The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language

I picked up a first edition of this book in a used book store some years ago, and found it useful even before I took a course in linguistics in graduate school. When I started my course, I bought the new edition of the book to use as a secondary reading for my course.I have found this book extremely helpful: it broadly comprehensive, sufficiently technically detailed to help get reader a grip on any particular sub-area of linguistics, yet quite readable. The illustrations, charts, and maps make it inviting to open up and start reading.I used this book to supplement the required readings in my course (and often used this as a gateway to the more difficult readings). I would enthusiastically recommend it to any person interested in language, whether as a formal student or simply an interested reader.

I had the 2nd edition of this book for a very long time (almost 15 years) and am glad I updated to the newer 3rd edition. This edition has welcome updates to make it feel more modern and current, particularly when dealing with things like computers/technology and language. This really is an encyclopedia, with coverage on just about any topic of language you can think of. It doesn't delve very deep in some of the entries, but it is a very good starting point and easily accessible. This book is often the first stop I make to get information before venturing on to more detailed or focused books on a particular language topic. In short, if I was stranded on an island and could only have one book on language, this would probably be it! Highly recommended.

Good overview on Language and its history. Divides the book up by different topics on language, such as speech acts, sign language etc.. Since it does talk about many aspects of language and many topics, each topic is briefly talked about, so this is good as a base, but if you are looking for really in-depth detail on a specific topic then it might not be as useful, however, he does talk about the founders for each type of topic, which is useful for researchers who are new to a topic.

nice

I read an interview with Steven Pinker in the NY Times Review of Books and read where Pinker said Crystal was really THE MAN when it came to language acquisition and linguistics. This is an affordable (in paperback) monster encyclopedia just loaded with all kinds of information about language(s). it should be a must have resource for parents and early childhood teachers. I find myself referring to it in all my literacy education courses I teach.

It is not difficult to see why Mr Crystal was knighted for his work in linguistics. The depth of knowledge and ease of reading make this book both an in-depth reference guide to understanding language as well as an enjoyable read. I would strongly recommend this book to any person having an interest in language or linguistics whether as a layman or as a serious linguistics scholar.

More than 20 years ago I bought the first edition of this book. The third edition has really undergone a great evolution since then. New chapters have been added to expand general linguistic approaches, studies and researches.Language, as everyone knows, is always changing as it represents human life style on the "go".This book is epitomized by the human life style. Particularly the chapter on the Internet language is very interesting. If you are interested in language and liguistics. the book is "must-read".

I knew this book to be an authority in English language studies during undergraduate and graduate years. But it has always been a rare commodity in my university in Ghana. And so the sight of this book and in its most updated edition made me so eager to possess it. The delivery was so timely the book gives me so much satisfaction. It has been tremendously updated to reflect modern trends which makes the book an asset to possess.