In this fascinating survey of everything from how sounds become speech to how na
mes work, David Crystal answers every question you might ever have had about the
nuts and bolts of language in his usual highly illuminating way. Along the way,
we find out about eyebrow flashes, whistling languages, how parents teach their
children to speak, how politeness travels across languages and how the way we t
alk show not just how old we are but where we're from and even who we want to be
.
