书名：How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning and Languages Live or Die语言的秘密

作者：David Crystal戴维·克里斯特尔
出版社名称：Penguin
出版时间：2007
语种：英文
ISBN：9780141015521
商品尺寸：12.9 x 2.5 x 19.8 cm
包装：平装
页数：512
How Language Works《语言的秘密》作者戴维·克里斯特尔（David Crystal）为当今语言学权威。本书不只探索语言现象中根本的发音生理运作、词汇应用的心意和文化意含，更将至今新研究的语言学成果、双语教育的各种方法，以深入浅出的笔调、短小独立的篇章写成，无论是作为学术研究，还是想一窥语言的秘密，这本丰富但又亲切全面的语言经典著作，值得一读！

In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how names work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the nuts and bolts of language in his usual highly illuminating way. Along the way, we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we talk show not just how old we are but where we’re from and even who we want to be.
    说话谁都会，但语言的秘密，你知道吗？

    你知道加纳利群岛有人使用口哨当语言沟通吗？你知道手语也能表现时态吗？每当你一开口说话，你就透露出了你的出生背景、年龄和身份！在看似本能反应的语言行为背后，其实深藏了许多生物学、心理学，以及文化背景的知识，它和我们如此息息相关，如今语言迷人的魅力，将全都揭开。

    你我都会用语言和他人沟通，也会“察言观色”，但是，在这些看似理所当然的语言行为背后，却深藏着极微妙的反应，例如当我们要和某人说话时，我们会看着对方并不自觉挑眉，眉毛会往上挑动一下，停留约六分之一秒；若我们碰到认识的人会预期对方会挑眉他却没反应时，我们一定会觉得很尴尬和不自在。宝宝在子宫内时可能已经开始学习语言，据研究，妈妈以正常语调说话、以平直语调说话，以及陌生人说话，宝宝只对第1种说话声有回应。语言在我们出生前就和我们紧紧相关，我们无时无刻和语言打交道，在习以为常的心态下，你知道全世界的语言行为其实充满了各种有趣的互动和差异吗？

    从宏观的角度来观察语言，我们可以看到全球六千多种语言中，平均两周就有一种语言死亡。新西兰毛利人的语言、大溪地语等也曾面临消亡的语言，其保存和复兴政策又为我们提供了怎样的成功借鉴呢？然而，在多语言的环境下，政府又该如何规划多语教学和实践呢？本书不只从生活面向谈论语言行为，也在社会、文化、历史和政策面向探索语言的形成和消亡。

Steven Pinker meets Bill Bryson in this landmark exploration of language. 

In the author’s own words, “How Language Works is not about music, cookery, or sex. But it is about how we talk about music, cookery, and sex—or, indeed, anything at all.” Language is so fundamental to everyday life that we take it for granted. But as David Crystal makes clear in this work of unprecedented scope, language is an extremely powerful tool that defines the human species. 

Crystal offers general readers a personal tour of the intricate workings of language. He moves effortlessly from big subjects like the origins of languages, how children learn to speak, and how conversation works to subtle but revealing points such as how email differs from both speech and writing in important ways, how language reveals a person’s social status, and how we decide whether a word is rude or polite. 

Broad and deep, but with a light and witty touch, How Language Works is the ultimate layman’s guide to how we communicate with one another. 

戴维·克里斯特尔（1941-），英国著名语言学家，于1966年获得博士学位。执教于英国多所大学，从事语言和语言学问题方面的写作、讲课和定期广播讲座工作。著作超过90部，出版专著有《现代语言学词典》《何为语言学？》《语言学和语音学基础词典》《病理语言学》《谁关心英语的用法？》《注意听你孩子的说话》等。

David Crystalis 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.