David Crystal

A Little Book
of

Language

Yale University Press

New Haven and London
Copyright © 2010 by David Crystal

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library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data

Crystal, David, 1941

A little book of language / David Crystal.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-15533-4 (alk. paper)
1. Language acquisition. I. Title.
P118.C74 2010
400—dc22
2009037998

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
 Contents
1 Baby-talk 1

2 From cries to words 6

3 Learning how to understand 14

4 Making vibrations 21

5 Pronouncing sounds 28

6 Discovering grammar 34

7 Having a conversation 40

8 Learning to read and write 45

9 Getting to grips with spelling 52

10 Spelling rules and variations 58

11 Grammar rules and variations 65

12 Accents and dialects 71

13 Being bilingual 78

14 The languages of the world 84

vi contents

15 The origins of speech 92

16 The origins of writing 98

17 Modern writing 104

18 Sign language 112

19 Comparing languages 118

20 Dying languages 125

21 Language change 131

22 Language variation 138

23 Language at work 145

24 Slang 151

25 Dictionaries 157

26 Etymology 163

27 Place names 169

28 Personal names 176

29 The electronic revolution 183

30 Texting 189

31 Language at play 195

32 Why use language? 201

33 Language for feelings 209

34 Political correctness 215

35 Language in literature 221

36 Developing a style 227

 contents vii

37 The complexity of language 233

38 Linguistics 239

39 Applied linguistics 244

40 Your language world 250

Index 255