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The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (text only) 3rd (Third) edition by D. Crystal
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language [Paperback]David Crystal (Author)
Unknown Binding
First published July 29, 1987
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About the author
David Crystal
235 books760 followersDavid Crystal works from his home in Holyhead, North Wales, as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster. Born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland in 1941, he spent his early years in Holyhead. His family moved to Liverpool in 1951, and he received his secondary schooling at St Mary's College. He read English at University College London (1959-62), specialised in English language studies, did some research there at the Survey of English Usage under Randolph Quirk (1962-3), then joined academic life as a lecturer in linguistics, first at Bangor, then at Reading. He published the first of his 100 or so books in 1964, and became known chiefly for his research work in English language studies, in such fields as intonation and stylistics, and in the application of linguistics to religious, educational and clinical contexts, notably in the development of a range of linguistic profiling techniques for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. He held a chair at the University of Reading for 10 years, and is now Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. These days he divides his time between work on language and work on internet applications.
source: http://www.davidcrystal.com/
source: http://www.davidcrystal.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
August 8, 2014
Why I felt compelled to start reading an encyclopedia cover-to-cover I can't say, but I'm glad I did with this one. Remarkably lucid and catholic in its consideration of the broad universe of topics relating to language broadly construed (which is to say, pretty much everything from philosophy & theology to archaeology & attempts to enable computers to truly comprehend speech).
I keep it next to my bed and read a chapter every night. The chapters are appropriately sized for their topics, and studded with illustrated sidebars, definitions of technical terms, and illustrative anecdotes & examples. Highly recommended both as a reference and as book to read for pleasure & general enlightenment.
I keep it next to my bed and read a chapter every night. The chapters are appropriately sized for their topics, and studded with illustrated sidebars, definitions of technical terms, and illustrative anecdotes & examples. Highly recommended both as a reference and as book to read for pleasure & general enlightenment.
July 24, 2012
This book is a huge, monstrous beast -- the good kind. I keep it on the bottom shelf next to my compact OED, OCD (Oxford Classical Dictionary, not Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Greek English Lexicon (the big Liddell).
Where do I even begin to describe the contents of this gigantic resource? It contains 65 chapters organized into 11 sections, including popular ideas about language, the structure of language, the medium of language (speaking and listening), signing and seeing, child language acquisition, "language, brain and disability, languages of the world, language in the world, and language and communication.
every conceivable issue connected with language is covered in this book.
Where do I even begin to describe the contents of this gigantic resource? It contains 65 chapters organized into 11 sections, including popular ideas about language, the structure of language, the medium of language (speaking and listening), signing and seeing, child language acquisition, "language, brain and disability, languages of the world, language in the world, and language and communication.
every conceivable issue connected with language is covered in this book.
June 25, 2025
This is probably my nerdiest for-fun read ever.
If you are interested in linguistics and would like a broad and enthusiastic overview of the topic, then I cannot recommend David Crystal highly enough. He has a knack for describing his subject with eagerness and expertise, but without falling into dense jargon. He also crams his books full of interesting facts about various world languages and the extraordinary variation that exists. If you are monolingual, you might not appreciate the multifaceted ways that language has evolved, but never fear. David Crystal is here to throw random fun facts at you from phonetics to nonverbal communication to formal and informal modes of communication. Did you know that in some languages speaking formally requires you to use more puns? David Crystal knows.
Here comes a recommendation for a niche audience so small that it might consist of only myself: if you are interested in reading just one of David Crystal’s encyclopedias about language then I would recommend his Encyclopedia of the English Language over this one; it seemed to contain more interesting sidebars, articles, and footnotes. This one reads much more like a textbook (possibly because it is a textbook, but shut up!) and meandered too often. By nature of its incredibly broad premise, it often spent time on subjects that were only tangentially related to what I was interested in, and he spent a necessarily brief time on other topics. When he wrote an entire encyclopedia on just one language, he was able to go more in depth and really explain what linguists were thinking and hypothesizing; this one often felt like a light skim over very deep waters.
