The Stories of English
Linguist David Crystal is a prominent figure in the academic circles. In fact, you have probably come across him in a variety of media forms (TV, radio, etc.). As it is, they featured one of his language theories on the delightfully funny British show called It's Only a Theory. Well, we've heard of his contributions to his particular field of interest but what about checking out one of his works? The one that I will refer to is called The Stories of English. This book is rather fitting for the history book club as it traces the way various social groups and languages have shaped the English language. Most importantly, the author uncovers the history and development of the non-standard English language varieties.
The entire book adds up as a rather interesting history lesson. Whilst Crystal does delve quite a bit into the intricacies of the language, he also take time to explore the sociological aspect of language change. Thus, when learn about the various influences on the different dialects, we are in fact finding out what particular social trends brought about this change. Was it influence of the Frisians? People moving in from Eastern parts of Europe? And how much of an influence did the class system have on the language?
He also touches upon the history of English varieties that evolved outside the UK. This in itself is important as this topic is at the heart of most debates carried out by peevologists. I'm not picking on such folks but let's face it, they are known to make a point about the 'proper way of speaking English' and thus, are also prone to turning their noses at other language varieties. You know what I am talking about, right? People who forward seemingly cute emails about 'words in English that have no rhyming words' and (oh boy) ones talking about the longest vowelless words in the English language.
Crystal's exploration of such subgroups helps folks understand why certain varieties changed so dramatically. Perhaps the most important fact here is that his little historical facts enable folks to see the complexity of a ever growing language.
I would have to say that David Crystal is a descriptivist i.e. he belongs to a school of thought in linguists who would rather understand how language changes and accept its evolving state instead of enforcing a set standard as a universally 'correct' one. He is not particularly forceful about his stand but his view comes through in all the different chapters. This is most noticeable in the way he talks about the rights of various English dialects. To this effect, he believes that folks should not be snobbish about other varieties. Like I said earlier, there is a nice lesson in here for all of us.
