A Little Book of Language

With A Language Disappearing Every Two Weeks And Neologisms Springing Up Almost Daily, Understanding The Origins And Currency Of Language Has Never Seemed More Relevant. Baby-talk -- From Cries To Words -- Learning How To Understand -- Making Vibrations -- Pronouncing Sounds -- Discovering Grammar -- Having A Conversation -- Learning To Read And Write -- Getting To Grips With Spelling -- Spelling Rules And Variations -- Grammar Rules And Variations -- Accents And Dialects -- Being Bilingual -- The Languages Of The World -- The Origins Of Speech -- The Origins Of Writing -- Modern Writing -- Sign Language -- Comparing Languages -- Dying Languages -- Language Change -- Language Variation -- Language At Work -- Slang -- Dictionaries -- Etymology -- Place Names -- Personal Names -- The Electronic Revolution -- Texting -- Language At Play -- Why Use Language? -- Language For Feelings -- Political Correctness -- Language In Literature -- Developing A Style -- The Complexity Of Language -- Linguistics -- Applied Linguistics -- Your Language World. David Crystal. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.