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

Steven Pinker meets Bill Bryson in this landmark exploration of language.

In the author's own words, How Language Works 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 David Crystal makes clear in this work of unprecedented scope, 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 origins of languages, how children learn to speak, and how conversation works to subtle but revealing points such as how email differs from both speech and writing in important ways, how language reveals a person's social status, and how we decide whether a word is rude or polite.

Broad and deep, but with a light and witty touch, How Language Works is the ultimate layman's guide to how we communicate with one another.

Author: David Crystal
Publisher: Avery Publishing Group
Published: 11/01/2007
Pages: 512
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.40d
ISBN13: 9781583332917
ISBN10: 158333291X
BISAC Categories:
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics | Semantics
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Communication Studies
- Language Arts & Disciplines | Literacy

About the Author
David Crystal is honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and the editor of The Penguin Encyclopedia.