Reviewed by Daria Dayter, University of Bayreuth

This book on embodiment provides a cognitive linguistic perspective in work by psychologists and clinical practitioners.

The first part subsumes contributions from phenomenologists, opening with an overview of forms of body memory by Thomas Fuchs. In the two following chapters, Michela Summa examines the role of body memory in the process of meaning formation, and Maxine Sheets-Johnstone argues for the primacy of kinaesthetic memory in our everyday existence. Eugene T. Gendlin addresses Fuchs’ earlier article on body memory and proposes an expanded model of time as ‘carrying forward’. The last two chapters in this section take a Husserlian approach to body memory: Elizabeth A. Behnke focuses on traumatic body memory that she labels ‘enduring’, and Mónica E. Alarcón Dávila demonstrates that in dance, the body has a spatial and a temporal constitution.

Opening the second part of the book, which comprises contributions from cognitive science,  Petra Jansen proposes some first steps towards empirical measurements of implicit body memory. Christina Bermeitinger and Markus Kiefer discuss the role of concepts in the embodiment approach to cognition. The chapter by Christina Jung and Peggy Sparenberg reviews cognitive perspectives on embodiment, and Caterina Suitner, Sabine C. Koch, Katharina Bachmeier, and Anne Maass expand the topic by describing three empirical studies that test hypotheses about dynamic embodiment. Sabine C. Koch follows with another experimental study designed to test Fuchs’ taxonomy of body memory. The link between metaphor and body memory is investigated in contributions by Claudia Böger and by Astrid Kolter, Silva H. Ladewig, Michela Summa, Cornelia Müller, Sabrina C. Koch, and Thomas Fuchs. William Sax and Karin Polit employ anthropological methodology to study body memory in cases of spirit possessions in the Western Himalayas, while Ralf P. Meyer approaches the subject from the perspective of modern neuroscience.

The theoretical contributions above receive an applied rendering in the final part of the book. Christine Caldwell makes a case for clinical movement therapy based on the importance of sensorimotor processing for implicit body memory. The application of movement therapy to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder is the subject of the contribution by Marianne Eberhard-Kaechele. Päivi Pylvänäinen reports observations on a clinical dance/movement therapy group at a psychiatric outpatient clinic. Heidrun Panhofer, Helen Payne, Timothy Parke, and Bonnie Meekums argue for the usefulness of embodied perceptual practices in therapy when painful experiences cannot be expressed through traditional verbal means. Yona Shahar-Levy presents her theory of emotorics that strives to reconstruct subjective meaning embedded in memory fragments. The technique of authentic movement is recommended by Ilka Konopatsch and Helen Payne for patients with medically unexplained symptoms. In the three following chapters, Helle Winther and then Sabine C. Koch and Steve Harvey deal with dance and movement therapy, and Johannes Michalak, Jan M. Burg, and Thomas Heidenreich take up the subject of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Elmar Kruithoff addresses the experiential practices derived from Gendlin’s philosophy of the implicit: focusing and felt sensing.

The editors conclude the book by summarizing the state of the art in body memory research and call for further investigation of the related phenomena.

Reviewed by Alejandrina Cristia, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

The instrumental measurement of speech is now a standard feature of language research. Keith Johnson’s Acoustic and auditory phonetics is an excellent introductory textbook to both theory and practice behind this subfield of linguistics research. The following paragraph summarizes the key technical concepts introduced in each chapter.

The first half of the book is grouped under the heading ‘Fundamentals’. Ch. 1, ‘Basic acoustics and acoustic filters’ (7–24), provides a brief, non-technical introduction to waves and filters. In Ch. 2, ‘The acoustic theory of speech production’ (25–48), the properties of tubes are introduced, which is vital within a source-filter description of speech. Ch. 3, on ‘Digital signal processing’ (49–81) walks the reader from the basic concepts of digital signals to spectrograms. A broad-strokes introduction to some key aspects of ‘Basic audition’ is provided in Ch. 4 (82–99). Finally, Ch. 5 on ‘Speech perception’ (100–28) emphasizes the crucial role of language experience with a few psycholinguistic phenomena, in addition to introducing some wide-spread techniques for measuring perception.

