Morphology at the interfaces: Reduplication and noun incorporation in Uto-Aztecan.

Morphology at the interfaces: Reduplication and noun incorporation in Uto-Aztecan. By Jason D. Haugen. (Linguistics today 117.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2008. Pp. xv, 257. ISBN 9789027255006. $165.
Reviewed by Alexandra Galani, University of Ioannina

Jason D. Haugen discusses reduplication, noun incorporation, and related derivational morphological phenomena based on comparative data from the Uto-Aztecan language family. The data aim to shed further light on issues related to the morphology-phonology interface (reduplication) and the morphology-syntax interface (noun incorporation). The theoretical claims are made within distributed morphology. H also discusses polysynthesis as a new parameter that contributes toward an analysis of the historical development of the Uto-Aztecan language family.

The book is divided into four parts (nine chapters) in addition to the preface (ix–x), the introduction (xi–xv), the references section (231–49), and the language (251–53) and subject indices (255–57).
Part 1, ‘Background’, consists of two chapters. In Ch. 1 (1–16), H offers information about the Uto-Aztecan language family classification and an overview of certain aspects related to word order, sentence structure, and subject and object clitics in Uto-Aztecan. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion on the origins of the Uto-Aztecan community. In Ch. 2 (17–32), accounts that are related to syntactic variation are presented before moving to a sketch of the principles of distributed morphology, which are adopted in this work in order to explain morphosyntactic reconstruction.

Part 2 (33–86) discusses prosodic morphology and consists of two chapters. In Ch. 3 (33–67), H explores reduplication patterns in comparative Uto-Aztecan data (Yaqui, Mayo, Guarijio, Nahuatl, Numic, Tepecano, and Tohono O’odham). He considers reduplicative morphemes to be prosodic pieces, and in Ch. 4 (69–86), he theoretically accounts for them within distributed morphology.

Part 3, ‘Derivational morphology’, consists of three chapters. In Ch. 5 (87–115), data on denominal verbs and noun incorporation into verb structures from Hopi are presented in order to support the view that noun incorporation and denominal verb formation should not be seen as two different kinds of morphological processes. This view is further supported in Ch. 6 (117–62) with data from Comanche, Cupeno, Hopi, Tohono O’oldam, Yaqui, and Nahuatl. In Ch. 7 (163–204), H theoretically accounts for the empirical data presented in Ch. 6. He takes a syntactic view on word formation where head-movement and merge are the main operations to apply.

Part 4, ‘Change in morphological type’, consists of two chapters. In Ch. 8 (205–27), H discusses the diachronic development of polysynthesis in Nahuatl. The book concludes in Ch. 9 (229–30) with an overview of the main points discussed in each chapter.

This is an interesting book on the interfaces of morphology with syntax and with phonology. The interested reader can easily follow the empirical data as well as the theoretical discussions. It nicely presents relevant literature reviews, and the author manages to connect comparative data with theoretical analyses from a diachronic and a synchronic point of view.

Frames and constructions in metaphoric language

Frames and constructions in metaphoric language. By Karen Sullivan. (Constructional approaches to language 14.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2013. Pp.vii, 184. ISBN 9789027204363. $135 (Hb).
Reviewed by Zhen-qiang Fan, Zhejiang Gongshang University

Since the 1970s, more and more scholars have approached metaphor from a cognitive perspective. While stressing their conceptual nature, these researchers, in one way or another, neglect other aspects of metaphors. In recent years, many researchers investigating metaphor have started to adopt a discourse-based method, emphasizing the essential role of social and conversational context in processing, interpreting, recognizing, and appreciating metaphors. However, so far few have built a model which gives due attention to the workings of metaphoric language. Aiming to fill this gap, Karen Sullivan ‘integrates insights from Construction Grammar with those of Cognitive Grammar, Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Frame semantics, bringing these together into a new account of metaphoric language’ (4).

The book contains ten chapters, including an introduction and conclusion, a list of references, primary sources, and indices. The introduction, ‘Metaphoric language and metaphoric thought’ (1–16), critically evaluates existing studies on metaphoric language. It also presents the objectives and overview of the entire book. In Ch. 2, ‘Frames in metaphor and meaning’ (17–33), S introduces two important notions from cognitive linguistics (CL), frame theory in cognitive semantics and autonomy/dependence in cognitive grammar, adapting them to suit the analysis of metaphoric language. Ch. 3, ‘Frames and lexical choice in metaphor’ (35–48), demonstrates how frames evoked by a lexical item’s non-metaphorical senses can help to determine which items are chosen to express a given conceptual metaphor.

Ch. 4, ‘Frames in metonymic inferencing’ (49–61), illustrates the effectiveness of frames and constructions in distinguishing metaphor from other figurative language such as metonymy. It is argued that metonymic inferencing requires specific constructional contexts that allow for ambiguity while the constructions involved in metaphor are adopted in ways that avoid ambiguity and ensure a metaphoric interpretation.

