Includes bibliographical references (p. 484-493) and indexes.

Preface to the first edition -- Preface to second edition -- Preface to 3rd edition -- I. Popular ideas about language -- 1. The prescriptive tradition -- 2. The equality of languages -- 3. The magic of language -- 4. The functions of language -- 5. Language and thought -- II. Language and identity -- 6. Physical identity -- 7. Psychological identity -- 8. Geographical identity -- 9. Ethnic and national identity -- 10. Social identity -- 11 Contextual identity -- 12. Stylistic identity and literature -- III. The structure of language -- 13. Linguistic levels -- 14. Typology and universals -- 15. The statistical structure of language -- 16. Grammar -- 17. Semantics -- 18. Dictionaries -- 19. Names -- 20. Discourse and text -- 21. Pragmatics -- IV. The medium of language : speaking and listening -- 22. The anatomy and physiology of speech -- 23. The acoustics of speech -- 24. The instrumental analysis of speech -- 25. Speech reception -- 26. Speech interaction with machines -- 27. The sounds of speech -- 28. The linguistic use of sound -- 29. Suprasegmentals -- 30. Sound symbolism -- V. The medium of language : writing and reading -- 31. Written and spoken language -- 32. Graphic expression -- 33. Graphology -- 34. The process of reading and writing -- VI. The medium of language : signing and seeing -- 35. Sign language -- 36. Sign language structure -- 37. Types of sign language -- VII. Child language acquisition -- 38. Investigating children's language -- 39. The first year -- 40. Phonological development -- 41. Grammatical development -- 42. Semantic development -- 43. Pragmatic development -- 44. Language development in school -- VIII. Language, brain, and disability -- 45. Language and the brain -- 46. Language disability -- IX. The languages of the world -- 47. How many languages? -- 48. How many speakers? -- 49. The origins of language -- 50. Families of language -- 51. The Indo-European family -- 52. Other families -- 53. Language isolates -- 54. Language change -- 55. Pidgins and creoles -- X. Language in the world -- 56. The language barrier -- 57. Translating and interpreting -- 58. Artificial languages -- 59. World languages -- 60. Multilingualism -- 61. Language planning -- 62. Foreign language teaching and learning -- 63. Language for special purposes -- XI. Language and communication -- 64. Language and other communication systems -- 65. Linguistics -- Appendices -- I. Glossary -- II. Special symbols and abbreviations -- III. Table of the world's languages -- IV. Further reading -- V. References -- VI. Index of languages, families, dialects, and scripts -- VII. Index of authors and personalities -- VIII. Index of topics -- Acknowledgements.

"This new, thoroughly revised edition of the acclaimed Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language incorporates the major developments in language study which have taken place since the mid-1990s. Two main new areas have been added: the rise of electronic communication in all its current forms, from email to tweeting, and the crisis affecting the world's languages, of which half are thought to be so seriously endangered that they will the out this century." "Praise for the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language" ".̀..magnificently demonstrates Professor Crystal's outstanding breadth of knowledge, incisiveness of judgment and superb skills at getting to the heart of highly complex issues in a clear and straightforward manner'.---Randolph Quirk, FBA" ".̀.. David Crystal has a great facility for explaining language issues with plain good sense, wit and admirable brevity'.---The Times Educational Supplement" "Ìnvestigates every conceivable corner of the world of language'.---The Christian Science Monitor'...remarkably accessible ... the writing is plain and non-technical ...' Toronto Globe and Mail"--BOOK JACKET.