Penguin Group. New York, NY, USA. 2007. — 512 pages. Includes index. — ISBN: 158333291XSteven 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.Introducing language
How what works?
How to treat body language
How we use the ‘edges’ of language
Spoken language
How we make speech sounds: phase 1
How we make speech sounds: phase 2
How we transmit sounds
How we hear speech sounds
How we perceive speech
How we describe speech sounds
How we describe consonants and vowels
How we organize the sounds of speech
How we use tone of voice
How children learn speech sounds: the first year
How children learn speech sounds: later years
How speech can go wrong
Written language
How we write
How we make writing systems: early times
How we make writing systems: modern times
How we read
How we write and spell
How we learn to read and write
How reading and writing can go wrong
How writing and speech differ
How the electronic medium differs
Sign language
How sign language works
How sign languages vary
Language structure
How the brain handles language
How to investigate language structure
How we mean
How we analyse meaning
How we learn vocabulary
How children learn to mean
How dictionaries work
How names work
How vocabulary grows
How we study grammar
How words work
How we classify words
How sentences work
