Publications Received / Ouvrages Reçus / Eingegangene Schriften

, eds. 1997 . Optimality Theory: An overview . Oxford & Cambridge, Mass. : Blackwell , xii, 233 pp. [ The six chapters (along with the foreword) of this book aim at presenting Optimality Theory (OT) and its various facets in a manner accessible to non-linguists, by and large successfully. Chapter I, by Diana Archangeli (1–32) presents the theory itself; chapter II (33–58), by Michael Hammond, “Optimality Theory and Prosody”; chapter III (59–101), by Douglas Pulleyblank, “Optimality Theory and Features”; chapter IV (102–133), by Kevin Russell, “Optimality Theory and Morphology”; chapter V (134–170), by David Pesetsky, “Optimality Theory and Syntax: Movement and Pronunciation”; and finally chapter VI (171–199), by Margaret Speas, “Optimality Theory and Syntax: Null pronouns and control”. There follows an afterword by the editors (200–215), a bibliography (216–224), and a general index (225–233) .]

, eds. 1997 . Bandhu: Scritti in onore di Carlo Delia Casa . Torino : Edizioni dell’Orso , 21 vols. ; xix, ix, 886 pp. [ In these two typical volumes of mélanges in honour of Carlo Della Casa, an Indologist, the bulk of contributions are concerned with other matters in mostly historical-comparative linguistics. For instance, in the second volume, which is the one concerned with Linguistics and Philology, there are to be found articles on such subjects as the historiography of Indology, Italian dialectology, Greek linguistics and etymology; and subjects quite unrelated to linguistics or philology, such as the Jewish question in contemporary Hungary. For HL readers Bologna’s paper on Whitney (559–575) may be of some interst. No index .]

, eds. 1997 . On Conditionals Again . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 143 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , 418 pp. [ A collection of fifteen papers (including one jointly written by the editors), divided into four themes: The core of conditionals, single conditional constructions, basic dimensions of conditionality and subject: Thus, the book opens with Anna Wierzbicka’s essay, “Conditionals and Counterfactuals: Conceptual primitives and linguistic universals” discusses the semantic nature of such constructions in human language generally, and concludes that they are a semantic primitive, i.e., a concept so basic it cannot be decomposed into other, more basic concepts, and closes with Cecilia A. Ford’s article, “Speaking Conditionally: Some contexts for if-clauses in conversation.”, which examines pragmatic factors governing the use of such clauses in English conversation. Brief subject index (415–418) .]

. ( eds. ) 1997 . Le contrôle social du sens . Aix-en-Provence : Publications de l’Université de Provence , 190 pp. [ A collection of thirteen essays, plus an introduction by the editors, the linking theme being issues of semiotics, lexicography and rhetoric, the essays are for the most part on the borderline between sociology, scientific historiography, and linguistics. No index .]

, ed. ( with Ivo Hajnal, Christiane Schaefer, Gerhard Schaufelberger & Sabine Ziegler as compilers ). 1997 . Register – Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung, Band 1–100 (1851–1987) . Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , 324 pp. [ An index of the articles and other contributions (reviews, book notices, etc.) which appeared in the journal “Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Sprachforschung” between 1851 and 1987, classied both according to authors’ names and, inside individual contributors (e.g., Thurneysen on pp. 190–191), also according to language, language family, or other matter it seems, since the chronolgy of publications has been kept (11–208). This is followed by a rather full and very useful subject index (211–321), which also refers to places where, e.g., Wackernagel’s Law is discussed. Historians of linguistics may be a bit disappointed that no effort was made to complete authors’ names, even in the case of very well-known authors (e.g., Schleicher), if they were not supplied in their contributions, e.g., Ahrens, Heinrich Ludolf (1809–1881); Amelung, Arthur (1840–1874); Arendt, Carl (1838–1902); Ascoli, Graziadio Isaia (1829–1907), etc. down to Weber, Albrecht (1825–1901); Westermann, Diedrich (1919–1990); Windisch, Ernst (1843–1918), and Zupitza, Ernst (1875–1917). Likewise, dates of publication are provided according to the imprint on the volume, not the actual appearance; for instance, Karl Verner’s epoch-making “Eine ausnahme der ersten lautverschiebung” appeared in No.2 (out of a total of six issues for volume 23) in April 1876, not in 1877 .]

. 1997 . Uvod v ezikoznanieto . [ Introduction to linguistics .]. Plovdiv : Izdatelstvo “Xristo G. Danov” , 254 pp. [ A new edition of the author’s 1995 book – see HL XXII.446 (1995) – with minor corrections and a new cover, the paper it is printed on is of better quality .]

