The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language -

by David Crystal

• ISBN13: 9780521823487
• ISBN10: 052182348X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-08-25
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Rarely has a book so packed with accurate and well researched factual information been so widely read and popularly acclaimed. This Second Edition of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language has been fully revised for a new generation of language-lovers. The book is longer and includes extensive new material on world English and Internet English, in addition to completely updated statistics, further reading suggestions and other references. First Edition Hb (1995): 0-521-40179-8 First Edition Pb (1997): 0-521-59655-6 David Crystal is a leading authority on language, and author of many books, including most recently Shakespeare's Words (Penguin, 2002), Language and the Internet (Cambridge, 2001) and Language Death (Cambridge, 2000). An internationally renowned writer, journal editor, lecturer and broadcaster, he received an Order of the British Empire in 1995 for his services to the English language.

Table of Contents

Prefaces

1. Modelling English

Part I. The History of English: 2. The origins of English

3. Old English

4. Middle English

5. Early Modern English

6. Modern English

7. World English

Part II. English Vocabulary: 8. The nature of the lexicon

9. The sources of the lexicon

10. Etymology

11. The structure of the lexicon

12. Lexical dimensions

Part III. English Grammar: 13. Grammatical mythology

14. The structure of words

15. Word classes

16. The structure of sentences

Part IV. Spoken and Written English: 17. The sound system

18. The writing system

Part V. Using English: 19. Varieties of discourse

20. Regional variation

21. Social variation

22. Personal variation

23. Electronic variation

Part VI. Learning about English: 24. Learning English as a mother tongue

25. New ways of studying English

Appendices

Indexes.