The second half of the book centers on ‘Speech analysis’. Ch. 6, ‘Vowels’ (131–51), highlights the strengths and weaknesses of tube models compared to perturbation descriptions of speech; adaptive dispersion compared to quantal theory; and acoustic compared to auditory representations. Ch. 7, ‘Fricatives’ (152–68), breaches the importance of aerodynamic considerations, revisits tube models and quantal theory, and underlines the importance of considering auditory constraints and linguistic experience when assessing perception. In Ch. 8 (169–85), both source and filter are revisited using ‘Stops and affricates’ as a case study by introducing different phonation types and investigating the variation in vocal tract configuration (and, consequently, in acoustic properties) that occurs at different points in the production of stops and affricates. Finally, the extension to coupled resonators is done in Ch. 9, ‘Nasals and laterals’ (185–205).

This third edition is thoroughly instructional. There are numerous illustrations that clarify the main text, as well as boxes elaborating on tangential aspects which have commanded the attention of the author’s students. Chapters end with a list of relevant references (each followed by a one-sentence summary); a ‘sufficient jargon’ subsection, listing the 10–20 key terms covered in that chapter; and between four and twelve exercises, some of which are solved at the end of the book. There is also a brief glossary, which includes entries for specific sounds.

As for the writing, complex phenomena are explained very clearly, with more technical passages immediately followed by metaphors that help non-specialists grasp the intuition behind a given concept or formula. Furthermore, acoustic and auditory phenomena are immediately made relevant, as apparently arcane facts are shown to relate to well-established psycholinguistic findings and crosslinguistic tendencies. This textbook will be immensely useful not only to students from linguistics, speech and hearing, cognitive sciences backgrounds, but also to researchers who would like to learn about (or brush up on) phonetics.

Reviewed by Dennis Ryan, University Writing and Language Consultants

In this book, Francis R. Jones begins by asking the commonly asked question, ‘What does a poetry translator need to know to translate a poem written in one language into another?’ The answer is ‘special expertise’ (1), referring to the book’s title and thesis. J expands upon this phrase throughout seven chapters that look at poetry translation as the work of project teams and active networking, of a complex matrix of local-to-global community involvement and political action that results in intercultural interfaces correlated to specific translation settings and situations, to writing and poetry-translation skills, and to the cultural sensitivity of the translator.

During the course of the study, J interviews a number of anonymous translators and comments incisively upon his own translation practice from Serbo-Croatian/Bosnian into English, including his fully bilingual, published translation of ‘the masterwork of Bosnian twentieth-century poetry’, (19) the politically iconic Kameni spavac ‘Stone Sleeper’. Composed by Bosnian poet Mak Dizdar, the work is a three-way dialogue that echoes the presence of Bosnian stecci—carved medieval tombstones that contain godlike figures and ‘enigmatic symbols’ (18)—when a dead religious heretic from beneath a stecak ‘taunts…heretic-hunters [of the state church] that they cannot destroy spiritual strength by physical violence’ (21).

Based on his poetry translation experiences, and those of other translators, J argues quite convincingly that neither poetry translation nor poetry as a genre should be marginalized. Rather, they should be extensively researched by translation scholars. He states that ‘poetry may have a special contribution to make, which more than compensates for its low translated word-count per annum compared to European Union legislation’ (9). By way of fellow translator Maria Tymoczko, J reasons that ‘literary translation [particularly poetry translation] gives better evidence than non-literary translation about interfaces between cultures because it happens less “sporadically” and “locally”, and shows “greater cultural complexity and … involvement” … richer material for analysing intercultural processes’ (9). Because of this rich complexity, literary translation can be foundational in training translators in many areas, from literature to advertising to journalism. His point is well taken.

Perhaps most importantly, translation enables ‘a writer of one language to communicate with readers of another’ (3) so that they may better understand and learn from one another both on the cultural and sub-cultural levels. J cites the web journal Spirit of Bosnia ‘as belonging to an imagined sub-community defined by its belief in Bosnia’s cultural unity’ (194). Finally, as J emphasizes, poetry translators bring their personal histories to the act of translating, yet they also merge their identities biculturally, ‘see themselves as using their poetry-translating skills to perform the role of “ambassador” or of a “bridge” between their two areas of allegiance—the source and receptor culture/country’ (196). This is only as it should be, as poetry—including its translation—is a powerful force for change.