. 1997 . Portreti na imeniti ezikovedi: Iz istoria na svetovnata linguistika [ Portraits of famous linguists: From the history of world linguistics ]. Sofija : Marina Todorova , 191 pp. ; illustr . [ Readers of the University of Sofia-based (Bulgarian) periodical Contrastive Linguistics will have noted the author’s long-standing efforts to present the life and work of past linguists to us (cf. the original loci given on pp. 181–182). The present book is a synthesis of these endeavours, to which the author has added a variety of pictures (including those of Rask, Bopp, Whitney, Meillet, Saussure, Sapir, Bloomfield, Kruszewski, and many others). It starts with a sketch on Jacob Grimm (1785–1863) and ends with a brief account of Bertil Malmberg’s life and work (1913–1994), plus, as an afterthought, a review of Pierre Swiggers’ 1984 thesis on the Encyclopédistes and an obituary notice of the Romanian scholar Tudor Vianu (1897–1964), whom the author had met in 1962 and exchanged letters with. Select bib. of books in the history of linguistics (183–191), but no index. (The book is dedicated to ‘Rudolf Engler, grand master of Saussure studies, and Konrad Koerner, outstanding linguistic historiographer and dear friend’ .)]

, eds. 1997 . A Fund of Ideas: Recent developments in functional grammar . (= Studies in Language and Language Use, 31 .) Amsterdam : Foris Publications , 249 pp. [ A collection of fourteen articles, all examining various aspects – verbal modes, object pronouns, discourse ambiguisty – of various languages – English, French, Modern Greek – in a functionalist framework. A two-page preface by the editors gives us a foretaste of the articles. Author index (245–246), language index (247), and subject index (248–249) .]

Cahiers Ferdinand de Saussure: Revue suisse de linguistique générale . Vol. 501 1997 . Genève : Librairie Droz , 368 pp. [ This volume, dedicated to the memory of Luis Jorge Prieto (1926–1996) who in 1968 acceded to the chair of linguistics once held by Ferdinand de Saussure, also celebrates the first half-century in the life of the Cahiers (on whose history, see René Amacker et al., pp. 341–354). Among French translations of several of Prieto’s papers on ‘sémiologie’ and a. number of original articles by several of his disciples and associates, it also contains the 6th installment of Rudolf Engler’s “Bibliographie saussurienne” (247–295) surveying the literature of the years of roughly 1989–1997. It also carries (299–336) an index of all the articles, reviews, and notices published in the journal since its founding .]

. 1997 . American Indian Languages: The historical linguistics of Native America . Oxford & New York : Oxford University Press , xii, 512 pp. [ This book is an overview of Native American languages and linguistics, more a state-of-the-art report than an attempt to break new ground. Emphasis is placed on description and genetic classification, and two chapters (7 and 8) are devoted to the latter subject, presenting as objectively as can be reasonably be expected the (at times) stormy debate triggered by the publication of Greenberg’s book, Language in the Americas (1987). A series of maps, an index of Languages, Language families and proposed genetic relationships will be of great assistance to the reader. Bib (429–482), Author index (504–509), Subject index (510–512). – See also entry in Diachronica 15.191 (1998) .]

. 1997 . Linguistics in the Netherlands 1997 . (= AVT publications, 14 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , ix, 230 pp. [ A collection of nineteen articles on various aspects of linguistics: some, such as Joost Dekkers’ “French word order: A conspiracy theory” are on Syntax and present no new data; others, such as Eithne B. Carlin’s “Nominal Possession in Trio”, simply present data from a little-known language (Cariban family, spoken in Surinam). Some others, such as Anneke Nunn & Anneke Neijt’s article “Rules and Exceptions in the Spelling of Loan Words in Dutch”, are arguably on the borderline between linguistics and education. No index .]

. 1997 . History of English London : Routledge , ix, 103 pp. [ This is an introductory textbook for undergraduate students, complete with exercises. It is somewhat broader in coverage than its title might lead one to believe, i.e., one of the chapters is a purely synchronic examination of dialects of English in the British Isles today. The book, although clearly meant for an international audience, does more than once show something of a British-centred view of the world. Thus, there is no comparable chapter on English dialects overseas. There are five appendices (80–99), the last of which is a suggestion of further reading. A general index (101–103) closes the book .]

. 1997 . Vietnamese . (= London Oriental and African Language Library, 9 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins ; x, 289 pp. [ This is a descriptive grammar of Vietnamese, the content of which is largely based on the author’s experience in teaching the language. Although describing the standard language, the author does pay some attention to dialectal variation, particularly in the chapter where the sound system is described. While rich in facts, the book’s organisation makes for very confusing reading at times. It ends with a bibliography (263–275) and an index (276–289) .]

1997 . Le lingue baltiche . Firenze : La nuova Italia , xxii, 531 pp. [ A book on the Baltic languages (not only Lithuanian and Lettish but also extinct members of the family such as Old Prussian), examining their external history from the break-up of Proto-Indo-European to the recent independance of Lithuania and Latvia, always with an eye on the linguistic effects of this external history, be it conjectural (possible early contacts with Iranian) or attested (the much more recent influence of Russian). Generous bibliography (441–515) and index (517–531) .]

, eds. 1997 . Studies in Honor of Jaan Puhvel: Part One: Ancient languages and philology . (= Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph, 20 .) Washington, D.C. : Institute for the Study of Man , xxvi, 240 pp. [ A collection of eighteen articles, three on Anatolian linguistics, five on cultural issues; four on grammatical studies; three on Indology and three on lexical issues. among the contributors one finds such researchers as Eric P. Hamp, Calvert Watkins and James P. Mallory. No index .]

