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The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language
 
 
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The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language [Paperback]

David Crystal (Author)
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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From Library Journal

Crystal, an author, lecturer, and BBC broadcaster on language, here approaches English with the same combination of scholarly seriousness and inviting visual presentation that made his Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (LJ 5/1/88) so successful. This large, lively, and lavishly illustrated volume is divided into six broad topics that cover the English language's history, vocabulary, grammar, writing and speech systems, usage, and acquisition. Within these major topics, the book is divided into logical subtopics and finally into the basic unit of the text-the two-page spread. Nearly every individual subject is treated without turning a page, and how these pages are packed! The clear and spirited text is stunning, enhanced with over 500 illustrations, making this a particularly rich reference work and a browser's dream. The history part consists of chronological chapters that trace the language's development. It offers a fascinating treatment of the growth of English during Shakespeare's time as well as its adaptation to the needs of international trade and late 20th-century technology. Crystal is attuned to the diversity of English usage around the world, providing a variety of wide-ranging quotations, photographs, newspaper clippings, poems, ads, and cartoons. The text treats controversial topics such as black English, word and place origins, regional English, dialect, the U.S. movement to make English the official language, politically correct language, and the future. The book's layout, three indexes, and glossary will make it useful both at the reference desk and in the circulating collection. Crystal has created an attractive and readable work for the lay reader as well as the specialist. For most academic, public, and school libraries.
Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This attractive resource is organized thematically in segments covering the history of the English language (Old English, Middle English, Modern English, English in different parts of the world); English vocabulary (its nature, structure, sources, etymology, and the dimensions of the lexicon); English grammar (structure of words and sentences, definitions of the main branches of grammar); spoken and written English; English usage (varieties of discourse and regional, social, and personal usage variations); and how people learn English and new ways to study English. Appendixes include a glossary, a list of symbols and abbreviations, references and addresses, further readings, and indexes of names, items, and topics. Crystal, a linguist, is the compiler of many reference books published by Cambridge, for example, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1987).

Throughout the book (which focuses on British English, not American English), readers will find liberal use of color in the many charts, illustrations, reprints of pages from historically significant works, maps, and photographs. The author does not shrink from exploring and delivering opinions on controversial topics such as the "opaque inspecific, or empty" language of politics and the dangers of "political correctness."

Each segment can be read as if it were the only section of the book, or, the work can be read cover to cover so that a cumulative effect is achieved. The only comparable resource that provides the same type of broad-ranging coverage in one volume is The Oxford Companion to the English Language [RBB O 15 92]. That work is arranged alphabetically within 22 themes (e.g., geography, history, media) and provides "an interim report on the nature and use of the English language" in all nations that speak English. The two works complement each other; Cambridge provides historical perspective and Oxford a snapshot of current English. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language lives up to the reputation of other resources published under the Cambridge imprint and will make an excellent addition to the collections of large public libraries and all academic libraries. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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The history of English is a fascinating field of study in its own right, but it also provides a valuable perspective for the contemporary study of the language, and thus makes an appropriate opening section for this book. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.9 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars This encyclopedia is fun!, July 1 2004
This review is from: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Paperback)
I've wanted this book for ages and finally got it as a birthday present. A real doll to everyone interested in the English language, in all its little quirks and finenesses. Heaps of knowledge from the depths of history to present day, funny examples and interesting articles that bring the book to life - you can browse it through dozens of times and still find something new. A superb and humorous encyclopedia for all fans of linguistics.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Anglocentric, Feb 13 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Paperback)
I have truly enjoyed reading this book, and recommend it highly to anyone interested in learning about the English language. It is easy to read, clear, and authoritative. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is that Mr. Crystal seems to hold the subtly snobbish attitude toward American literature and language still prevalent among the educated class in Britain. He gives due credit to Benjamin Franklin, Noah Webster, Edgar Allen Poe, and H.L. Mencken, but dismisses Mark Twain as being simply a humorist with vaguely racist tendencies, and fails to even mention Hawthorne, Melville, or Longfellow, the leaders of the 19th century American Renaissance, who succeeded in creating a distinctive American literature, separate from the English tradition. He also fails to mention Stephen Crane and Ernest Hemingway, but includes Burton Raffles, Peter Sellers (twice), and John Le Carre.

At the same time, I sometimes have the feeling that we Americans have merely borrowed the English language, and don't understand it, love it, and use it the way the English do. For us, English is handy tool, but if something better came along we would abandon it without a second thought, whereas the English will always speak English. And Hawthorne, Melville, and Longfellow may be more widely read in the UK these days than they are in their own country. Mr. Crystal obviously loves the English language, and writes about it with lucidity and affection. So my complaint is a back-handed compliment, in a way, and I would not discourage anyone from buying and reading this book from cover to cover.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Erudition + Hipness = Darn Good Book, Mar 8 2003
By 
K. Johnson (US/Asia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Paperback)
A lengthy, comprehensive, and interestingly detailed look at the evolution and current state of the English language. Such terms and concepts such as Hyponymic Hierarchies, Hypernyms, and semantic changes are given in laymen terms and explained with real-life examples. There is tons and tons of factual information presented, based upon applied linguistic research and the historical growth and transformations of the English language, from its' origins to Old, Middle, and New. There are many charts, colorful pictures, and graphs to present this information. Crystal provides one of the rare mixes of erudition and hipness that is appreciated.

One of the hundreds of interesting tid-bits here are, for example, Top Ten First Names dating from the year 1700.

This book doesn't have to be read front to back, and one can dart to and from different areas that one wants to ingest. Helpful for folks into history, applied linguistics, the English language, TEFL, and those who want to know why we speak the way we do today.

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