Making a Point : The Pernickety Story of English Punctuation

Resumen del libro

The triumphant concluding volume in David Crystal's classic trilogy on the English language combines the first history of English punctuation with a complete guide on how to use it. Behind every punctuation mark lies a thousand stories. The punctuation of English, marked with occasional rationality, is founded on arbitrariness and littered with oddities. For a system of a few dozen marks it generates a disproportionate degree of uncertainty and passion, inspiring organizations like the Apostrophe Protection Society and sending enthusiasts, correction-pens in hand, in a crusade against error across the United States. Professor Crystal leads us through this minefield with characteristic wit, clarity, and commonsense. In David Crystal's Making a Point, he gives a fascinating account of the origin and progress of every kind of punctuation mark over one and a half millennia and offers sound advice on how punctuation may be used to meet the needs of every occasion and context.

Biografía del autor

Es uno de los mejores especialistas en lenguaje del mundo. Profesor honorario en la Universidad de Wales, Bangor, ha publicado muchos libros sobre la Lengua Inglesa y la Lingüística, ha editado numerosas enciclopedias generalistas y ha escrito libros de texto para la escuela. Por otra parte, participa con regularidad en programas de radio y televisión. Entre sus libros están The Stories of English (2004), Txtng: The Gr8 Db8 (2008) y Just a Phrase I'm Going Through (2009).