Language and the Internet

David Crystal investigates the nature of the impact which the Internet is making on language. There is already a widespread popular mythology that the Internet is going to be bad for the future of language - that technospeak will rule, standards be lost, and creativity diminished as globalization imposes sameness. The argument of this book is the reverse: that the Internet is in fact enabling a dramatic expansion to take place in the range and variety of language, and is providing unprecedented opportunities for personal creativity. The Internet has now been around long enough for us to 'take a view' about the way in which it is being shaped by and is shaping language and languages, and there is no-one better placed than David Crystal to take that view. His book is written to be accessible to anyone who has used the Internet and who has an interest in language issues.

Table of Contents:
Preface; 1. A linguistic perspective; 2. The medium of Netspeak; 3. Finding an identity; 4. The language of e-mail; 5. The language of chatgroups; 6. The language of virtual worlds; 7. The language of the Web; 8. The future of the Internet; Index.

About the Author :
David Crystal is one of the world's foremost authorities on language, and as editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia database has used the Internet for research purposes from its earliest manifestations. His work for the technology company AND Classification Data Limited has involved him in the development of an information classification system with several Internet applications and he has extensive professional experience of Web issues. Professor Crystal is author of the hugely successful Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (1987; Second Edition 1997), Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (1995), English as a Global Language (1997), and Language Death (2000). An internationally renowned writer, journal editor, lecturer and broadcaster, he received an OBE in 1995 for his services to the study and teaching of language. His edited books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia (1990; Second Edition 1994; Third Edition 1997; Fourth Edition 2000), The Cambridge Paperback Encyclopedia (1993; Second Edition 1995; Third Edition 1999), The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia (1994; Second Edition 1997) and The Cambridge Factfinder (1994; Second Edition 1997; Third Edition 1998; Fourth Edition 2000).

Review :
'This is the first mainstream book of its kind, a real achievement. Anyone who works in this field will surely refer to it, gratefully, on many future occasions.' John Morrish, Independent on Sunday 'A welcome reminder of an important truth about the Internet … provides us with the first comprehensive survey of how we behave in our new environment.' The Times Higher Education Supplement 'The first sustained treatment of an engrossing and important subject.' The Times Higher Education Supplement '… fascinating new book … Language and the Internet is a pioneering work, an exploratory work, in no way definitive … here is material for a thousand theses.' Panorama - Canberra Times 'On no account should this book be dismissed as a curious 'popsci' compendium of informative and entertaining tidbits. On the contrary, it is a serious and essential linguistic record of these early days of 'computer mediated language', and one that we would all do well to read.' ELT Journal 'Any medium of communication as revolutionary as the Internet is bound to have a profound effect on language. Though many have noted the linguistic changes emerging in online communication, few have studied the phenomena and fewer yet have written about them in a clear and cogent manner. David Crystal's volume on the topic presents a well-organised and highly readable overview of value to both specialists and non-specialist alike.' Education, Communication and Information '… does an excellent job and will have to be read by everyone who wants to put a toe in the water on the way to serious empirical study of the Internet.' Linguistics '… a readable and entertaining overview that situates computer-mediated communication within established linguistic frameworks of analysis and points the reader to much of the extant research addressing language use online.' Education, Communication and Information