Top Linguist visiting Wellington
The stories of English, Language Death and The Future of Language are the lectures to be presented by one of the world's
leading commentators on language when he visits New Zealand later this month. Professor David Crystal will be visiting
New Zealand, from the UK, as the inaugural Ian Gordon Fellow in Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington.
With over 100 books published Crystal has also been a consultant, contributor, and presenter on several radio and
television programmes and series, including numerous BBC programmes since the 1980s. He is currently patron of the
International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), president of the UK National Literacy
Association, and an honorary vice-president of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, the Institute of
Linguists and the Society for Editors and Proofreaders.
About the Ian Gordon Fellowship
This fellowship was established in the final years of Emeritus Professor Ian Gordon’s life when he donated half a
million dollars to the Victoria University Foundation to support his life-long passion for the study of language and his
loyalty to Victoria University. Well known as I.A. Gordon, he had his own radio show on National Radio and wrote a
popular column on language in the New Zealand Listener. He also wrote 20 books, including A Word in Your Ear and Take My
Word for It. He was an authority on the writings of Katherine Mansfield and Scottish novelist John Galt.
Lecture details
Public lectures start at 6pm and will be held in MCLT101 (Maclaurin Lecture Theatre 101), located in the Maclaurin
building of Victoria University’s Kelburn Campus, in Wellington.
The stories of English: Wednesday 20 September
A talk based on the book The Stories of English, published by Penguin in 2004. It reviews the history of the language
from the point of view of the non-standard varieties – in particular, the regional dialects – which have always made up
the majority of English usage. The role of standard English is given a fresh interpretation.
Language Death Writing the Obituary of Languages?: Thursday 21 September
Half the languages of the world will die out within the next centaury. This talk reviews the way languages are dying,
asks why, and then asks what can be done. It presents the arguments why people should be concerned, drawing a parallel
with other ecological domains.
The future of language: Wednesday 27 September
The end of the twentieth century was a revolutionary period for language and languages. The acknowledgement of the first
truly global language, English, coincided with a realisation of the crisis affecting the world’s endangered and minority
languages, and the arrival of a new technology, the Internet, offered and ambiguous role in relation to both these
themes. For professionals working with language, things are never going to be the same again.
Flyer and media release from publisher attached as pdf files.
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Media Release
As they say in Zanzibar
PROVERBIAL WISDOM FROM AROUND THE WORLD
by David Crystal
Publication date: October 1st 2006 Price £34.99
David Crystal is one of the world's leading commentators on language. He has been a consultant, contributor or presenter
on all the important radio and television programmes about language. He received an OBE for services to the English
language in 1995, and was made a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 2000.
'David Crystal is a national treasure' –The Times
Is there still a place for proverbs in the twenty-first century?
In a fascinating new book, As they say in Zanzibar, David Crystal aims to answer this question by taking us on a global
tour of the world's proverbs as well as bringing his customary commercial eye and linguistic expertise to this
wonderfully rich topic.
Proverbs are fascinating in what they tell us about a culture’s view of everyday life. So, whether you are in Andorra,
China or Tierra del Fuego, there is a nugget of local wisdom to inform and entertain.
• When two elephants struggle, it is the grass that suffers (Zanzibar)
• Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot (Ireland)
• One must chew according to one’s teeth (Norway)
• An untouched drum does not speak (Liberia)
• Do not try to borrow combs from shaven monks (China)
• Don't call the alligator a big-mouth till you have crossed the river (Belize)
As they say in Zanzibar will not only enrich your language but will also help revive some of the oldest and most
entertaining proverbs.
ENDS