 This book is an expert, seasoned analysis of the art of poetry translation, thoroughly researched, and is highly recommended.

Reviewed by Richard W. Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University

Containing an overview of current developments and perspectives in studies of stylistic variation and their applications, this book begins with Juan Manuel Hernández-Campoy and Juan Antonio Cutillas-Espinosa’s ‘Introduction: Style-shifting revisited’ (1–18). This beginning chapter provides a brief overview of stylistic variation research and an outline of the chapters to follow. The remainder of the book is divided into two sections: ‘Style and sociolinguistic variation in political discourse’ and ‘Style and sociolinguistic variation in media interaction’.

Four chapters comprise Part 1. In ‘Speaker design strategies in political contexts of a dialectal community’ (21–43), Juan Manuel Hernández-Campoy and Juan Antonio Cutillas-Espinosa offer a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the speech of the former president of Murcia (Spain). In ‘Style-shifting in the U.S. Congress: The foreign (a) vowel in “Iraq(i)”’ (45–63),

Lauren Hall-Lew, Rebecca L. Starr, and Elizabeth Coppock investigate the /a/-/æ/variation in the second vowel in ‘Iraq(i)’ by members of the United States House of Representatives. Robert J. Podesva, Lauren Hall-Lew, Jason Brenier, Rebecca Starr, and Stacy Lewis investigate the Southerner, Westerner, African American, conservative, and careful dimensions of United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice’s linguistic features in ‘Condoleeza Rice and the sociophonetic construction of identity’ (65–80).

Highlighting ‘the importance of methodological interdisciplinarity in modern studies of stylistic variation’ (82), Barbara Soukup focuses on shifts from Austrian Standard German to Bavarian-Austrian dialect in ‘Speaker design in Austrian TV political discussions’ (81–99). To show how style is phonologically structured, Robert J. Podesva, Patrick Callier, and Jermay Jamsu analyze the word final (-t) in the speeches of six prominent United States politicians: George W. Bush, Hillary R. Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Condoleeza Rice, in ‘Recency, resonance, and the structuring of phonological style in political speeches’ (101–17).

The five remaining chapters constitute Part 2. Arguing that parody is important for investigating stylistic variables, Jennifer Sclafani examines parodies of Martha Stewart and Newt Gingrich, two well-known American personalities, in ‘Parodic performances as indexical negatives of style’ (121–37). In ‘Popular music singing as referee design’ (139–64), Andy Gibson and Allan Bell address the following research question: ‘are New Zealand singers putting on an American accent when they sing, or do they actually find it difficult to “take off” in the singing context?’ (164).

Anna Marie Trester examines the style of dialect performance in ‘Performing style: Improvisation and the linguistic (re)production of cultural knowledge’ (165–84). In ‘Dialect as style in Norwegian mass media’ (185–203), Thea R. Strand discusses her findings from her ethnographic fieldwork in rural Norway. Lastly, by analyzing a weekly Mandarin Chinese lifestyle-shopping program in ‘“Carry shopping through to the end”: Linguistic innovation in a Chinese television program’ (205–24), Qing Zhang discusses ‘newly available stylistic resources that can be employed to effect new social dimensions’ (222).

This book will appeal to any linguist interested in stylistics, especially those working in political discourse and media studies.

Reviewed by Dennis Ryan, University Writing and Language Consultants

In this book, Yuko Hasegawa explores soliloquy as ‘a tool for thinking’ (1). Having recorded and analyzed the soliloquies of twenty-four Japanese native speakers and ten English-speaking study participants, the Japanese corpus consisted of 3,042 utterances (350 minutes) and the English one of 18,609 words (150 minutes). Japanese is particularly apt for the author’s inquiry because it is grammatically and lexically marked for interaction. H postulates that if such markers are removed, researchers can break new ground in understanding how humans process thought before using language in social settings.

