How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Liveor Die - Couverture rigide

Crystal, David

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1585678481 ISBN 13 : 9781585678488

Editeur : Overlook Books, 2006

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

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.

Présentation de l'éditeur

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. Along the way we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we talk show not just how old we are but where we're from and even who we want to be.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Overlook Books
• Date d'édition: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1585678481
• ISBN 13: 9781585678488
• Reliure: Relié
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 512