If you are assigned one of these encyclopedias as a textbook in a college course, then congratulations! You have lucked out and acquired one of the more readable and entertaining textbooks out there.
If you are interested in linguistics and would like a broad and enthusiastic overview of the topic, then I cannot recommend David Crystal highly enough. He has a knack for describing his subject with eagerness and expertise, but without falling into dense jargon. He also crams his books full of interesting facts about various world languages and the extraordinary variation that exists. If you are monolingual, you might not appreciate the multifaceted ways that language has evolved, but never fear. David Crystal is here to throw random fun facts at you from phonetics to nonverbal communication to formal and informal modes of communication. Did you know that in some languages speaking formally requires you to use more puns? David Crystal knows.
Here comes a recommendation for a niche audience so small that it might consist of only myself: if you are interested in reading just one of David Crystal’s encyclopedias about language then I would recommend his Encyclopedia of the English Language over this one; it seemed to contain more interesting sidebars, articles, and footnotes. This one reads much more like a textbook (possibly because it is a textbook, but shut up!) and meandered too often. By nature of its incredibly broad premise, it often spent time on subjects that were only tangentially related to what I was interested in, and he spent a necessarily brief time on other topics. When he wrote an entire encyclopedia on just one language, he was able to go more in depth and really explain what linguists were thinking and hypothesizing; this one often felt like a light skim over very deep waters.
If you are assigned one of these encyclopedias as a textbook in a college course, then congratulations! You have lucked out and acquired one of the more readable and entertaining textbooks out there.
August 18, 2010
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language is a broad survey of language and linguistics, aimed at a popular audience. It is organised thematically, with sixty five chapters divided into eleven parts. Part one highlights popular ideas (and especially misconceptions) about language, covering such topics as description versus prescription and the equality of languages. Part two considers the ways in which language is tied up with notions of identity — personal, social, and national. And part three introduces the traditional material of linguistics: the structure of language, typologies, universals, grammar, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and so forth. Parts four to six explore the different media of language: reading and writing, speaking and listening, and signing and seeing. Part seven explores child language acquisition and part eight the relationship of the brain to language and language handicaps. Part nine surveys the variety of languages around the world, their distribution and their historical relationships, and part ten the varied roles language plays in different areas of human life. And part eleven touches briefly on the history of modern linguistics and the relationship between language and non-linguistic communication systems.
The Encyclopedia of Language is not meant to be read in large portions. Nor, though provided with good indices and glossary, is it primarily a reference. It is, rather, a volume designed for dipping into and browsing, for casual perusal. Individual articles are written so they can stand by themselves and the longest are of only a few pages. Most are shorter, with many columns, boxes, and side-bars of just a few paragraphs, and there are usually several places to start reading on any page.
It is hard to convey a feel for a volume organised like this, but opening it at random three times will give the general idea. Pages 82-83 explore the issue of linguistic levels: How many levels does language have? Which one should come first in linguistics? This is illustrated with diagrams for some of the different models of spoken language structure that have been suggested. The main text on pages 264-5 covers "neurophysiological models of language" and "slips of the tongue - or brain?". In smaller print we have boxes on the Genie case (language development of a neglected child), the classification of tongue slips, and the debate over "critical periods" in language development. In the margin we have a small reproduction of a painting of Spooner and an account of the origin of the term "spoonerism". Pages 328-9 survey language isolates: brief descriptions of some sixteen are arranged around a world map showing their locations (and illustrated with small colour photographs).
Real depth of treatment is of course impossible with such a format, making the more theoretical topics hard to deal with: one can hardly get far into phrase structure grammar in a page, for example. It is not surprising, therefore, that the work is strongest in the more "applied" areas. Many curious and intriguing pieces of information are presented.
Charles V of Germany is said to have spoken French to men, Italian to women, Spanish to God, and German to horses!
