At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Online, you show how brilliant you are by manipulating the language of the Internet. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
The one thing about internet language, people join it, and what quickly evolves is an 'internet dialect,' as it were. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
English does have a larger vocabulary than other languages because of its history as the primary language of science and its global… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
“The chief characteristic of English grammar is the way words are arranged within sentences, and the technical term for this process is… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Text messaging is just the most recent focus of people's anxiety; what people are really worried about is a new generation gaining… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
What turns teenagers on more than the Internet these days? If you can get a language out there, the youngsters are much… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it,… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
The story of English spelling is the story of thousands of people - some well-known, most totally unknown - who left a… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries eventually reflect popular choices. And the Internet is allowing more people to influence spelling than ever… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
“The story of the English writing system is so intriguing, and the histories behind individual words so fascinating, that anyone who dares… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
A community, once it realises that its language is in danger, can get its act together and introduce measures which can genuinely… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
There's nothing unusual about a single language dying. But what's going on today is extraordinary when we compare the situation to what… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history and a large part of its cultural identity. The world is… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
It doesn't take a language long to disappear once the spirit to continue with it leaves its community. In fact, the speed… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Languages like English, Spanish, and Chinese are healthy languages. They exist in spoken, written, and signed forms, and they're used by hundreds… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
I believe that any form of writing exercise is good for you. I also believe that any form of tuition which helps… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
“In Old English, thou ( thee, thine , etc.) was singular and you was plural. But during the thirteenth century, you started… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
“Here are three elements we often see in town names: If a town ends in “-by”, it was originally a farmstead or… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Language itself changes slowly but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
At the same time we overlap, because, I do linguistics, and Ben did a first degree in Linguistics at Lancaster University, so… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
People say that text messaging is a new language and that people are filling texts with abbreviations - but when you actually… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
We are rearing a generation of kids who are more equitable and more understanding about the existence of language variety and why… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
One of the lesser-known ways of making new words is to form a blend - and a blend is when you run… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Speaking, writing, and signing are the three ways in which a language lives and breathes. They are the three mediums through which… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
When we look at the specific effect of the Internet on language, languages asking the question, 'Has English become a different language… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Grammar is what gives sense to language … sentences make words yield up their meaning. Sentences actively create sense in language. And… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Every usage, no matter how bizarre or nonstandard, fascinates me, as it tells me something about the way language is evolving. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster. — David Crystal Copy Share Image
I don't have any particular desire to see words making a comeback. They are of their era, after all, and that is… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
It took three years to put Shakespeare's words together, there were a lot of words to be studied and a lot of… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
“People sometimes say: 'A picture is worth a thousand words.' That's true. But language is never far away. To talk about the… — David Crystal Copy Share Image
I don't have any particular desire to see words making a comeback. They are of their era, after all, and that is their identity… — David Crystal Copy Share
In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it, the answer… — David Crystal Copy Share
There's an old little jingle: 'The chief use of slang is to show that you're one of the gang.' What that means is that… — David Crystal Copy Share
The death of a language. The word has the same kind of reluctant resonance as it has when we talk about the death of… — David Crystal Copy Share
One of the places the full stop is really being revised in a really fundamental way is on the Internet. You look at the… — David Crystal Copy Share
Language itself changes slowly but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly. — David Crystal Copy Share
We are rearing a generation of kids who are more equitable and more understanding about the existence of language variety and why it is… — David Crystal Copy Share
Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible. — David Crystal Copy Share
It took three years to put Shakespeare's words together, there were a lot of words to be studied and a lot of words to… — David Crystal Copy Share
Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely… — David Crystal Copy Share
“Here are three elements we often see in town names: If a town ends in “-by”, it was originally a farmstead or a small… — David Crystal Copy Share
There's nothing unusual about a single language dying. But what's going on today is extraordinary when we compare the situation to what has happened… — David Crystal Copy Share
Enshrined in a language is the whole of a community's history and a large part of its cultural identity. The world is a mosaic… — David Crystal Copy Share
You don't usually get a compound word where the first part is a slang thing and the second part is a rather ordinary or… — David Crystal Copy Share
