David Crystal Quotes

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

  David Crystal

  Language, Internet, Process

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

  57 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  Moving, People, Different

  71 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Mean, Independent, People

  62 Copy quote

• At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects.

  David Crystal

  Style, Dialect, Kaleidoscope

  49 Copy quote

• A feature of English that makes it different compared with all other languages is its global spread.

  David Crystal

  Different, Language, Spread

  34 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  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.

  42 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Kids, Research, Language

  "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.

  49 Copy quote

• 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

  David Crystal

  Fun, Bending, Answers

  34 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Technology, People, Mind

  "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.

  61 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  Needs, Enjoy, Understood

  "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.

  39 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  People, Choices, Made

  "David Crystal: the story of English spelling" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. August 23, 2012.

  29 Copy quote

• The internet is an amazing medium for languages.

  David Crystal

  Language, Internet, Mediums

  28 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Reading, Yield, Giving

  43 Copy quote

• Swearing makes an excellent relief mechanism

  David Crystal

  Relief, Excellent, Swearing

  19 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  People, Focus, Anxiety

  "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.

  26 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  Impact, Long, Use

  "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.

  18 Copy quote

• Vocabulary is a matter of word-building as well as word-using.

  David Crystal

  Vocabulary, Matter, Building

  "The History Of 7 Bizarre English Words" by David Crystal, www.huffingtonpost.com. March 27, 2012.

  13 Copy quote

• 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

  Believe, Writing, Exercise

  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

  32 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  Writing, Issues, Language

  "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.

  29 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  People, Stories, Well Known

  21 Copy quote

• Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible.

  David Crystal

  Phones, Way, Messages

  "2b or not 2b?" by David Crystal, www.theguardian.com. July 4, 2008.

  12 Copy quote

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

  David Crystal

  Thinking, People, Way

  "Gr8 db8r takes on linguistic luddites" by John Crace, www.theguardian.com. September 15, 2008.

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Taken, Down And, Used

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Children, Taken, Kids

  7 Copy quote

• 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.

  David Crystal

  Book, Fall, Skeletons

  4 Copy quote

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