The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left - Couverture rigide

Crystal, David

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 019920764X ISBN 13 : 9780199207640

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Lynne Truss's 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' injected new life into the long-standing arguments over rights and wrongs in English usage. Now David Crystal brings together his own distinctive style and unique expertise to provide the first thorough-going assessment of the ongoing debate. With a lively, humorous, and accessible approach, Crystal charts the battles past and present, illustrating the characters and attitudes involved from a wide range of written sources. He combines a chronological survey of key influences in the area of usage with discussion of particular themes such as punctuation, spelling, and pronunciation. And he looks ahead to the future in the context of recent education policy shifts. A positive and compelling case is made for variation in usage of English based on appropriateness of situation, arguing that 'zero tolerance' in relation to language is a profoundly flawed approach. Crystal offers an original and authoritative counter-argument to the prescriptivist agenda that has been expounded in many accounts of English usage over the years. The Fight for English is the book that everyone concerned with English usage has been eagerly awaiting.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

David Crystal is the foremost writer and lecturer on the English language, with a world-wide reputation and over 100 books to his name. He is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor, and has been awarded an OBE for services to the English Language.

Revue de presse

elegant, accessible, illuminating (Times Education Supplement)

Illuminating

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2006
• ISBN 10: 019920764X
• ISBN 13: 9780199207640
• Reliure: Relié
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 239