In Ch. 1, ‘Introduction’ (1–39), H uses soliloquy data to demonstrate clear differences in participants’ structural language use in communicative and non-communicative settings. Ch. 2, ‘Sentence-final particles’ (41–71), discusses the use of the Japanese sentence-final particles ne and yo; ne is the equivalent to the English ‘Isn’t it’ while yo marks emphasis. Furthermore, ne is used when speakers match two pieces of information and yo in inference building.

 In Ch. 3, ‘Deixis and anaphora’ (73–103), H parses the data for Japanese demonstratives (e.g. kore, sore, are), equivalent to English this, that, and that over there, discussing their usage in terms of ‘deixis’ and ‘anaphora’. H confirms that ko-so-a are recurrent in soliloquy and that ko and a occur with or without an antecedent, thus leading her to argue that both are deictic. Ch. 4, ‘Gendered speech in soliloquy’ (105–37), describes the ‘differentiated gender speech styles’ of Japanese men and women, providing numerous examples from recorded soliloquies from men’s and women’s speech, which differ morphosyntactically and pragmatically.

 In Ch. 5, ‘Soliloquy and linguistic politeness’ (139–63), H discusses how polite forms are integral to Japanese grammar, with deference and distancing cooccuring when Japanese speakers employ polite speech. Plain speech, on the other hand, conveys intimacy, and the limitations of the two styles cause problems when speakers want to express warm but deferential feelings, which H terms ‘intimate exaltation’ (162–63). Soliloquy can be inserted into discourse to simultaneously index both deference and intimacy without offending the addressee (163).

Ch. 6, ‘The indefinite you in English soliloquy’ (165–93), presents soliloquy data that focus on ‘you in thought/language processing in English. The data show speakers repeatedly using you. H concludes that indefinite you might better be regarded as intrapersonal you in many instances, as the speaker clearly addresses himself; this also happens in Japanese soliloquiess (e.g. Omae wa nanto bakana koto o shitan da. ‘What a stupid thing you [the speaker] did.’).

This book makes a technically sophisticated argument for the use of soliloquy in the study of cognition, and H’s crosslinguistic facility and interdisciplinary range are impressive. H is a profound thinker and expositor on the theoretical level. My only reservation concerns her seeming lack of awareness of the tradition of soliloquy in Western literary texts, which reflect the greater utility of soliloquy in everyday life. Soliloquy in the West is at least as old as its oldest written document, The epic of Gilgamesh, and it shows up repeatedly in Greek and Roman antiquity as apostrophe. Notwithstanding this concern, H has written a thought-provoking book that I highly recommend to linguists researching cognition, pragmatics, and language function.

Reviewed by Richard W. Hallett, Northeastern Illinois University

This edited book contains second language acquisition (SLA) and second language attrition research on missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), also known as Mormons. As the editor, Lynne Hansen, notes in Ch. 1, ‘Introduction: Investigating mission languages’ (1–9), this population is ripe for SLA research, as the missionaries typically spend around two years in a second language (L2) environment. This book is divided into two sections: ‘Acquisition of mission languages’ and ‘Attrition of mission languages’.

The first section begins with Ch. 2, ‘Language learning and teaching in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (13–28), in which C. Ray Graham provides a historical overview of LDS language training programs from the creation of the ‘deseret alphabet’ (16) to the establishment of sixteen missionary training centers around the world. In Ch. 3, ‘The development of speaking proficiency of LDS missionaries’ (29–49), Dan Dewey and Ray T. Clifford compare returned missionaries’ oral proficiency to that of undergraduate foreign language majors. In Ch. 4, ‘An examination of the effects of input, aptitude, and motivation on the language proficiency of missionaries learning Japanese as a second language’ (51–88), Jenifer Larson-Hall and Dan Dewey analyze forty-four missionaries who are native speakers of English learning Japanese as an L2. Lynne Hansen, Karri Lam, Livia Orikasa Nufer, Paul Rama, Geraldine Schwaller, and Ronald M. Miller investigate the lexical acquisition of German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish in Ch. 5, ‘In the beginning was the word: Vocabulary learning in six mission languages’ (89–108).