The remaining chapters of the book (Chs. 5–9) offer a more detailed illustration of the new model proposed by analyzing a series of grammatical constructions. Ch. 5, ‘Two types of adjective construction in metaphor’(63–86), focuses on domain constructions and predicating modifier constructions, while Ch. 6, ‘Argument structure constructions in metaphor’(87–114), concentrates on argument structure constructions, such as resultatives, ditransitives, and uses of the copula. Ch. 7 scrutinizes ‘Metaphoric preposition phrases and closed-class items’ (115–30), and Ch. 8, ‘Repeated domain evocation and xyz constructions’ (131–48), investigates constructions which combine two or more of those from Chs. 5–7. Finally, Ch. 9, ‘Metaphoric constructions beyond the clause’(149–66), further examines some larger metaphor-evoking structures, including relative clauses and conditional constructions, as well as other complex structures such as parallelism and negation of the literal. Ch. 10, ‘Conclusion’ (167–72), presents the significance and limitations of the research.

This book shows the cross-fertilization among several existent theories within CL by creating a unified and coherent model that is capable of explaining both metaphoric and non-metaphoric language. The book should be of interest to anyone interested in CL and metaphor in particular. Future studies could consider extending the model to cover more metaphor-evoking constructions and analyze linguistic data from languages other than English.

Lexical analysis: Norms and exploitations

Lexical analysis: Norms and exploitations. By Patrick Hanks. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2013. Pp. xv, 462. ISBN 9780262018579. $60 (Hb).
Reviewed by Zhen-qiang Fan, Zhejiang Gongshang University

Based on authentic word usage from large corpora and other texts, Patrick Hanks proposes a lexically based, corpus-driven, bottom-up theory of language called the theory of norms and exploitations (TNE), which is expected to help explain how words go together in collocation patterns and how people use words to convey meaning.

Ch.1 points out the need for a theory of norms and exploitations for the empirical analysis of meaning in language and presents the aims of the book. Ch. 2 takes a closer look at the various meanings of the term ‘word’. This chapter also explains the dynamic and infinite nature of the lexicon of a language and how new terms are constantly being created. Ch. 3 argues that words in isolation, instead of having meaning, only have meaning potential. Actual meanings only appear when people use words in specific context, whether verbal or situational.

Ch. 4 illustrates how Paul Grice’s conversational cooperation theory can help distinguish meaning-as-events and meaning potential. He distinguishes between ‘norms’ and ‘exploitations’: the former refers to patterns of ordinary usage in everyday language while the latter denotes the unusual and creative uses. Ch. 5 demonstrates the effectiveness of identifying normal complementation patterns by corpus analysis in terms of valency and lexical sets for determining a word’s meaning.

Ch. 6 addresses the issue of norms of usage change over time on the basis of large historical corpora. H emphasizes that when appreciating literary works from different periods, it is important to bear in mind the different norms of the time. Ch.7 discusses the alternation of three regular patterns of usage in language: lexical alternations, semantic-type alternations, and syntactic alternations.

Ch. 8 is concerned with exploitation, which is a dynamic mechanism used to create new meanings and to say old things in new ways. Moreover, exploitation is also one mechanism for bringing new senses to a word. Various types of exploitations are also introduced in this chapter. In Ch. 9, H analyzes a few examples of how creative writers have exploited lexical and other norms of the English language and created new ones.

Ch. 10 elaborates on how the normal, conventional patterns of meaning and use of a word constitute a complex meaning gestalt, and how such gestalt is exploited in various ways. Ch. 11 explains how TNE is related to the philosophy of language and anthropology, citing the works of
language philosophers like Aristotle, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, and Paul Grice, and the ideas of anthropologists such as Bronisław Malinowski, Elenore Rosch, and Michael Tomasello. Ch. 12 discusses how TNE differs from other theories of language concerning the role of the lexicon, and finally, Ch. 13 summarizes the key notions of TNE, pointing out its theoretical significance and practical applications.

The book is of great interest for those who want to engage in empirical research in language-related areas such as cognitive linguistics, historical linguistics, computational linguistics, corpus linguistics, machine translation, and applied linguistics. It also has practical value for lexicographers, language teachers, and those involved in textbook compilation.

Morphology and language history: In honour of Harold Koch.

Morphology and language history: In honour of Harold Koch. Ed. by Claire Bowern, Bethwyn Evans, and Luisa Miceli. (Current issues in linguistic theory 298.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2008. Pp. x, 364. ISBN 9789027248145. $173 (Hb).
Reviewed by Alexandra Galani, University of Ioannina

Claire Bowern, Bethwyn Evans, and Luisa Miceli put together a collection of twenty-five papers which discuss the various methods used when studying historical morphology. Part 1(‘Genetic relatedness’) opens with Barry Alpher, Geoffrey O’Grady, and Claire Bowern, who bring evidence for the development of Western Torres Strait, whereas Peter Austin investigates the classification of Pinikura. Mark Donohue shows that bound pronominals can also be used as a classification criterion in West Papuan languages, and Margaret Sharpe explains that unsolved morphophonological phenomena prevent researchers from fully supporting the relatedness of Alawa, Mara, and Warndarang. Jane Simpson reconstructs pronominals in Warumungu and compares them to the corresponding forms in neighboring languages as evidence towards the language’s genetic position.