, eds. 1997 . Perspectives on Arabic Linguistics X . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 153 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , 296 pp. [ A collection of twelve papers first presented at the tenth annual symposium on Arabic linguistics, including one by the second editor. The title of the collection would perhaps be more accurately described as “Various theoretical approaches applied to various forms of Arabic”; only one paper, Jamil Daher’s “Phonological variation in Syrian Arabic: Correlation with gender, age and education”, actually presents us with new data, a surprising state of affairs when one considers how relatively little is known of so many varieties of Arabic. Subject index (293–296) .]

1997 . A Dictionary of Japanese Loanwords . Westport, Connecticut : Greenwood Press , xiv, 230 pp. [ This dictionary is somewhat broader in coverage than its title would indicate, inasmuch as it examines both Japanese loanwords and Japanese calques in English. Among loanwords are included – and indicated as such – words which entered English indirectly, by way of other languages (i.e., bonze, which entered English via Portuguese and French). Each entry is carefully defined and accompanied by a quote in English where the word is used .]

, ed. 1994 . Die Philosophie der Antike 4: Die hellenische Philosophic Basel : Schwabe & Co. , 21 vols. ; xxvi, 1272 pp. [ A vast and truly ambitious project, seeking to present the full range of previous work and scholarship on the thinking of philosophers at various points in history – in this case, the Hellenistic era. There are six main chapters: the first is on Epicure, the second on his school, the third on Lucretius, the fourth on the Stoics, the fifth on various other thinkers, and the sixth on Cicero. Of some interest to the readers of this journal is the fact that references are given, not only to translations of their work, but also to studies on the translations themselves. The second volume ends with Latin and Greek glossaries, an index rerum (1174–1183), an index nominum (1184–1269) and an inventory of manuscripts (1270–1272) .]

, eds. 1997 . Jakobson entre l’est et l’ouest (1915–1939): Un episode de l’histoire de la culture européenne . (= Institut de linguistique et des sciences du langage, Cahier 9 .). Lausanne : Institut de linguistique et des sciences du langage , 257 pp. [ Along with an introduction by the editors (1–4), this volume consists of seventeen articles (six in English, eleven in French) whose thematic unity lies solely in being concerned with Roman Jakobson: few linguists would find B. Jangfeldt’s “Roman Jakobson in Sweden (1940–1941)” of much use or interest (except biographical), as nothing of Jakobson’s linguistic thinking is touched. Other contributors examine the origins of his ideas, rather than his ideas themselves. No index. – Cf. the full review by John E. Joseph in the present double issue (pp. 227–332, above) .]

, ed. 1997 . Grammatical Relations: A functionalist perspective . (= Typological Studies in Language, 35 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia , John Benjamins , viii, 349 pp. [ A collection of eight essays, the first of which (“Grammatical Relations: An introduction”) is by the editor, and which furthermore, contrary to the following seven essays, does not focus on the grammatical properties of a particular language: the latter examine properties of, respectively, Karao (Austronesian, Philippines), Carib, Ecuadorian Highland Spanish, Indonesian, Akan, Mandarin and Sahaptin (Salish). No index .]

, eds. 1997 . Studies in Honor of Jaan Puhvel: Part Two: Mythology and Religion . (= Journal of Indo-European studies Monograph, 21 .) Washington, D.C. : Institute for the Study of Man , 282 pp. [ A collection of twelve essays (one by one of the editors, Edgar C. Polomé) with an introduction – basically a long poem honoring Jaan Puhvel by the first editor. They show a strong focus on Irish and Northern European mythology and prehistory. No index .]

1997 . Lectio Publica Tiberii Hemsterhusii de originibus linguae Graecae . Münster : Nodus Publikationen , 406 pp. [ A reprint of Joast Hiddes Halbertsma’s (1789–1869) 1845 edition of Tiberius Hemsterhus’ (1685–1766) lecture on the origin of the Greek language, in Latin, untranslated. A long preface (9–27), by Jan Noordegraf, and an article by Anthonia Feitsma (27–41) open the volume, with some discussion of the author’s ideas, life and times. No index .]

. 1997 . Translation and Interpreting Schools . Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xii, 235 pp. [ This is an easy-to-use guide to translation and interpreting schools around the world: each of the book’s pages corresponds to an entry. The order of the entries is alphabetical, first by country and then by the name of the instiution itself within the country (i.e., within Canada, the first entry (p. 35) is for Alberta Vocational College, Edmonton Campus, and the last York University’s Glendon College [p. 58].) There is no index, however .]

, eds. 1997 . Nominal Classification in Aboriginal Australia . (= Studies in Language Companion Series, 37 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , X, 295 pp. [ A collection of eight papers (two by the first editor, one by te second), including the Introduction (1–16) by the editors. Three maps indicating the location of various Australian languages discussed in the various articles are given, which is quite convenient for non-Australianists. Four of the articles examine noun classifiers and related phenomena in individual Australian languages, one exaamines such phenomena from an areal perspective, one examines nominal classification and gender throughout Australia, and one compares Australian Noun Classification and New Guinea ‘Classificatory Verbs’. Brief indexes of languages (293) and of subjects (294) .]

