Words Words Words

by Crystal, David

• ISBN13: 9780199210770
• ISBN10: 0199210772
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-06
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

A passionate champion of the English language, David Crystal invites us all to discover more about the fascinating Wordworld which is all around us and to celebrate its richness and diversity: how we make sense of words and where they come from, how words vary and how they evolve, and how we play games with words. The final section gives practical advice on how we can explore this world more fully ourselves and learn the skills of a word detective. Book jacket.

Author Biography

David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
The universe of words	p. 1
Wordsmithery	p. 3
Wordhoards	p. 9
Wordgrowth	p. 18
Wordfields	p. 25
Wordworks	p. 33
The origins of words	p. 41
Wordstarts	p. 43
Wordlore	p. 50
Wordloans	p. 59
Wordbuilding	p. 64
Wordnaming	p. 72
The diversity of words	p. 81
Wordspells	p. 83
Wordsounds	p. 90
Wordendings	p. 98
Wordregions	p. 105
Wordgangs	p. 113
Wordworlds	p. 119
Wordrisks	p. 127
The evolution of words	p. 135
Wordbirths	p. 137
Worddeaths	p. 142
Wordchanges	p. 149
Wordfutures	p. 155
The enjoyment of words	p. 165
Wordmelodies	p. 167
Wordplay	p. 172
Wordgames	p. 177
Wordmasters	p. 183
Becoming a word detective	p. 187
How to find out the history of a word	p. 189
How to find out about the meaning of names	p. 191
How to get involved with dictionaries	p. 194
How to estimate the size of your vocabulary	p. 196
How to keep a record of your child's words	p. 198
How to decide whether sounds have meanings	p. 201
How to get involved with dialects	p. 203
How to find out more about words	p. 205
Index of subjects	p. 208
Index of people	p. 212
Index of words	p. 215
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