The second section begins with Ch. 6, ‘The lost word: Vocabulary attrition in six mission languages’ (111–34), in which Lynne Hansen, Andrew Colver, Wonhye Chong, Helama Pereira, Jeremy Robinson, Akihiro Sawada, and Ronald M. Miller examine attrition in the same six languages examined in the previous chapter. C. Ray Graham analyzes the L2 attrition of fifteen returned missionaries in Ch. 7, ‘Vocabulary attrition in adult speakers of Spanish as a second language’ (135–84).  In Ch. 8, ‘Savings in the relearning of mission vocabulary: The effects of time and proficiency’ (185–202), Lynne Hansen, Melanie McKinney, and Yukako Umeda apply the savings paradigm from cognitive psychology to the vocabulary (re)learning of Japanese and Korean by returned missionaries. Lynne Hansen and Yung-Lin Chen test the numeral classifier accessibility hierarchy in Ch. 9, ‘What counts in the retention of numeral classifiers in Japanese and Chinese?’ (203–20). In Ch. 10, ‘Syntactic attrition in L2 Japanese missionary language’ (221–44), Robert A. Russell examines particle usage and syntactic complexity used by a small set of returned missionaries. Lynne Hansen, James Gardner, James Pollard, Joshua Rowe, and Junko Tsukayama measure temporality in oral narratives via a new computer instrument in Ch. 11, ‘The measurement of oral fluency in mission languages’ (245–58). The book concludes with two bibliographies, one annotated and the other not annotated.

Overall, this book bolsters the literature on L2 retention and attrition.

Reviewed by Alejandrina Cristia, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics

Since it has been a mere fifteen years after the first edition of this book, readers of this review may wonder if they should buy it again. The question turns out to be ill-posed, as it presupposes a constant ‘it’. The current edition is a radically different selection of essays. Below is a succinct overview of its chapters.

In terms of phonological units, only ‘The syllable’ (John Goldsmith) and ‘Tone: Is it different?’ (Larry Hyman) are discussed. Suprasegmentals are addressed in ‘Quantity’ (Stuart Davis), ‘Stress systems’ (Matthew Gordon), and ‘Intonation’ (Mary E. Beckman and Jennifer J. Venditti). In-depth discussion of types of synchronic phenomena are limited to ‘Harmony systems’ (Sharon Rose and Rachel Walker) and ‘Opacity and ordering’ (Eric Baković), with ‘Contrast reduction’ (Alan C. L. Yu) covering both mergers and neutralization. Interfaces between phonology and other linguistic components are covered in ‘The interaction between morphology and phonology’ (Sharon Inkelas) and ‘The syntax-phonology interface’ (Elisabeth Selkirk). Notably, D. R. Ladd prefers to speak of ‘Phonetics in phonology’ (emphasis added).

Another group of chapters focuses on kinds of evidence feeding phonological theory, including ‘Language games’ (Bert Vaux), ‘Loanword adaptation’ (Carole Paradis and Darlene LaCharité), developmental data (Katherine Demuth), and psycholinguistic data (Matt Goldrick). Also on acquisition, Adam Albright and Bruce Hayes integrate formal and experimental approaches in ‘Learning and learnability in phonology’. The incorporation of the chapter by Mirjam Ernestus and R. Harald Baayen reflects recent tendencies to integrate quantitative analyses of large corpora into the phonological evidence toolkit, which typically also require linguists to bear in mind ideas presented in the chapter ‘The place of variation in phonological theory’ (Andries W. Coetzee and Joe Pater).

Three chapters discuss the basic structure of current phonological theories. David Odden’s ‘Rules v. constraints’ argues against the rule versus constraint dichotomy. The chapter by Harry van der Hulst describes the properties of a number of ‘Dependency-based phonologies’. Finally, Gunnar Ólafur Hansson provides a general review of ‘Diachronic explanations of sound patterns’. From a different approach, John Coleman provides a brief history of computational modeling in ‘Phonology as computation’.