"In response to the question 'Will you marry me?', silence in English would be interpreted as uncertainty; in Japanese it would be acceptance. In Igbo, it would be considered a denial if the woman were to continue to stand there, and an acceptance if she ran away."
Such facts are usually used to illustrate more general principles, however. Crystal has produced some accessible general introductions to topics which are rarely treated at this level, and he provides further reading suggestions for those who want to find out more.
I have one minor gripe with The Encyclopedia of Language. The right-hand margins on each page are used for short side-bars. This is a great idea, but the paperback edition doesn't open out flat, making those on the left-hand page very difficult to read. A similar problem occurs with photographs and maps that span two pages. Otherwise the volume is visually not just appealing but positively enticing. Maps and tables are used effectively and the illustrations are useful and informative as well as attractive, only occasionally purely decorative. The Encyclopedia of Language should be widely appreciated, and should do much to improve popular understanding of language and linguistics.
The Encyclopedia of Language is not meant to be read in large portions. Nor, though provided with good indices and glossary, is it primarily a reference. It is, rather, a volume designed for dipping into and browsing, for casual perusal. Individual articles are written so they can stand by themselves and the longest are of only a few pages. Most are shorter, with many columns, boxes, and side-bars of just a few paragraphs, and there are usually several places to start reading on any page.
It is hard to convey a feel for a volume organised like this, but opening it at random three times will give the general idea. Pages 82-83 explore the issue of linguistic levels: How many levels does language have? Which one should come first in linguistics? This is illustrated with diagrams for some of the different models of spoken language structure that have been suggested. The main text on pages 264-5 covers "neurophysiological models of language" and "slips of the tongue - or brain?". In smaller print we have boxes on the Genie case (language development of a neglected child), the classification of tongue slips, and the debate over "critical periods" in language development. In the margin we have a small reproduction of a painting of Spooner and an account of the origin of the term "spoonerism". Pages 328-9 survey language isolates: brief descriptions of some sixteen are arranged around a world map showing their locations (and illustrated with small colour photographs).
Real depth of treatment is of course impossible with such a format, making the more theoretical topics hard to deal with: one can hardly get far into phrase structure grammar in a page, for example. It is not surprising, therefore, that the work is strongest in the more "applied" areas. Many curious and intriguing pieces of information are presented.
Charles V of Germany is said to have spoken French to men, Italian to women, Spanish to God, and German to horses!
"In response to the question 'Will you marry me?', silence in English would be interpreted as uncertainty; in Japanese it would be acceptance. In Igbo, it would be considered a denial if the woman were to continue to stand there, and an acceptance if she ran away."
Such facts are usually used to illustrate more general principles, however. Crystal has produced some accessible general introductions to topics which are rarely treated at this level, and he provides further reading suggestions for those who want to find out more.
I have one minor gripe with The Encyclopedia of Language. The right-hand margins on each page are used for short side-bars. This is a great idea, but the paperback edition doesn't open out flat, making those on the left-hand page very difficult to read. A similar problem occurs with photographs and maps that span two pages. Otherwise the volume is visually not just appealing but positively enticing. Maps and tables are used effectively and the illustrations are useful and informative as well as attractive, only occasionally purely decorative. The Encyclopedia of Language should be widely appreciated, and should do much to improve popular understanding of language and linguistics.
February 3, 2009
I translated this book to Persian. I love it. Even I tried to substitute some examples from Persian. the translation took 5 years.
February 11, 2021
When I was started college, I desperately wanted to be a linguist, and I read this and a few other books dozens of times. Reading it again eighteen years later, I found that I'd memorized certain paragraphs without realizing it. This book has probably influenced my thinking in ways I couldn't even begin to imagine or understand. But, then again, the same could probably be said of Power Rangers.
