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The Stories of English [Paperback]

David Crystal (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 5 May 2005 | ISBN-10: 0141015934 | ISBN-13: 978-0141015934

When and why did 'thou' disappear from Standard English? Would a Victorian Cockney have said 'observation' or 'hobservation'? Was Jane Austen making a mistake when she wrote 'Jenny and James are walked to Charmonth this afternoon'?

This superbly well-informed - and also wonderfully entertaining - history of the English language answers all these questions, showing how the many strands of English (Standard English, dialect and slang among them) developed to create the richly-varied language of today.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 592 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (5 May 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141015934
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141015934
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 10,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"This new history of the English language in all its manifestations is among the best ever written, and is both entertaining and informative."

About the Author

David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He has published over 90 books and was awarded the OBE for services to the English language in 1995. He is the editor of the Penguin Encyclopedia and the New Penguin Factfinder.
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There was variety from the very beginning. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
18 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
69 of 72 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb 27 July 2004
By The Fisher Price King
Format:Hardcover
In this authoritative history of the English language, David Crystal tells two different stories: one is about the development of standard English, and the other is about all its fascinating variant forms (dialects, slangs, the sociolects of particular groups - e.g. Internet users and hobbits!). The value of this is that so-called non-standard forms of English aren't demonized, as they have been in many other histories of the language. Yet at the same time Crystal explains why there are virtues in a standard version of English. This is a well-written book, covering a huge amount of material in pleasingly manageable chunks, with some great asides and interludes (Father Ted, anybody?). It beats the competition hands down.
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116 of 122 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Masterpiece 24 Jan 2005
By jfp2006
Format:Hardcover
David Crystal is quite probably the best authority there is on the English language past and present, and in "The Stories of English" he has visibly excelled himself. From "Beowulf" and the earliest documents in Old English right up to the specific features of text-messaging, and looking beyond to the twenty-first-century English-speaking world of his grandchildren, here is an impeccably researched history of the language.
The title gives an immediate clue to the originality of this book, throughout which Professor Crystal is at pains to show that, alongside "standard English", there are all the other varieties of the language which, in the name of a purism which he skilfully shows to be misplaced, have most often been either denigrated or ignored by other historical works of this kind.
Perhaps David Crystal's major achievement is that he succeeds in being scholarly without ever being pedantic. His attention to detailed research is impressive, and yet the reader never once gets bogged down in theoretical linguistics. The writer's approach is resolutely of a sociolinguistic nature, and he constantly draws attention to the links between language and society and the way in which the evolution of one is always conditioned by the evolution of the other. He is particularly good on the language of Shakespeare, and unsparing in his criticism of the "absolute rubbish" propagated on the subject of the bard by "enthusiastic linguistic amateurs".
But David Crystal's book really makes its major point in the way in which prescriptive norms are demonstrated to be arbitrary - however necessary they may also be. The book sets out an unanswerable counter-argument to all those who earnestly equate "good" English with good behaviour, and even with morality. The writer points out, with wonderful deadpan humour, that "some of the most respectable people I know speak nonstandard grammar; and conversely, there are several villains around whose standard grammar is impeccable."
Professor Crystal's book reads like a novel, and in a sense it is both an adventure story and a love story. The hardback is a work of art, with an index and very complete bibliographical sources. And, as far as I could see, not a single printing mistake. And not a syllable out of place, either.
If you're interested in the history of the English language, don't wait for the paperback, splash out £25 and get this. It's worth every penny.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Kiosk, caravan and dungaree 27 Jan 2009
By Bob Ventos
Format:Paperback
This is a long and thorough - but never dull - read, tracing the history of the English language from its obscure Germanic origins to its current international status, and giving particular attention to `non-standard' forms such as dialects, regional accents and alternative spellings. Many interesting questions are dealt with on the way: why does English contain so few Celtic words? Why did we finally end up saying `comes' and `goes' rather than `cometh' and `goeth'? How does dialect work in Tolkein's Middle Earth? David Crystal tells us about the influence of phrases from the King James Bible and Shakespeare, how Keats wrote `I should of written', the consequences of printing on the language, the development of dictionaries, the etymologies of kiosk (Turkish), caravan (Persian) and dungaree (Hindi), and the use of alliteration in Old English verse. I felt like I had an English Degree by the end of the book - better still, the author's enthusiasm is so infectious and his arguments so absorbing that I felt like doing one!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative
I bought this book as a pre-read to my OU studies U214, as part of my degree. It is a very informative and absorbing book.
Published 2 months ago by Ringo
5.0 out of 5 stars A master at work.
I am in awe of David Crystal's knowledge of the English Language & now read a bit of him daily alongside an English Literature set text. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mrs. Margaret R. Mumford
3.0 out of 5 stars A good book let down by some annoyances
Like so may other reviewers I too found the print too small to read comfortably. I also found the style of putting panels in the middle of the text annoying. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Mr. N. J. Horne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but...
This is a review of the Kindle edition. I bought this because it was 'recommended reading' for an Open University module that I'm studying. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Cheerful Dragon
3.0 out of 5 stars Print is so small, I had to by the Kindle version too!
My review is not of the content of the book, to which I would issue five stars for the same reasons as my predecessors leaving feedback, but is for the physical readability of the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by vikki650
4.0 out of 5 stars The Stories of English.
A very learned book with masses of information. It is an excellent reference book and I'm sure I shall use it often.
Published on 6 Jan 2011 by Mrs. J. B. Watson
5.0 out of 5 stars You don't have to be an English language historian to enjoy this!
The Stories of English is an entertaining read. It is a wealth of information about the history of the English language and an insight into English history too. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2010 by Jools
4.0 out of 5 stars Suggested reading for OU D211
This is a facinating book, however th print is small so it's quite hard work.
Published on 19 July 2010 by Debbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its kind that I've read
This is the story of the development of the English language - both standard and non-standard forms. Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2010 by Little Miss Average
3.0 out of 5 stars TEXT TOO SMALL TO READ
I use reading glasses and have no problem reading with them. However - I found the size of the text too small in this book and consequently I have not been able to read it. Read more
Published on 9 Sep 2009 by Farndonangie
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