Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language [Paperback]

David Crystal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 2009 | ISBN-10: 1590202635 | ISBN-13: 978-1590202630

A fascinating and insightful romp through the language we speak every day, by the linguistic expert who ?succeeds again and again with clarity, wit and enthusiasm? (New York Times)

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 England to San Francisco by way of, yes, Poland, Crystal encounters numerous linguistic side roads that he cannot resist exploring, from pubs to trains to Tolkien. Walking English captures the seductive, quirky, teasing, tantalizing nature of the language itself?a Bill Bryson-esque exploration of language by our foremost expert on the subject.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Linguist Crystal (How Language Works) elucidates the serendipitous nature of language study as he meanders from Wales to San Francisco by way of England and Poland, taking every opportunity for linguistic exploration. A somewhat rambling travelogue is paired with Crystal's idiosyncratic thought processes, and the book is full of descriptive anecdotes culminating in linguistic intrigue. Often something simple such as an impromptu Good morning from a Welsh shepherd is the trigger, in this case prompting the history of the shepherd's crook of the book's title. Crystal searches for—and finds—surprising topics in the lush cultures surrounding him, including the etymology of the name of a Welsh town which contains 58 letters (it's Llanfairpwll for short), causing him to speculate on why words containing consonants like m, n, l, and r are considered the most beautiful, to discuss the linguistic processes of a wordplayer and to conclude with a version of Hamlet in which every word begins with h. In a conversational style that includes plenty of quirky facts, Crystal captures the exploratory, seductive, teasing, quirky, tantalizing nature of language study, and in doing so illuminates the fascinating world of words in which we live. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Crystal has been dubbed a latter-day Samuel Johnson, and with good reason, as evidenced by the long list of academic studies penned by the distinguished linguist, among them, How Language Works (2006). However, it is Professor Henry Higgins, popularized on stage and screen, that he most often cites in this delightful book, which is part travelogue, part memoir, and part meditation on the intellectual and emotional underpinnings of language. Hired to work on a BBC project celebrating the range of present-day British English accents and dialects, he took off for a series of ports of call throughout Wales and other parts of the UK. His encounters with the locals, described with exceptionally dry humor and an eye for the entertaining detail, are often priceless. So it is that he ends up in a discussion with a farmer on the difference in bleats between Scottish and Welsh sheep, or is greeted with much pity by shopkeepers in Portmeirion, the location for the 1960s cult TV program The Prisoner, when he can’t resist parroting phrases from the show. What is most seductive about Crystal’s narrative, though, is the fascinating glimpse it provides into the quicksilver mind of a man who is so knowledgeable and yet still so curious about our mercurial language. --Joanne Wilkinson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Overlook TP (September 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590202635
• ISBN-13: 978-1590202630
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #735,829 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Davad Crystal: Walking English, June 14, 2010

By 

Stephen A. Stomps (Auburn, NY, US) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language (Paperback)

Very well written, informative and interesting. Although the book is very Britain-centric, not surprising since this is a trip through England and Wales, there are many examples of the roots of American and other developing International English-es.
Highly recommended and I will certainly read other books by David Crystal.
SWalking English: A Journey in Search of Language

5.0 out of 5 stars A Box of Delights, February 7, 2011

By 

L. M Young (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language (Paperback)

For someone like me, who loves language, geography, and history and who is, if not a born one, at least a long-time Anglophile, this book is the literary equivalent of an angel presenting me with a box of dark chocolates filled with all my favorite fillings--mint, orange, coffee, caramel, and that heavenly lime from Sanborn's Candies--and telling me I can eat all I feel comfortable doing so, since they have no calories and no fat! Basically Crystal starts off in Wales and relates travels through England as well as in Poland, San Francisco, and South Africa in a narrative of place names, word origins, history, changes in word meaning, Shakespearan plays and names, natural and man-made landmarks, that Welsh town with the long name that the locals just refer to as "Llanfair,' placing people by accents, sheep with accents, and more, all in a delightful candy-box jumble. I enjoyed it all with a big grin.

A big plus: learning about the humanitarian poet John Bradburne and the book town of Hay-on-Wye. I think I'd like to spend a week in the latter, thank you. :-)

[Note: Apparently Crystal titled this book BY HOOK OR BY CROOK, and refers to it as such in the introduction. Oddly, there is nothing on the title page or colophon that reflects a title change.]

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment., February 20, 2010

By 

David M. Giltinan (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking English: A Journey in Search of Language (Paperback)

For almost 300 pages, Professor Crystal wanders the backroads of Wales and the west of England (with an occasional excursion to Silicon Valley and to Lodz). This book is essentially little more than his random free-associations about local place names and language communities encountered along the way. Unfortunately, the writing lacks discipline and the author's observations tend to be largely pedestrian or hopelessly obscure.

I was particularly disppointed by the chapter dealing with Silicon Valley. The effect of the internet on English is a potentially fascinating topic, but Professor Crystal offered few fresh insights. This was hardly surprising, given that the extent of his research appears to have been a single afternoon's visit to a "high tech firm" in Silicon Valley. Neither does the author's recitation of San Francisco shop names spotted along Fisherman's Wharf make for interesting reading.

But a dull recitation of unconnected facts, with commentary that does little to illuminate, is the defining characteristic of this disappointing book. The occasional flashes of genuine wit are unfortunately few and far between.