Written in a detailed and fascinating manner, this book is ideal for general readers interested in the English language.

Words, Words, Words is all about the wonder of words. Drawing on a lifetime's experience, David Crystal explores language in all its rich varieties through words: the very building blocks of our communication.

In this exhilarating and often hilarious book, David Crystal examines why we devote so much time and energy to language games, how professionals make a career of them, and how young children instinctively take to them.

A history of the English language draws on the diversity of dialects and regional accents around the world, as well as the dialects that appear in a variety of literary classics, to explain the significance of the language.

The authors also review legal and ethical issues and show clinicians and caregivers how to mobilize community resources. The book concludes with 11 assessment guides and rating scales and an index.

Sounds Appealing tells us exactly why, and how, we pronounce words as we do. Pronunciation is integral to communication, and is tailored to meet the demands of the two main forces behind language: intelligibility and identity.

How has the fighting over English usage come about?" "David Crystal charts the clashes from Anglo-Saxon times via the language of Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson to our own time of texting and the greengrocer's apostrophe.

A thorough review of the worldwide problem of language endangerment and death.

In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts of language in his usual highly illuminating way.