Evolving English : one language, many voices : an illustrated history of the English language / David Crystal.
2010
PE1075 .C785 2010 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection
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Details
Title
Evolving English : one language, many voices : an illustrated history of the English language / David Crystal.
Author
Crystal, David, 1941-
ISBN
9780712350990
0712350993
9780712350983 (pbk.)
0712350985 (pbk.)
0712350993
9780712350983 (pbk.)
0712350985 (pbk.)
Imprint
London : British Library, 2010.
Language
English
Description
159 p. : col. ill. ; 29 cm.
Call Number
PE1075 .C785 2010
Dewey Decimal Classification
420.9
Summary
English is spoken or written today by one-third of the world's population--an unprecedented achievement for a language. How has this situation come about? And what happens to a language when it is used by so many? In this illustrated history David Crystal charts the development of the language from the earliest runic inscriptions in Old English, through the emergence of a standard variety of English between 1400 and 1800, to the most modern forms of the language in 'concrete' and 'text' poetry. In telling the story he draws on examples from English in its various guises and uses from our everyday English to English in the workplace and English used as a medium of playful and literary expression. The regional and international varieties of English are also considered. This book shows us where language is now, where it has been, and perhaps most important of all where it is heading, for the new varieties of the language appearing in world literature and on the Internet show that this is a story which is by no means over.
Note
Published on the occasion of the exhibition "Evolving English: one language, many voices" held at The British Library, Nov. 12, 2010-April 3, 2011.
English is spoken or written today by one-third of the world's population--an unprecedented achievement for a language. How has this situation come about? And what happens to a language when it is used by so many? In this illustrated history David Crystal charts the development of the language from the earliest runic inscriptions in Old English, through the emergence of a standard variety of English between 1400 and 1800, to the most modern forms of the language in 'concrete' and 'text' poetry. In telling the story he draws on examples from English in its various guises and uses from our everyday English to English in the workplace and English used as a medium of playful and literary expression. The regional and international varieties of English are also considered. This book shows us where language is now, where it has been, and perhaps most important of all where it is heading, for the new varieties of the language appearing in world literature and on the Internet show that this is a story which is by no means over.
English is spoken or written today by one-third of the world's population--an unprecedented achievement for a language. How has this situation come about? And what happens to a language when it is used by so many? In this illustrated history David Crystal charts the development of the language from the earliest runic inscriptions in Old English, through the emergence of a standard variety of English between 1400 and 1800, to the most modern forms of the language in 'concrete' and 'text' poetry. In telling the story he draws on examples from English in its various guises and uses from our everyday English to English in the workplace and English used as a medium of playful and literary expression. The regional and international varieties of English are also considered. This book shows us where language is now, where it has been, and perhaps most important of all where it is heading, for the new varieties of the language appearing in world literature and on the Internet show that this is a story which is by no means over.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 157) and index.
Added Corporate Author
British Library.
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Table of Contents
English comes of age
Setting the standard
Everyday English
English at work
English at play
Accents and dialects
English around the world.
Setting the standard
Everyday English
English at work
English at play
Accents and dialects
English around the world.