, eds. 1997 . Kontinuität und Innovation: Studien zur Geschichte der romanischen Sprachforschung vom 17. bis zum 19. Jahrhundert: Festschrift für Werner Bahner zum 70. Geburtstag . Münster : Nodus Publikationen , 334 pp. [ A collection of twenty articles – twelve in German, four in French, two in Spanish and two in Italian – on the historiography of Romance linguistics, somewhat broadly defined; one of the editors (Gerda Haßler) is one of the contributors as well. Among some articles somewhat tangentially related to the main subject-matter one may mention Maria Iliescu’s article on Greek loanwords in colloquial Rumanian, or Daniel Droixhe’s account of early speculations on the origins of native Americans. No index .]

, eds. 1997 . Indo-European, Nostratic, and Beyond: Festschrift for Vitalij V. Shevoroshkin . (= Journal of Indo-European Studies Monograph, 22 .) Washington, D.C. : Institute for the Study of Man , viii, 348 pp. [ A collection of twenty-three essays, including two written by two of the editors (Hegedus and Manaster Ramer) even more diverse in theme than what the (very broad) title of the book would suggest: Manaster Ramer’s article focusses on the origins of the various kinds of Yiddish, Vladimir Orel’s on “New Albanian etymologies”, J. C. Catford’s is on the development of clicks and other ‘unusual’ consonants. Among other well-known contributors one may mention (inter alia) Eric P. Hamp, Brian D. Joseph, Joseph Greenberg, and Merritt Ruhlen. No index .]

, eds. 1997 . Variation, Change and Phonological Theory . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 146 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , x, 314 pp. [ A collection of ten papers, including one co-written by the three editors, and others by such contributors such as William Labov, Gregory Guy, and Arto Anttila. The goal is to bridge the gap between various phonological theories on the one hand, and Variation Theory on the other. This is all the more admirable when done on a broad range of languages, which is indubitably the case here: among the languages discussed by various authors are Finnish, French, Dutch, Turkish, Catalan, Bavarian German, Australian English, Gurage and Cape York Aboriginal languages. Language index (309–310); subject index (311–314) .]

. 1997 . A Cultural History of the English Language . London : Edward Arnold , x, 180 pp. [ This is an introductory undergraduate textbook to the cultural – as opposed to linguistic – history of the English language. Its highly Anglocentric bias – extraordinarily little space is devoted to the overseas expansion of English, for example – makes its usefulness as a textbook outside of Britain rather limited. Furthermore, many of the principles of historical linguistics, such as the principle of genetic relationship, are seemingly dismissed as ‘passé’, though judging from the author’s presentation it is clear his dismissal is due to his own ignorance of what such a concept entails and what it does not. Bib. (168–176), index (177–180) .]

, transi. & ed. 1997 . Apollonius Dyscole: De la Construction (syntaxe) . Paris : Librairie Philosophique J. Vrin , 21 vols. , 303 pp + 477 pp. [ This is a translation, accompanied by a large number of comments. The translation itself, along with the original Greek text, is in Volume I on pp. 96–303; pp. 1–95 contains an introduction to the man’s life and times, along with some discussion of the difficulties and problems which any translator faces. Volume II Contains the footnotes to the translation (1–341) and end with several indices (343–462) and a Bib. (463–477) .]

. 1997 . L’articolazione linguistica: Origini biologiche di una metafora . Roma : La Nuova Italia Scientifica , 154 pp. [ This is an analysis of the use, in linguistics, of the notion of articulation, a term first used in anatomy: The author sees this extension (from anatomy to linguistics) as having originated in Ancient Greece, to then be transmitted to us via the Romans. The Greek term arthron, which was rendered into Latin by the word articulus, is carefully analyzed in order to make the exact origin and meaning of the metaphor clearer. Bibliography (135–141), index of sources (143–150), word index (151–152), and author index (153–154) .]

. 1997 . Keltischer Sprengstoff . Tübingen : Max Niemeyer Verlag , xviii, 482 pp. [ This book explores the role played by German Celtologists between 1900 and 1945 in assisting their government in propaganda pertaining especially to Irish/British conflicts, in peacetime as well as during both World Wars. As has become well-known in recent years, Leo Weisgerber (1899–1984) for instance played a less than admirable role in this. The book closes with a listing of archival sources (435–445), bibliography (447–469), index (471–479), and list of abbreviations (481–482) .]

, eds. 1997 . Discourse and Perspective in Cognitive Linguistics . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 151 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xiii, 271 pp. [ A collection of twelve articles, one of which is by the first editors. The first five articles are subsumed under the theme “Cognition, Perspective, and Modality in Discourse”; the following five under the theme “Metaphors and Metonymy in Discourse”, and the last two under the theme “Correlates of Discourse structure”. Subject index (269–271) .]

