01936cam a2200253L  45000010006000000050017000060080041000230350024000640400022000880200022001100200025001320350021001570500022001780820011002001000027002112450111002382600030003493000039003795050187004185200941006056500028015466500025015748560083015999688520230410124146.0091213s2007    nyu           000 u eng d  a(OCoLC)ocn488298239  aDKDLAbdancDKDLA  a158333291X (pbk.)  a9781583332917 (pbk.)  a(OCoLC)48829823914aP 107bC957h 200700a401/.41 aCrystal, David,d1941-10aHow language works :bhow babies babble, words change meaning, and languages live or die /cDavid Crystal.  aNew York :bAvery,c2007.  axii, 500 p. :bill., map ;c23 cm.0 aIntroducing language -- Spoken language -- Written language -- Sign language -- Language structure -- Discourse -- Dialects -- Languages -- Multilingualism -- Looking after language.8 aIn the authors own words, How Language Works is not about music, cookery, or sex. But it is about how we talk about music, cookery, and sexor, 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 persons 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 laymans guide to how we communicate with one another. 0aLanguage and languages. 4aLenguajes y lenguas.413Table of contents onlyuhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0722/2007028115.html