ALPHABETICAL BRAIN™ VOCABULARY
 HUMANIST GALAXY
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
DAVID CRYSTAL
July 12, 2020

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THE STORY OF BE:
 A Verb's-Eye View of the English Language
 by David Crystal.
St. Martin's Press, 2012
(i-xxi, 260 pages)

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BOOK OUTLINE
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 PANELS (page vii)

PREFACE (pages viii-ix)

PROLOGUE — In the beginning... (pages x-xii)

1) TO BE OR NOT TO BE — Existential "BE" (pages 1-11)

note = The infinitive form: "BE" (6-8)

2) BEING, AS WAS (pages13-15)

3) TIME BEING — Temporal "BE" (pages 17-23)

4) BUSINESS IS BUSINESS — Identifying "BE" (pages 25-30)

5) I AM TO RESIGN — Obligational "BE" (page 31-36)

6) HAS THE DOCTOR BEEN? — Visitational "BE" (page 39-41)

7) HOW ARE YOU? — CIRCUMSTANTIAL "BE" (page 43-46)

8) I'VE BEEN WITH SOMEONE — Sexual "BE" (pages 47-56)

9 TWO AND TWO IS FOUR (pages 57-66)

10 I MIGHT BE BEING OBSESSIVE, BUT... — Progressive "BE" (pages 67-71)

11 MY KIDS ARE ALL GROWN UP — Perfective "BE" (pages 73-75)

12 WANNEBES AND HAS-BEENS — Nominal "BE" (pages 77-87)

13 THAT IS TO SAY — Signifying "BE" (pages 89-97)

14 YOU'RE CHEEKY, YOU ARE — Repetitive "BE" (page 99-102)

15) BEEN AND DONE IT — Eventive "BE" (pages 103-105)

16 HAVE YOU BEEN? — Lavatorial "BE" (pages 107-116)

17 SO BE IT — Factual "BE" (pages 117-120)

18 I LIVE IN WALES, INNIT? — Declarative "BE" (pages 121-125)

19 SO I WAS, LIKE, “WOW” — Quotative "BE" (pages 127-136)

20 WOE IS ME — Befalling "BE" (pages 137-140)

21 ALL SHALL BE WELL — Membership "BE" (pages 141-147)

22 HOW OLD ARE YOU? — Chronological "BE" (149-153)

23 IS YOU IS OR IS YOU AIN’T? — Musical "BE" (pages 155-160)

24) OH NO HE ISN’T — Ludic "BE" (pages 161-165)

25 LANE) CLOSED AHEAD — Missing "BE" (167-169)

26) IT'S JUST A BOOK, IS ALL (pages 171-172)

APPENDIX — Early English Pronunciations (pages 175-177)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PUNCH (179)

PUBLISHERS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (181-182)

INDEX OF NAMES (183-191)

INDEX OF SUBJECTS (187-191)
    Adjectives from “BE”
    Albeit
    Ambiguity
    Auxillary verbs
    Be that as it may
    Being - history
    Being - usage
    Bible
    Catch-phrases
    Child usage
    Chronological be
    Circumstantial be
    Current relevance
    Declarative be
    Dialect variation
    Ellipsis
    Euphemism
    Existentials
    Factual be
    Habitual meaning
    Has-been
    Hypothetical states
    Idioms
    Inversion
    Is history
    Kings James Bible
    Latin
    Liturgy
    Logic
    Mathematics
    Musical be
    Negation
    Nounal be
    Numerical be
    Obligational be
    Oldest English texts
    Standard English
    Tense
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AUTHOR NOTE, SUMMARY,
AND BOOK DESCRIPTION
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 AUTHOR NOTES = David Crystal is Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Wales, Bangor. He is known throughout the world as a writer, editor, lecturer, and broadcaster on language. In 1995, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for services to the English language. He lives in the United Kingdom.

SUMMARY = It is the most simple, unassuming, innocent-looking verb: "to be" Yet it is jam-packed with more different meanings, forms, and uses than any other English word.

BOOK DESCRIPTION = As David Crystal reveals be's multiple incarnations, he takes us to the heart of our flexible and changing language. He tells the intriguing story in 26 chapters, each linked to a particular usage. We meet circumstantial be ("how are you?"), numerical be ("two and two is four"), quotative be ("so I was like, 'wow"'), and ludic be ("oh no he isn't!"), and a whole swarm of other meanings. A host of examples from sources as varied as Beowulf, Jane Austen, pantomime, Hamlet (of course), and Star Wars, with cartoons from Ed McLachlan and Punch peppered throughout the book, bring the ideas to life. The stories are full of fascinating nuggets of information. It will delight any lover of words and language.

He has published extensively on the history and development of English, including The Stories of English (2004), Evolving English (2010), Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language(2010), The Story of English in 100 Words (2011), Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling (2012), Wordsmiths and Warriors: The English-Language Tourist's Guide to Britain (with Hilary Crystal, 2013), and The Oxford Dictionary of Original Shakespearean Pronunciation (2016).

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