. 1997 . Constructing the Grammar of a Language: Ivar Aasen and nineteenth century Norwegian linguistics . Münster : Nodus Publikationen , 224 pp. [ This is a revised version of the author’s PhD. thesis, in which the life and work of the Norwegian grammarian Ivar Aasen (1813–1896) is examined, with a careful examination of the historical context of his day, inasmuch as the influence of both nationalism and romanticism, not to mention the grammatical tradition in Norway and Scandinavia as a whole, must be taken into account in order to properly evaluate his work. Bib. (201–216), index of names (217–224), but no subject index .]

, eds. 1997 . The Typology and Dialectology of Romani . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 156 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia , John Benjamins , xxx, 222 pp. [ Along with an Introduction by two of the editors (Bakker & Matras), each of whom also contributed an article this is a collection of ten essays, the subject-matter of many of which give one something of an idea of how little has been published on Romani: Two of the contributions (Birgit Igla’s and Petra Cech & Mozes F. Heinschink’s) are descriptive sketches of hitherto unknown varieties of Romani, and another (Victor A.Friedman’s) is an examination of the linguistic traits of the Romani-language press of the Republic of Macedonia; if we except Ian Hancock’s article on the Romani forms used by the English writer George Borrow, the other articles focus on the typology and history of the language. It ends with an index of names (215–217), an index of subjetcs (218–222), and a final (unnumbered) page listing the contributors’ names and addresses .]

. 1997 . Noun-Modifying Constructions in Japanese. A frame-semantic approach . (= Studies in Language Companion Series, 35 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , x, 211 pp. [ This book is based on the author’s Ph.D. dissertation. The title is broader than the subject of the book itself, inasmuch as its sole focus is the behavior of complex noun phrases consisting of nouns or noun phrases modified by an adnominal subordinate. These are divided into two categories: “Relative clause constructions” and “Noun host type” constructions. Bib. (191–203), subject index (205–208), and name index (209–211) .]

. 1997 . Die Spur des Zeichens: Das Zeichen und seine Funktion in der Philosophie des Mittelalers und der frühen Neuzeit . Berlin & New York : Walter de Gruyter , xx, 483 pp. [ This rather ambitious book is divided into six chapters, each of which corresponds – roughly – to a chronological period: The first (pp. 1–41) is on the Late Antique origins of the medieval theory of signs, the second (42–110) examines the medieval theory of signs before the fourteenth century, the third (114–170) deals with the sign in the context of the thought of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the fourth (171–307) discusses its status in Early Renaisance thought, the fifth (308–336) presents its status in metaphysical thought at the time, and the sixth (337–425) is devoted to its status in pre-modern philosophy. Bib (427–468), subject index (469–473), and index of names (474–483) .]

. 1997 . Insegnare il francese in Italia: Repertorio analitico di manuali pubblicati dal 1625 al 1860 . Bologna : CLUEB , xxxvii, 419 pp. [ A biographical compilation of grammars of French (be they written in French or in Italian) published in Italy between 1625 and 1860, classified chronologically (1–329), with a considerasbled number 818 entries provide by many others, e.g., Marie-Josée Latil, Françpose Aubert, Annette Bossut, Vittorina Casetti, Luisa Borella, Paola Vecchi, etc (see the listing on pp. xv-xvi, and the full index, pp. 367–368). There are indices of authors (331–336), of revisors (337), of short-titles of books (338–345), of editors/publishers and printers, place of particular editions, etc. One regrets the absence of any biographical data .]

. 1996 . La alternativa no-discreta en lingüistica: Una perspectiva historica y metodologica . Santiago de Compostela : Servicio de Publicacións, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela , 329 pp. [ This is a plea for a greater extension and use, in linguistics, of the notion of ‘continuum’ than had been hitherto the case. It examines the role it might play, not only in such fields as language contact, but also in such fields as generative and Prague-school linguistics. Bib. (303–329). No index .]

., eds. 1997 . To Explain the Present: Studies in the changing English language in honour of Matti Rissanen . (= Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki, 52 .) Helsinki : Société Néophilologique , xix, 503 pp. [ A collection of twenty-nine articles, fifteen of which examine some aspect or other of English between the Old English and Early Modern English period, and the fourteen remaining examine Modern English, including recent and ongoing innovations. Lexical and dialectological studies are quite well-represented in this Festschrift. No index .]

. 1997 . The Development of Verbal Reduplication in Indo-European . (= Journal of Indo-European Linguistics Monograph, 24 .) Washington, D.C. : Institute for the Study of Man , 239 pp. [ This book is based on the author’s Berkeley thesis (1991), and, in refreshing contrast to so many other books tackling specific problems in Indo-European linguistics, the author makes use of a broad range of cross-linguistic data from non-Indo-European languages in which some form or other of reduplication is found, leading her to the rather novel conclusion that Greek- or Sanskrit-like reduplication must have evolved out of Latin- or Irish-like reduplication, and not the other way around as had been hitherto assumed. Bib. (220–235), index (236–239) .]

