David Crystal Quotes

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  • Language changes and moves in a different direction evolving all the time. Where a lot of people see deterioration, I see expressive development

  • I believe that any form of writing exercise is good for you. I also believe that any form of tuition which helps develop your awareness of the different properties, styles, and effects of writing is good for you. It helps you become a better reader, more sensitive to nuance, and a better writer, more sensitive to audience. Texting language is no different from other innovative forms of written expression that have emerged in the past. It is a type of language whose communicative strengths and weaknesses need to be appreciated.

    David Crystal (2009). “List of cartoons ;The Hype About Texting ;How Weird is Texting? ;What is Distinctive About it? ;Why do They do it? ;Who Texts? ;What do They Text About? ;How do Other Languages do it? ;Why all the Fuss? ;Glossary ;Appendix ;Index”, p.158, Oxford University Press
  • Several of us linguists at that time would record our own kids, just to get some data. There was some literature on it then, but no day-by-day, blow-by-blow examples. I recorded all my children over the years in some shape or form. It's what linguists do. You don't talk to a linguist without having what you say taken down and used in evidence against you at some point in time.

    Children   Taken   Kids  
  • Text messaging is just the most recent focus of people's anxiety; what people are really worried about is a new generation gaining control of what they see as their language.

    People   Focus   Anxiety  
    "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.
  • 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 be sorted out, and it proved to be a major project.

    Years   Together   Three  
  • English has been this vacuum cleaner of a language, because of its history meeting up with the Romans and then the Danes, the Vikings and then the French and then the Renaissance with all the Latin and Greek and Hebrew in the background.

    Latin   Greek   Vacuums  
    "From 'App' To 'Tea': English Examined In '100 Words'". "Talk of the Nation" with Neal Conan, www.npr.org. May 25, 2012.
  • At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects.

  • Anyone interested in language ends up writing about the sociological issues around it.

    "Watch what you're saying!: Linguist David Crystal on Twitter, texting and our native tongue" by Joy Lo Dico, www.independent.co.uk. March 14, 2010.
  • The internet is an amazing medium for languages.

  • Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices.

    People   Choices   Made  
    "David Crystal: the story of English spelling" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. August 23, 2012.
  • A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread.

  • Although many texters enjoy breaking linguistic rules, they also know they need to be understood.

    "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.
  • Word books traditionally focus on unusual and quirky items. They tend to ignore the words that provide the skeleton of the language, without which it would fall apart, such as 'and' and 'what,' or words that provide structure to our conversation, such as 'hello.

    Book   Fall   Skeletons  
  • As I get older and I get a few more years experience I become more like Dad, you know, King Lear.

    Kings   Dad   Years  
  • Research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely to be the most literate and the best spellers, because you have to know how to manipulate language.

    "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.
  • Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible.

    Phones   Way   Messages  
    "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.
  • Language has no independent existence apart from the people who use it. It is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end of understanding who you are and what society is like.

  • You don't talk to a linguist without having what you say taken down and used in evidence against you at some point in time.

    Taken   Down And   Used  
  • Academics don't normally manage to alter people's way of thinking through their strength of argument.

    Thinking   People   Way  
    "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.
  • Vocabulary is a matter of word-building as well as word-using.

    "The History Of 7 Bizarre English Words" by David Crystal, www.huffingtonpost.com. March 27, 2012.
  • In effect we are, bending and breaking the rules of the language. And if someone were to ask why we do it, the answer is simply: for fun

    Fun   Bending   Answers  
  • Ever since the arrival of printing - thought to be the invention of the devil because it would put false opinions into people's minds - people have been arguing that new technology would have disastrous consequences for language.

    "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.
  • Swearing makes an excellent relief mechanism

  • The story of English spelling is the story of thousands of people - some well-known, most totally unknown - who left a permanent linguistic fingerprint on our orthography.

  • Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster.

    Impact   Long   Use  
    "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.
  • Grammar is what gives sense to language .... sentences make words yield up their meaning. Sentences actively create sense in language. And the business of the study of sentences is grammar.

    Reading   Yield   Giving  
  • Language itself changes slowly but the internet has speeded up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly.

    "How the internet is changing language" by Zoe Kleinman, www.bbc.com. August 16, 2010.
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