David Crystal interviewed Samuel Fanous

Linguist David Crystal celebrates the creativity of all those who have illuminated our understanding of language with a series of facts and stories for every day of the year.

Crystal ranges across vocabulary, grammar, and use of language in science, the arts, politics, broadcasting and publishing. He looks at language teaching, speech therapy, deaf education, forensic science and technological progress. The stories include how Braille devised his tactile reading system by the age of 15, why March 31 is International Hug a Medievalist Day, and Terry Nation’s creation of Dalek speak.

Crystal is a lecturer and writer and honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University. His previous books include The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, We Are Not Amused and That’s the Ticket for Soup. Here he talks to Dr Samuel Fanous, head of publishing at the Bodleian Library.