. 1991 . The Function and Development of Prefixes and Particles in Three Early English Texts: The beginning of the phrasal verb . Tokyo : Kinseido , 21 vols. , ix, 213 and ix, 296 pp. [ This is a heavily data-oriented study, which seeks to clarify the role of Old English prefixes, not only on the basis of what we may discern of their use in texts but also on the basis of their analogues in Modern German. Volume II closes with a bibiography (276–282), index of verbs (283–292) and a Table of contents for both volumes (293–296) .]

. 1997 . Voorlopig verleden: Taalkundige plaatsbepalingen, 1797–1960 . Münster : Nodus Publikationen , 234 pp. [ 1997 is the two hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first official chair in Dutch language in the Netherlands, and the author proposes to trace the evolution of Dutch language studies – linguistic, philological, and to a certain degree literary – in the Netherlands from 1797 to 1960, with a particular emphasis being placed on the work and thinking of the early pioneers of this field. Index of names (223–234) .]

. 1996 . Studies on the History of Logic and Semantics, 12th-17th Centuries . Ed. by Egbert P. Bos . Aldershot, Hampshire : Variorum , vii, 334 pp. ; 1 portr . [ This is a collection of previously published writings by Nuchelmans, seventeen in all, divided by theme: one on “Wisdom versus Eloquence”, four on “The semantics of the proposition”, two on “Actus Exercitus/Actus Significatus”, three on “Appellation Rationalis”, and the seven last articles are on Renaissance Philosophy; all but two articles (one in French, one in German) are in English. The pagination of each of the original articles has been kept, without there being any supplementary pagination within the book. Three Indices: one of Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance names; one of Modern Names; and one of terms (all referring to the original paghination of the articles) .]

, eds. 1997 . The Translator’s Dialoguee, Giovanni Pontiero . Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xiii, 252 pp. [ A collection of Giovanni Pontiero’s writings brought together in this volume (1–84), accompanied by authors’ (85–94), editors’ (95–114), literary critics’ and other translators’ (115–160) comments on his work. There follows biographical information and a list of publications (161–186), and finally a short story (187–244) by José Saramago, translated by Giovanni Pontiero. Bib. (247–250); brief index (251–252) .]

. 1997 . Temps et détermination dans la grammaire et la philosophie anciennes . Münster : Nodus Publikationen , 233 pp. [ This book, based on the author’s doctoral thesis, examines the grammatical metalanguage used by the Greek grammarians and attempts to interpret the language on its own terms. This is done by examining, among other things, the origin of these terms and the meaning ascribed them by various contemporary philosophers and the debates they had regarding their exact meaning. Some attention is also paid by the author to the interpretation given these terms by various modern linguists and philologists. Bib. (215–227); index of names (229–233) .]

, ed. 1997 . Writing Development: An interdisciplinary view . (= Studies in Writtten Language and Literacy, 6 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia , John Benjamins , xxxi, 336 pp. [ A collection of sixteen articles, plus a long introduction by the editor. The articles are divided according into four themes: “Writing and Literacy acquisistion: Links between linguistics and psycholinguistics”, “Writing and Reading in time and culture”, “Written language competence in monolingual and bilingual contexts”, and “Writing systems, brain structures and languages: a neurolinguistic view”. Unusually for a collection of essays by separate authors, the book closes with a bibliography (293–331) and an index (332–336) .]

, eds. 1997 . Reconnecting Language: Morphology and syntax in functional perspectives . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 154 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xiii, 336 pp. [ This is a collection of eleven papers, divided into four sub-themes: “Reconnecting language”, “Dependency”, “Cross-linguistic morphosyntax”, and “Case and semantic roles in discourse”. Even under such a broad title, however, the articles vary enormously – this is especially true in scope of Claude Hagège’s article wich is a plea for a more holistic approach to linguistics, while other articles examine very specific problems in individual languages. General index (329–336) .]

, eds. 1997 . Translation as Intercultural Communication . Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , x, 354 pp. [ A collection of thirty selected papers originally presented at the first International Congress of the European Society for Translation Studies, which took place in Prague in 1995. Four of the papers are in German, and one in French: the others are in English. The articles are grouped together according to one of three themes: “Translation-Sociology, Culture and Ethics”, “Translation and Beyond: Aspects of Communication” and “Panel Discussions”. No index .]

, eds. 1991 . Il campo di tensione . Naples : Liguori Editore , 461 pp. [ This is a series of articles, all already published somewhere else, on the subject of the Prague school and its influence on subsequent developments in linguistics, including generative grammar. Many of these articles, indeed, are by the very founders of this school (Vilém Mathesius, Pavel Trost, František Daneš, Petr Sgall, Jan Firbas) and appear in a language other than Czech for the first time. Both editors wrote an introductory essay, of which Sornicola’s on “la sintassi delia Scuola di Praga” is quite long (15–63). Name index (457–461) .]

