thoroughly comprehensive guide to language and communication in 73 short chapters. The passionate word enthusiast addresses every aspect of language, including how we learn to speak, read, and write; the physiology behind the formation of speech sounds; how we choose what to say; how gestures and tone of voice impact communication; how the brain handles language; and how language tells us where we are from. After beginning with spoken and written language, Crystal moves on to sign language, language structure, discourse, dialects, language families, and multilingualism. The book also includes diagrams of the human tongue, ear, and brain; a chart of Egyptian hieroglyphs over time; and illustrations of finger spelling. Although its size and subject matter may suggest otherwise, this volume is aimed at and written for general readers, and Crystal makes for an especially genial guide. Whether expressing his fair-minded assessment of the prescriptive-descriptive debate or knowledgably discussing the connection between dialects and social status, he proves to be both accessible and informative. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover (November 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585678481
• ISBN-13: 978-1585678488
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #389,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has written or edited over 100 books and published numerous articles for scholarly, professional, and general readerships, in fields ranging from forensic linguistics and ELT to the liturgy and Shakespeare. His many books include Words, Words, Words (OUP 2006) and The Fight for English (OUP 2006).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Overview of the HOW, July 19, 2007

By 

J. Birchell "vitellioscarpia" (Anchorage, AK, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die (Hardcover)

I would strongly disagree with the review that contends that this book does not explore its subject matter in enough depth. I particularly disagree with the reviewer when he keeps asking for further explanation ("it doesn't explain WHY...") The book is not intended to explain why. As the introduction makes clear, it is intended as an explanation of the HOW of linguistics; in other words, it is intended as a diagnostic overview of linguistic science. It is not a scientific investigation. It is not a historical (or etymological) overview of linguistic practices. It is a description of those practices. In this light, it succeeds admirably. I found the book extremely informative as an effective introduction to linguistics. And I did NOT find it a difficult read.
If you have no background study in linguistics, I HIGHLY recommend this book.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How Language Works is highly recommended., December 10, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die (Hardcover)

How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, And Languages Live Or Die by expert linguist David Crystal is a comprehensive guide written for lay readers and linguistic scholars alike to how language develops and evolves, both in individuals and in societies. In addition to chronicling how new languages are created from the mixing of cultures, and surveying the process of how languages die, How Language Works also makes an impassioned plea to protect and sustain as many languages as possible in a modern world beset with the threat of literally thousands of human languages on the verge of extinction. Championing languages as facets of intellectual and cultural diversity as well as miracles of science and nature, How Language Works is highly recommended.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Total Book on Language, February 8, 2007

By 

Ray Cemic "Music lover" (Lake Worth,Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die (Hardcover)

This book covers every aspect of language: the physiological, paralingual communication, nuances of language, and almost any other thing that you can think of involving language. It is from England so some of the spellings and phrasings are different, but I found it to be interesting, readable, and full of new information, based on the latest research.