Further Reading....

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal

Extremely readable, organized in small sections, so that you can dip into it at will, or at random, and be sure of finding some interesting facts about language. Excellent value for money --- a must for anyone interested in language.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, by David Crystal

This book is a `son of' the first encyclopedia, and concentrates more on English, rather than all the languages of the world, or Language in general.

The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker

This is a very accessible introduction to issues of language acquisition and lots more.

The Symbolic Species by Terrence Deacon

This aimed to be a popular book, but gets a bit technical in places. Nevertheless it is an excellent introduction to the genetics and neurology of language, that is, how our genes are related to our language ability, and how this ability develops and is stored in our brains.

The Prehistory of the Mind by Steven Mithen

An archaeologist writes very engagingly about the evolution of modern humans, with some emphasis on their language ability.

The Articulate Mammal by Jean Aitchison

A very readable introduction to aspects of psycholinguistics, that is, how language is learned, remembered, and brought to mind when speaking and listening.

Grammar: A Student's Guide by James R Hurford

Explains 100 basic grammatical terms, such as `verb', `relative clause', and `passive', with a couple of pages of discussion of each term, lots of examples, and pointers to interesting facts from languages around the world.

Please suggest more books for this list: MAIL US!