, eds. 1997 . The Structure and Status of Pdgins and Creoles . Amsterdam & Philadephia : John Benjamins , viii, 461 pp. [ This is a collection of fifteen articles, plus an introduction (1–34) by one of the editors (Winford). The title of the book is somewhat ambiguous, inasmuch as status refers here to linguistic status (i.e. whether a given form of speech is to be considered a pidgin/creole or not), not social status, as one might have expected, given the unusually low prestige such languages have, even to their own speakers. The articles are quite varied in scope: some examine the history and/or genesis of a given creole, others are strictly synchronic in scope – among the latter we find articles presenting hitherto little-known languages and dialects: this is notably the case for Childs’ presentation of Isicamtho, a Bantu urban vernacular spoken in Soweto. Author index (437–449); subject index (451–461) .]

, ed. 1997 . Language Structure, Discourse and the Access to Consciousness . (= Advances in Consciousness Research, 12 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xii, 363 pp. [ A collection of nine articles, along with an introduction by the editor, who is also the author of one of the papers. The first of these articles, Robert de Beaugrande’s “The ‘Conscious and Unconscious Mind’ in the Theoretical Discourse of Modern Linguistics”, may perhaps be the most interesting to readers of this journal, inasmuch as he explores the role played by this dialectical relationship throughout the history of linguistics. Author index (343–349); subject index (351–363) .]

. 1997 . Histoire de la pensée linguistique . Paris : Presses Universitaires de France , vii, 312 pp. [ This is a very ambitious book, seeking to trace the evolution of linguistic thought in Europe from Greek and Roman times to the birth of Comparative Grammar. After a brief Introduction (1–9), the first chapter (9–68) explores the birth of grammar in Classical times as an ‘art empirique’, i.e., as a descriptive science. The second chapter (69–132) explores its further evolution after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, with some consideration being given to the first grammatical descriptions of contemporary vernacular languages. A most peculiar feature of this chapter is that, whereas quotes from Latin and Greek are presented in French translation, Old Provençal quotations are presented in the original and are left untranslated. The third chapter (133–206) takes us through the effects which the Renaissance and the discovery of the New World were to have on linguistic thought; this, along with political changes, which were among other things to lead to the alliance of linguistic and political thought in the appearance of the concept of “national language”. The fourth and final chapter (207–258) examines the final mutation in the evolution of linguistic thought, that which gave birth to historical-comparative grammar and scientific etymology. A short conclusion (259–264) follows, a bibliography (265–307), and an index of names (308–312) close the volume .]

. 1997 . Languages and Linguists: Aims, perspectives, and duties of linguisticslLes langues et les linguistes/ Buts, perspectives et devoirs de la linguistique . Leuven & Paris : Peeters , xvii, 90 pp. [ This booklet consists of the transcripts of interviews made by the editor with three linguists – the late André-Georges Haudricourt (1910–1996) – in French, and Henry M. Hoenigswald (b.1915) and Robert H. Robins (b.1921) – in English. While the Editor does supply us with footnotes indicating us the exact references which the interviewees mentioned during the interview, the transcript of the discussion is otherwise untouched, with many blanks, omissions, and other typical caracteristics of transcribed spoken language: this makes it difficult to read at times, if not downright unintelligible. Plainly, subsequent consultation with the interviewees to ‘clean up’ the text for publication would have been an excellent idea. Index of names (89–90) .]

. 1997 . Arabic Grammar in its Formative Age: Kitab al-^cAyn & its attribution to Ḫalīl b. Aḥmad (= Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, 25 .) Leiden-New York-Köln : Brill , x, 437 pp. [ Chapter one is a recapitulation of what we know of Ḫalīl’s (c.720–c.790 A.D.) life; chapter two examines the sources which attribute the Kitab al-Ayn to Hallīl; chapter three look at the book’s grammatical teaching, and chapter four its place in the history of Arabic grammar. Chapters five and six are both appendices, the first containing grammatical citations (in the original Arabic) of the book discussed, and the second several indices relating to grammatical terminology. Bib. (427–437). No general index .]

. 1996 . Traductions françaises de l’Ars minor de Donat au Moyen Age (XII-XV siècles) . Firenze : La Nuova Italia Editrice , 244 pp. [ A collation of ten French versions – each of which is commented upon by the author – of Donat’s Ars minor. In the first part of the book (1–135) the author comments on problems of textual criticism and relative chronology; in the second part, we find the actual texts and comments (136–230). There follows a bib. (231–241) and an index nominum (243–244) .]

1998 , ed. Kelten en de Nederlanden van prehistorie tot heden . Leuven : Peeters , xiv, 249 pp. [ A collection of eleven essays by ten contributors (Pierre S Wiggers wrote two of them), including the editor, who is also the author of an “Introduction”, itself preceded by a two-page introductory statement explaining that the essays were first presented at a colloquium on Celtic studies in Flanders and the Netherlands. The essays are thematically rather diverse, and are arranged in roughly chronological order, i.e., the first two essays examine the iron age in Randers and The Netherlands, respectively, both from an archaeological prospective; the third examines prehistoric contact between Celtic and Early Germanic, this on the basis of an examination of toponymy, the following six examine the medieval and early modern periods, both the influence of Medieval Celtic literature and the perception of Celts are treated. An essay on 20th-century Breton literature and another on modern perceptions of the Celts close the volume. Not only is ‘Celtic’ understood in its broadest sense, but many essays focus on Flanders or on the Netherlands only, and others (such as the last two) have little if anything to do with Dutch-speaking Europe. Biographical information concerning authors (239–241) is given; general index (243–249) .]

