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Loading... A Little Book of Language (Little Histories) (original 2010; edition 2010)by David Crystal
Work detailsA Little Book of Language by David Crystal (2010)
I love all things about language, and really enjoyed this book as a quick overview on the subject. (  ) ScarletBea | Apr 4, 2013 |  There was interesting and good information in this book. If I'd never read anything else about linguistics and/or language, it probably would have been really good. However, the writing style made me feel like I was being talked down to, and I would have really preferred a deeper look at a lot of the ideas presented. (  ) CassieLM | Apr 2, 2013 | This is a fine introductory book on language and linguistics for high school students, or perhaps middle school students. But I ended up buying and reading it myself because it was written by David Crystal, whose other works I've enjoyed, and nothing about this book's cover suggested that it was for a younger audience (it's published in the U.S. by Yale University Press—not a major children's book publisher!). If you know anything about linguistics already, it's likely to bore you. For that matter, even if this is a completely new subject to you, I'd suggest finding one of Crystal's other books or another introduction to linguistics intended for adults. The book itself isn't badly written or inaccurate, it's just not suitable for many adult readers. (  ) Silvernfire | Feb 5, 2012 | If you've never read a book about linguistics before, this is a fantastic book. It's friendly, funny, and wholy entertaining. I was grinning during his chapter on how babies acquire language. However, if you are even slightly interested in linguistics and have read up on the acquisition of language, evolution of speaking, creation of writing, and invention of words elsewhere, this book will come off as very disappointing. The book is completely uncited, so it's not even useful for finding further research. (  )1  kaelirenee | Nov 1, 2011 | A quick, pleasant survey of major contours in linguistics: comparative grammar, physiology of human speech, development of language in infants, language families, evolution of spelling & speaking languages, and the like. Of the 50 or so chapters, few if any are longer than 4 pages, and each ends with a sidebar illustrating a point from the chapter. Apparently written as a secondary school text, with examples geared toward popular music and social networking, but only occasionally does Crystal adopt the tone of a friendly don, not so much dumbed down as benignly patronizing. I'm left with the sense he's deliberately ratcheted back the passion in his essays, so as not to scare off any interested new linguists. ( )1 elenchus | Jul 25, 2011 | no reviews | add a review
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With a language disappearing every two weeks and neologisms springing up almost daily, understanding the origins and currency of language has never seemed more relevant.
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Yale University PressTwo editions of this book were published by Yale University Press.
Editions: 0300155336, 0300170823
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