So what did I think of it, rereading it after half a lifetime? I hated it. There are some great parts, but the author is extremely verbose (in particular, he has a habit of using several paragraphs to say 'more research needed'). He lingers on some of the most boring topics and rushes through some of the most interesting. Linguistics itself is a bit of a backwater, and I wish I had never wasted any time on it.
So what did I think of it, rereading it after half a lifetime? I hated it. There are some great parts, but the author is extremely verbose (in particular, he has a habit of using several paragraphs to say 'more research needed'). He lingers on some of the most boring topics and rushes through some of the most interesting. Linguistics itself is a bit of a backwater, and I wish I had never wasted any time on it.
January 1, 2016
While this book was really interesting at times, it was also extremely boring at other times. David Crystal clearly knows a lot and he tries to pour all his knowledge in this book (it has every right to be called an encyclopedia) but because of this there were parts which I think didn't have to be in this book.
January 17, 2008
A thrilling primer on the subject. Every topic is dazzling and captivating; for this I wish it were about seven times larger than its current incarnation, although I must admit it would then be rather unwieldy.
I should have bought the hardcover version, since this is a keeper for life.
I should have bought the hardcover version, since this is a keeper for life.
November 1, 2009
I have to admit that I have not read every single word on every single page, cover to cover, but this is more of a sit and browse book. All I can say is that if you have a love for languages like I do this is a wonderful, wonderful book!
September 5, 2019
I've made a bit of an exception with my review of this book. Normally, I read the book cover to cover before writing my review. But, in this case, we have a 472 large pages packed with information. It is really a reference book and one can dip into it at any point and learn something fascinating. I must say that I was fascinated as I skimmed my way through. The scope of language is vast...though the author freely admits his field is linguistics and there are whole fields of language such as the philosophy of language where he is not expert. He covers a vast range of topics under 11 main headings which are:
1. Popular ideas about language
2. Language and identity..such as geographic or social identity.
3. The structure of language ...including statistical analysis of language and grammar.
4.The medium of language: speaking and listening
5. The medium of language: writing and reading
6. The medium of language: signing and seeing
7. Child language acquisition
8. Language, brain and handicap (such as deafness).
9. Languages of the world
10. Language in the world (eg translation, world languages such as Esperanto).
11. Language and communication (including chimpanzee communication).
There is a wealth of detail here, Tables, charts, maps and little information boxes. It really is a fascinating book. I certainly intend to come back to it and delve into it more systematically than I have to date.
Oh, the version that I have is somewhat dated ..and is really a version from 1987...though reprinted in 1992. I'm sure that the field of linguistics has moved on a long way from there ...though I also suspect that the substance of the book will still be sound. I did notice the technology (computers etc) were, of course, very dated.
nevertheless I give it 5 stars.
1. Popular ideas about language
2. Language and identity..such as geographic or social identity.
3. The structure of language ...including statistical analysis of language and grammar.
4.The medium of language: speaking and listening
5. The medium of language: writing and reading
6. The medium of language: signing and seeing
7. Child language acquisition
8. Language, brain and handicap (such as deafness).
9. Languages of the world
10. Language in the world (eg translation, world languages such as Esperanto).
11. Language and communication (including chimpanzee communication).
There is a wealth of detail here, Tables, charts, maps and little information boxes. It really is a fascinating book. I certainly intend to come back to it and delve into it more systematically than I have to date.
Oh, the version that I have is somewhat dated ..and is really a version from 1987...though reprinted in 1992. I'm sure that the field of linguistics has moved on a long way from there ...though I also suspect that the substance of the book will still be sound. I did notice the technology (computers etc) were, of course, very dated.
nevertheless I give it 5 stars.
November 9, 2021
You have to really like a book to keep reading it over more than a year.
I cared less for the first section, which was so general that I felt like I didn't learn much, but once we moved past the really basic stuff, there was a ton to learn! From ancient forms of writing, to how to read spectrograms, there's such a wide range of material.