, eds. 1997 . Parameters of Morphosyntactic Change . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , xi, 544 pp. [ A collection of eighteen essays, all dealing with various aspects of morphosyntactic change; an introduction on the subject by the editors precedes them. The focus of most papers is on the history of Romance or Germanic languages, but little if anything new is to be found in many of them. In all too many cases we merely see well-known changes being presented to us in a new formal disguise: this is quite blatant in the case of Julia Philippi’s paper on the rise of the article in Germanic (62–93), for instance, on which we have a tremendous tradition of judicious scholarship. A meagre master list of references (509–538); short indexes of languages and subjects (539–541, 541–544) .]

, eds. 1996 . Studies in Stemmatology . Amsterdam & Philadelphia , John Benjamins , xvi, 311 pp. [ A collection of ten articles, one of which is co-written with the first editor. The first six papers are devoted to “Methodological Approaches”, the following two to “Subject-related Observations”, and the last two to “Applications to Manuscript Traditions”. It is here, in the last section, that we find Pieter van Reenen’s article (co-written with Lene Schøsler), which in fact is the only one in the volume to focus on the textual transmission of a particular text. Index (305–311) .]

, eds. 1997 . Lexical and Syntactical Constructions and the Construction of Meaning . (= Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 150 .) Amsterdam & Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xii, 454 pp. [ A collection of twenty-four articles, one of which was written by one of the first editor. They are divided into foursubthemes: “Image schemas and Construal Relations”, “Grammatical Morphemes versus Lexical Units”, “Grammaticalization processes” and “Degrees of Transitivity”. A surprisingly large number of languages are examined by various authors: Aspects of Wanka Quechua, Wolof, Afrikaans, Samoan, Spanish, Japanese, and Polish are the core theme of various articles. Short general index (451–454) .]

Voortgang: Jaarboek voor de neerlandistiek . XVI1 , 1996 . Münster : Nodus Publikationen . [ This issue of Voortgang contains two articles potentially of some interest to readers of this journal: Els Ruijsendaal, “Op weg naar een grammaticografie in de geschiedenis van het talenonderweis” (27–48) and Liesbeth Lichtendahl, “De genese van het Handboej der Nederlandse taal (1913–1914) van Jac. van Ginneken” (141–172) .]

. 1997 . Grammaire critique du français . Louvain-la-neuve : Duculot , 670 pp. [ This is a very original and ambitious book, where the author re-examines the traditional rules of French grammar in the light of modern linguistic theories. Of some interest (28–33) is his discussion of the whole problem of a ‘metalanguage’ in linguistics, a common problem to be sure, but one which is all too seldom discussed by linguists. Its division into 9 chapters is quite traditional, however, inasmuch as each chapter examines the following categories, respectively: The word, the noun, the article, the adjective, the noun phrase, the pronoun, the verb, the adverb and the sentence. Bib. (585–613), index (615–656), and a detailed table of contents (657–670) .]

. 1997 . The Noblest Animate Motion: Speech, physiology and medicine in pre-Cartesian linguistic thought . (= Studies in the History of the Language Sciences, 83 .) Amsterdam &Philadelphia : John Benjamins , xlx, 462 pp. [ This book is an examination of both Classical and Medieval conceptions regarding language, especially but not exclusively in the realm of speech production, i.e., phonetics and speech impediments. In his lengthy introduction (xv-1) the author argues strongly that a thorough understanding of modern-day linguistics requires a good knowledge of its pre-modern basis, and points to the importance of medieval and Renaissance medical writings on the subject of language, which historiographers of language have hitherto ignored but without which a complete understanding of the then-prevalent theory of language would be elusive. The study is rounded out by an impressive bib. (372–423), an index of biographical names (425–437), and index of subjects (439–462) .]

, ed. 1997 . La descripción de las lenguas amerindias en la época colonial . (= Bibliotheca Ibero-Americana, 63 .) Frankfurt am Main : Vervuert Verlag ; Madrid : Iberoamericana , 450 pp. [ A collection of eighteen essays, along with an introduction by the editor. The essays are divided into four parts: the first, on the Grammar and Vocabulary of Meso-American languages, contains eight articles; the second, on the Grammar and Vocabulary of Andean languages, contains six articles; the third, on grammatical descriptions of Brazilian and Paraguayan languages, consists of two articles, as does the final section, which is on the grammatical descriptions of American Indian languages of Columbia. All the essays, along with the editor’s Introduction (“Apuntes para la historia de la lingüística de las lenguas amerindias”, 9–17), are in Spanish. Contributors include the following: Michel Launey, Manfred Ringmacher, Willem Adelaar, Julio Calvo Pérez, Aryon Rodrigues, and others. No index .]