This overview may suffice to illustrate the markedly different approaches in the two editions. Nearly a third of the chapters in the first edition documented current issues in specific language families, whereas only the chapter on ‘Sign language phonology’ (Diane Brentari) could arguably be classified as such. In contrast, insights from large corpora, theoretical approaches to variation, and psycholinguistic considerations are uniquely represented in the 2011 edition. Even in chapters that have a counterpart in the first edition, there are important perspective changes from the particulars of a language or language group to general phonological principles, possibly as a response of the editors’ challenge to ‘ask what the broader questions are [and] pass judgment […] on the degree to which the field had succeeded in providing answers’. As the previous edition proved to be, this edition will doubtless be a key reference in the field.

Reviewed by Abby Forster, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

In this book, William Downes seeks to answer the question, ‘What is religion in cognitive terms?’ (3). D argues that only a cognitive pragmatic framework, in which language is studied as part of cognitive psychology, can address this key question. Drawing on cognitive psychology (including Chomskian linguistics), relevance theory, and Kantian rationalism, D presents a theory of language use which shows how culture emerges from mind/brain systems. His theory, thus, offers an account of how religion emerges through the natural processes of the mind.

In Ch. 1 (8–52), D outlines his cognitive theory of religion. Taking a Chomskian approach, the mind/brain contains modules that are specialized for different domains. The modular mind/brain has an innate architecture that provides a ‘mode of construal of input’ from which human cultures are built (13). Religion is a cultural ensemble that emerges as humans process information using the scaffolding provided by the mind/brain’s innate structures. Religion consists of four primary dimensions: the supernatural, religious normativity, rationalized contents, and religious affect and motivation. These dimensions align with specific modular systems of the brain.

Ch. 2 (53–108) is focused on the application of D’s theory of cultural emergence to the element of the supernatural in world religions. The supernatural dimension must emerge in culture because the mind is governed by principles of relevance, and the mind-reading module of the brain understands all inputs as caused by some kind of mind. When the mind is an unknown, the idea of the supernatural fills the gap in embodied agency. The concept of God then represents all possibility and cannot, by definition, be comprehended (108). Language plays a central role in the cultural emergence of religion because it is through language that subconscious activity becomes conscious.

In Ch. 3 (109–62), D explains how human minds represent and disseminate that which by definition cannot be understood. He suggests that religious mysteries are disseminated widely because they violate the intuitive beliefs provided by the mind/brain scaffolding. In doing so, they are intellectually interesting and engage a sense of justice.

Chs. 4–6 elaborate on other areas of the theory. In Ch. 4 (163–94), D focuses on the critical rationality of religious belief, arguing that the concept of God ‘synthesizes all inconsistencies into a single simplicity; for example mercy and justice’ (194). Ch. 5 (195–226) expands on critical rationality by relating it to authority. The chapter discusses legitimacy and asks if religion could represent reality in a sense. Finally, Ch. 6 (227–63) addresses conceptual change and innovation, arguing that processes of innovation are inexhaustible and leave humanity to live in a state of philosophical uncertainty regarding its images of itself.

D’s work contributes to the relatively new area of the cognitive science of religion. His overarching argument that language makes thought conscious and, through that process, moral mysteries naturally emerge, offers a cognitive account of the connection between religion and language. The book may be of interest to scholars of the philosophy of language or religion, cognitive psychologists, and linguists specializing in religion.

Reviewed by Pekka Lintunen, University of Turku

Phonetics and phonology are often discussed separately. Introducing phonetics and phonology combines these two subfields of linguistics into a single textbook. The earlier editions have been widely used as introductory textbooks at the university level. The current third edition expands the treatment of phonology with a more thorough discussion of optimality theory and a glossary of 143 items. Of the thirteen chapters, there are exercises for Chs. 2–12. Model answers are not provided. Each chapter offers suggestions for further reading, and chapters usually include a summary, a conclusion, or an overview. This edition also has indices of subjects, languages, and varieties of English discussed in the text.