Having my less preferred topics couched in with my favourites ensures that I'm going to learn at least something about everything, and provides a great jumping off point for the more interesting topics. I loved the sidebars and inset features with illustrative examples and the subtle, wry humor peeking out here and there throughout.
I particularly enjoyed the survey of various language families, the section on translation/interpretation issues, and anything relating to language and identity.
Some of the technological information is a bit dated, despite multiple revisions to the articles, but even so, the difficult relationship between tech and language that he describes highlights language's complexity.
This one is going onto my shelf and staying near at hand for a long time.
I cared less for the first section, which was so general that I felt like I didn't learn much, but once we moved past the really basic stuff, there was a ton to learn! From ancient forms of writing, to how to read spectrograms, there's such a wide range of material.
Having my less preferred topics couched in with my favourites ensures that I'm going to learn at least something about everything, and provides a great jumping off point for the more interesting topics. I loved the sidebars and inset features with illustrative examples and the subtle, wry humor peeking out here and there throughout.
I particularly enjoyed the survey of various language families, the section on translation/interpretation issues, and anything relating to language and identity.
Some of the technological information is a bit dated, despite multiple revisions to the articles, but even so, the difficult relationship between tech and language that he describes highlights language's complexity.
This one is going onto my shelf and staying near at hand for a long time.
January 26, 2019
A fascinating study of language, covering the subject pretty comprehensively from all angles. It suffers only in that having been published over 30 years ago the coverage of important aspects, such as machine translation, foreign language learning and the field of linguistics, will have obviously moved on significantly in that time.
July 25, 2022
I've used this book some 30 to 40 years. Its content seems best savored in small doses. Covering everything in concern with human language and linguistics, from definitions to concepts to practical application of said concepts within the parameters of the linguistic field. Unparalleled with the scope of its own subject matter.
May 9, 2017
An excellent introduction to general linguistics. It was the original core of my knowledge of the field, which became my academic and professional focus.
November 27, 2018
Far too much of a slog
July 3, 2024
I read this about 20 years ago. One of my all-time favourite books. An encyclopedia that you can read cover to cover. Lots of great illustrations.
September 8, 2016
This dense reference book contains lively photos and graphics with scholarly writings. It will serve a good reference book as I am learning through the basics of linguistics. (Sept 2016)
May 16, 2013
Fascinating and comprehensive. Contents include Popular ideas about language; Language and identity; Structure of Language including grammar and semantics; Child language acquistion; Language, brain, and handicap; Languages of the world; and great appendices such as an exhaustive glossary.
November 14, 2014
If 6 stars were available, I'd be wanting 7 for this this grand exploration of one of the most important (in my opinion) things we all try to share.
To the point that even attempting to not share is, in itself, a form of language.
To the point that even attempting to not share is, in itself, a form of language.
May 4, 2016
Comprehensive in breadth, it doesn't have the depth I would have liked in many subject areas. On the other hand, this is an encyclopedia, and a certain degree of shallowness should be expected (lest it be an impossibly large, unwieldy book).
December 17, 2007
See review for Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. It's David Crystal. You can't miss.
October 27, 2008
Sounds VERY VERY VERY interesting, unfortunately I only have it in German.
May 9, 2009
I know. It's an encyclopedia. About language. But it's really a great book. All sorts of interesting facts. Every reader should read it.
February 3, 2011
Dynamite introductory book about language. Doesn’t go too in-depth about any particular topic. Lots of images, maps, statistics, and fun facts.
January 12, 2011
An indispensable resource for anyone studying, or interested in, language
December 30, 2013
Like his English encyclopaedia - a really excellent resource.
January 24, 2014
David Crystal
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2014
It is one of the greatest works on linguistics. It fits the title of the book. In Cambridge and David Crystal I trust.
March 18, 2015
I had a peak on the part introducing different language systems and found it a litter bit in mess.
Well, not bad.
Well, not bad.
March 23, 2015
I didn't really read this whole thing, consulted from time to time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews