David Crystal, OBE, FBA, FLSW (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic and author. Read full biography of David Crystal →
Likewise, there is no evidence that texting teaches people to spell badly: rather, research shows that those kids who text frequently are more likely... →
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... →
Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster.
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... →
Sending a message on a mobile phone is not the most natural of ways to communicate. The keypad isn't linguistically sensible.
Vocabulary is a matter of word-building as well as word-using.
The story of English spelling is the story of thousands of people - some well-known, most totally unknown - who left a permanent linguistic... →
Spellings are made by people. Dictionaries - eventually - reflect popular choices.
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... →
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... →
At any one time language is a kaleidoscope of styles, genres and dialects.
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.
David Crystal, OBE, FBA, FLSW (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic and author.