Page 35 - ELG2109 Sep Issue 477

REVIEWS .

50 QUESTIONS ABOUT ENGLISH USAGE
David Crystal
Cambridge Handbooks for Language
Teachers: Pocket Editions
Cambridge University Press, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-108-95918-6
F
rom time to time, language teachers
come up against a student with a
particularly inquiring mind. You
know, the one who continues to ask
those tricky questions such as, “How many
words are there in the English language?”
or “Why can’t we begin a sentence with
‘And’? These thought-provoking tests of
professional knowledge tend to get asked
at the end of the lesson, often when on the
way to a well-earned cup of tea, so delaying
the issue for later reflection is thus possible.
Breaktime over though, the student is often
to be found at the classroom door expecting
an explanation – and woe betide the teacher
who fails to deliver. Happily, we now have this
superb pocket-size resource to refer to under PHOTO BY ROBIN HIGGINS FROM PIXABAY
such duress.
Author David Crystal is, of course, widely
known and very highly regarded in the
ELT world, so it comes as no surprise that
the publishers asked him to respond to
50 popular queries on English usage. The
results are, as one would guess, endlessly
fascinating. He acknowledges quite rightly
in the introduction how learners of English The answer book
as a foreign language gain interest and
confidence from an understanding of why,
for example, the varieties of English now
available are not discrete, but in fact reflect
principles that tend to operate in their own Where to go when you just don’t know
mother tongue, too.
The 50 questions are grouped into five
broad areas: words and idioms, grammar, versus dinner, well, that’s been raging for over on statements, usually at the end of them.
pronunciation, spelling and punctuation, a century and is one to discuss with friends Labelled ‘uptalk’ by linguists, it is believed to
and colleagues, or even set for your class’s perform a helpful social role in establishing
homework this week. rapport during interaction. Perhaps, David,
As for lunch versus Following the 14 queries concerning words only perhaps. Personally, I feel it’s simply
dinner, well, that’s and idioms, which covers variations in use, affectation.
such as among and amongst, and the use
The final two sections cover issues such as
been raging for over of pidgin English in statements like ‘long why English spelling is so irregular, variation
time, no see’, Crystal deals with 15 grammar
in the use of the apostrophe and whether
a century and is one points. One of these reveals how, although a or not an exclamation mark can be added
to a question mark in order to increase the
pet hate of strict prescriptive grammarians,
to discuss with friends beginning sentences with ‘And’ may often emphasis, eg, What!? or What?! Also in
enhance a text stylistically and was in fact
focus is how a grammatical analysis can help
and colleagues a notable feature of Tolkien’s The Lord of identify phishing – those attempts to create
the Rings. Also looked at in this section are texts that may lead to online fraud.
whether we can use ‘because’, ‘since’, ‘as’ For such a small book (only 104 pages), this
and genres. Inevitably, there are many points and ‘for’ interchangeably; why verbs such one packs a mighty punch. It’s certainly one I
of overlap. Where to begin was my first as ‘burn’ and ‘learn’ have two past forms in shall be carrying around with me this summer.
problem, as I constantly dipped in and out burned/burnt and learned/learnt, plus why And, no, you may not borrow it – I know I’ll
of each section, wanting to know the people these days use ‘Whatever!’ as a stand- never see it again!
difference in the first group between a alone phrase.
cup and a mug, and lunch and dinner. How Crystal’s analysis of pronunciation issues
would you respond to those questions at your I found the most fascinating. After explaining
next grilling? what Received Pronunciation is and where Wayne Trotman is
Very briefly, cup is an Anglo-Saxon word it came from, how English accents have a teacher educator
borrowed from the Latin cuppa, meaning changed in Britain during recent years, and at Izmir Katip
simply a drinking vessel; while mug is what exactly Estuary English is, he then Çelebi University,
probably an adaptation of a Latin word for tries – but in my opinion fails – to put to Izmir, Turkey.
a larger measuring vessel, a modium. But rest one of my own linguistic pet hates: the
there’s much, much more. And as for lunch increasingly used high rising intonation
editorial@elgazette.com 35