Rating: 
Summary: EVERYTHING!
Review: This book contains everything a linguist would ever want. David Crystal has brought together everything he knows about child language aquisition, journalese and a plethora of other topics which are too vast to mention. Definately worth every penny. There is hours of reading and learning to be done with this book, and each page brings new and interesting facts, even though the original book is over a decade old! the perfect gift for a loved linguist, a fact-finder of a friend and even has a use in the hands of the illiterate!
Rating:
Summary: A brief comment
Review: This book is a linguaphile and language lover's delight, to read or just to browse like a coffee table book. It covers just about every major topic in the study of language you can think of, from traditional classical and comparative philology and linguistics to modern developmental and neurological studies of language.
The book is comprised of 11 major sections and 65 smaller sections, with 8 appendices devoted to various topics, and there is an extensive glossary of linguistic terms as well as a table giving essential information about almost 1000 of the world's languages. Although a scholarly book, it's well written and Crystal never gets overly pedantic or dry. This is no doubt one of the most comprehensive and detailed compendia of information for the general reader about the subject of language ever written.
After reading this, you'll be more than ready to tackle a formal or more technical introductory text in linguistics, if you want to continue your studies. If you do, I highly recommend David Lyons's classic, Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, now out of print but worth getting if you can find a used copy. If you can't find that there are several other recent texts that are quite good. But if you decide to stick with this book, you'll still have learned a lot. Whichever way you decide, good luck and happy reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than a warm bath for a linguaphile!
Review: This is a "twofer" review - everything I say about this book also applies to Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language."I fell in love with language long ago, so pounced on this book when it first appeared on my horizon several years ago. Since then, I have learned to keep it close by - it migrates from the coffee table to my night table to the bathroom to the breakfast table - I need it handy. I refer to it constantly, and often find myself opening it at random and immediately being hooked by whatever subject comes up. It's a tremendous compendium of easily accessible information on all aspects of language, and there are nuggets of value throughout. It is well-written in a lively, non-pedantic style, and has plenty of illustrations to reinforce understanding and make it more interesting. It's appropriate for most ages except very young children, and is a terrific way to introduce anyone to the wonders and mysteries of human language. The same remarks hold true for Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language." That work is presented in the same way, but with much greater detail on our own language. I use it almost as much as the general language volume. I'm in awe of Crystal's ability to present such huge subjects so coherently and in such a comprehensive and fascinating way. I strongly recommend both books, for you or for anyone you care about.
Rating:
Summary: Better than a warm bath for a linguaphile!
Review: This is a "twofer" review - everything I say about this book also applies to Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language." I fell in love with language long ago, so pounced on this book when it first appeared on my horizon several years ago. Since then, I have learned to keep it close by - it migrates from the coffee table to my night table to the bathroom to the breakfast table - I need it handy. I refer to it constantly, and often find myself opening it at random and immediately being hooked by whatever subject comes up. It's a tremendous compendium of easily accessible information on all aspects of language, and there are nuggets of value throughout. It is well-written in a lively, non-pedantic style, and has plenty of illustrations to reinforce understanding and make it more interesting. It's appropriate for most ages except very young children, and is a terrific way to introduce anyone to the wonders and mysteries of human language. The same remarks hold true for Crystal's "Encyclopedia of the English Language." That work is presented in the same way, but with much greater detail on our own language. I use it almost as much as the general language volume. I'm in awe of Crystal's ability to present such huge subjects so coherently and in such a comprehensive and fascinating way. I strongly recommend both books, for you or for anyone you care about.
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful book
Review: This is a very resourceful and beautiful looking book that takes a number of important approaches to language, from historical linguistics to computational linguistics to generative linguistics, and presents them accessibly and in a visually stunning format. This book would make a great gift for those who are of a linguistic or literary mindset. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: lovely for general reference and browsing
Review: This isn't Everything You Need to Know to Become a Linguist. But it *is* a good reference book for people who aren't linguists and would like to see what the field is about. There's a little bit of everything; no great depth, but you can't *have* everything and still have a book small enough to lift. It's also awful fun to browse if you like languages in general and are curious about "how they work" or what linguists study. I'm not letting go of my copy, ever.
Rating:
Summary: lovely for general reference and browsing
Review: This isn't Everything You Need to Know to Become a Linguist. But it *is* a good reference book for people who aren't linguists and would like to see what the field is about. There's a little bit of everything; no great depth, but you can't *have* everything and still have a book small enough to lift. It's also awful fun to browse if you like languages in general and are curious about "how they work" or what linguists study. I'm not letting go of my copy, ever.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Overview of Linguistics
Review: While it doesn't cover any particular subject with too much depth, this book provides a wonderful introduction to many aspects of linguistics, including sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, speech acoustics, and more. It also includes many interesting sidebars that just add to the depth of the book. What a deal. :)
Rating:
Summary: A Linguaphile's Delight
Review: _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language_, Second Edition, by David Crystal is a linguaphile's delight. It provides a wealth of information to engage the mind indefinitely. Instead of being organized alphabetically, as most encyclopedias are, _The Encyclopedia of Language_ is divided into eleven parts that comprise sixty-five thematic sections. Each section includes a comprehensive discussion of the theme, enhanced by sidebars and colorful visuals. Sections range in length from two to twenty pages, making the chunks of information small enough to be palatable yet large enough to be satisfying. Topics addressed include language and thought, the structure of language, the anatomy and physiology of speech, written language, language acquisition, languages of the world, language disabilities, and language change. Obviously, this is only a sample. In addition, the book has eight appendices, including an extensive glossary and a table giving information about nearly 1,000 of the world's languages.
While many of Crystal's topics have their technical aspects, the author keeps his tone conversational and his information accessible to the lay reader. In this way he celebrates the existence of human language and deepens our appreciation of it.
| 