As the title suggests, the book can be divided into two parts: Chs. 2–6 focus on phonetics, and Chs. 7–13 on phonology. Although internal references are many, both parts will work as separate introductions if that is what the reader needs. The treatment of phonetics is mainly supplemented by examples from English. There are, however, also examples from other languages in discussions of sound categories. Ch. 3 ends with a summary inventory of English consonants, and Ch. 4 ends with a presentation of four English vowel systems (General American and three from the British Isles). The phonetic discussion also includes Ch. 5 on acoustic phonetics and Ch. 6 on suprasegmental issues, with a relatively short six-page treatment of tone and intonation.

The phonology part mainly discusses features of English but provides many examples, including material in the exercises, from different languages. Each chapter introduces basic concepts such as phonological features, allophones, alternations, and rules. Ch. 10 focuses on phonological structures and has a short introduction to autosegmental phonology. Ch. 11 goes deeper into derivational analysis. Ch. 12, then, discusses optimality theory, and the final chapter details restrictions of phonological models.

Unlike some other introductory books focusing on English, this book takes into account various accents of English, especially, but not exclusively, from the British Isles. Largely for this reason, the system of symbols is not always consistent. For example, figure 4.11 does not have a length mark for the mid back vowel as the example does. The vowels of English in figure 7.4 do not correspond to any vowel system described in Ch. 4. The reason is undoubtedly a choice to avoid only one model for English. Although very interesting for advanced students, a beginning nonnative reader might be puzzled by the various accents.

Instructors will likely need to help readers to understand Ch. 5 on acoustics and Ch. 7 on phonological features, which include many numbers and details. On the whole, the book is very accessible. In its present edition, as the authors claim, this book can be used as a solid introductory book for beginning university students of linguistics, phonetics, or the English language.

Reviewed by Abby Forster, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

A persistent tension in disability studies, especially those focusing on intellectual or learning disabilities, is between the need for support services for everyday tasks and the desire to respect individuals’ autonomy in making major decisions about their lives. Using conversation analyses of interactions between people with disabilities and their support workers (as well as a variety of public encounters), Val Williams shows that this central tension emerges from the conversational work of identity and power.

The book contains fifteen chapters consisting of two introductory chapters and two main parts, which are each introduced by self-advocates (i.e. people with intellectual disabilities who are involved in disabilities advocacy). Ch. 1 introduces major areas of scholarship from disability studies that are relevant to the book, including the social model of disability. Ch. 2 gives an overview of conversation analysis that is accessible to a newcomer to the area. W discusses the general theories of interaction and identity in talk.

Part 1 focuses on individual voices. Using ample selections of dialogue from videotaped interactions, it highlights conversational interactions between people with disabilities and their support workers. Ch. 3 shows how disempowerment happens in talk with people with disabilities as when a turn to talk is taken over by a support worker or when people are repeatedly pressured to talk when they do not want to. Ch. 4, on the other hand, focuses on how supporting someone to be competent occurs through talk. Examples include when support workers give advice or keep someone on task. Ch. 6 looks at how support workers and people with disabilities use friendliness in talk to equalize their power. Ch. 7 shows how autonomy is accomplished in talk, for example, in decision-making practices.

Part 2 shifts focus to the collective voice of people with disabilities as it is fostered through advocacy groups and inclusive research projects. Ch. 9 shows how self-advocacy talk occurs in group situations when self-advocates bring private experiences into public. Chs. 11 and 13 focus on the complexities of labeling. Being labeled ‘disabled researchers’ brings particular disempowering challenges to research, which are explored. Additionally, W shows that the label is also used as a tool of power that calls on a collective voice. W calls attention to the contrast between the largely supported interactions in Part 1 and the strong self-advocacy and leadership exhibited by people with disabilities in the collective situations analyzed in Part 2. In her concluding chapters, W provides self-reflections on her methods and the implications of her research for change.

This book is targeted toward scholars of disability studies, and each chapter offers practical implications for support workers. It is also of interest for its methodology. The book provides a clear introduction to conversation analysis for those who are new to it. Furthermore, interesting for its in-depth use of inclusive research, W highlights the valuable insights self-advocates contributed to her research. Inclusive research may offer a balance between autonomy and support because, as W argues, through respectful support, people with disabilities can have a powerful voice.