In Part 2 (‘Reconstruction’), Avery Andrews shows how one may use historical morphology to support synchronic morphological theories based on Greek data, whereas Jay H. Jasanoff discusses the reconstruction of the Ancient Greek verb σβέννυμι. Paul Black investigates the pronominal system in Pama-Nyungan languages, and William B. McGregor in his chapter, ‘The origin of noun classes in Worrorran languages’, supports language family classification. John Giacon examines verb specification morphemes in Gamilaraay not only to shed light on its historical development but also for the purposes of language revival. Mark Harvey looks into the origin of conjugational markers in Australian languages, while Luise Hercus and Stephen Morey offer a historical investigation of negatives in Southeastern Australian languages. H. Craig Melchert offers a semantic reconstruction of the adverb duwān in Hittite, and David Nash reconstructs monomorphemic verb roots in Warlpiri, whereas Phil Rose looks at tones in Oujiang Wu through modern acoustics. Grace Koch and Myfany Turpin investigate the language used in Central Australian Aboriginal songs and conclude that it shows a non-archaic behavior. Luisa Miceli compares two methods of reconstruction (inspectional versus comparative method) using data from Australian languages, and, finally, Paul Sidwell uses a bottom-up method of reconstruction to examine verbal morphology in Mon-Khmer.

In Part 3 (‘Processes of change’), Cathryn Donohue reaches generalizations about the morphological realization of case marking of four-place predicates in Old and New Basque, while Bethwyn Evans treats the development of plural in object marking in Marovo as a morphological zero affected by discourse patterns. Anthony J. Liddicoat and Timothy Jowan Curnow investigate the morphological development of the perfect in Jersey Norman French, and Patrick McConvell deals with the reconstruction of kinship affixation patterns in Pama-Nyungan languages. Kim Schulte investigates reconstruction of the plural morphology in Romanian, and following that, John Charles Smith discusses the refunctionalization of first-person plural inflection in Tiwi. Finally, Xiaonong Zhu examines the historical change of chain vowel raising in Chinese.

The book is well organized and coherent. It presents various techniques employed by researchers working on historical morphology. Its strongest advantage is that a wide range of crosslinguistic morphological phenomena, analyses, and theoretical questions are all addressed in a single book.

Mongolian.

Mongolian. By Juha A. Janhunen. (London Oriental and African language library 19.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2012. Pp. xv, 320. ISBN 9789027238207. $165 (Hb).
Reviewed by Mikael Thompson, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Juha A. Janhunen has written a thorough study of spoken Mongolian. An introductory chapter (1–20) is followed by chapters on segmental structure (21–55), morpheme structure (57–93), nominal morphology (95–141), verbal morphology (143–84), phrasal syntax (185–222), clausal syntax (223–61), and complex sentences (263–89). The end matter includes the transcription of a folk tale (291–96), a short table of paradigms (297–99), an orthographic chart (301–303), a bibliography (305–11), and a grammatical index. (This reviewer read a preliminary version of the first three chapters and provided some data.) There is little to quibble with in any respect; two topics merit comment.

Mongolian is known among phonologists for its system of vowel harmony, which is usually presented as a front-back opposition with i front but transparent. In fact, due to vowel shifts, most Mongolian dialects are better analyzed as having ATR (advanced tongue root) or pharyngeal harmony in reflexes of modern Mongolian simple vowels, and conditioned fronting of former back vowels has left little phonetic basis to Mongolian vowel harmony (78–79). J treats the vowel system well, but his transcription, based on contemporary pronunciation, is counter-intuitive: digraphs indicate both quality and quantity (e.g. the short vowels ü, u, ö,and o, pronounced roughly [u], [o], [ɯ], and [ɔ], are transcribed u, ou, eu, and o; 34). Moreover, as it differs from the standard transcription and that adopted in Svantesson, Tsendina, Karlsson, and Franzén’s The phonology of Mongolian (Oxford University Press, 2005), this makes his data less accessible.

Morphologically, Mongolian is usually presented as having seven cases. In fact, the status of Mongolian case endings as inflectional endings distinct from derivational endings can be challenged. As Mongolian lacks productive agreement, cases must be defined by verbal and postpositional government, and by alternations in pronominal stems. These criteria do not entirely agree. In addition, some derivational suffixes can be productively added after certain case endings. On this point, J’s analysis could be sharpened: while J treats the suffix -x used to make the predicate form of the genitive and the attributive form of the dative-locative as a nominal case marker of sorts (114–17), it is also used to form the attributive of the instrumental, certain postpositions, and certain adverbial verb forms (e.g. tal-aar ‘with respect to’ < tal ‘side’, tölöö ‘for (beneficiary)’, and -tal4 ‘until’ all may take -x), and should better be treated as a derivational suffix indicating the government of a word form. In general, grammatical roles and functions in Mongolian need detailed re-examination; this book provides a good starting point.

Although Mongolian has been the subject of a significant body of research, a study summarizing and analyzing the language as a whole is needed. This book fills that need. The data are reliable, the coverage is comprehensive, and the treatment of unsettled questions is judicious. It is highly recommended to all Mongolists and will interest many other linguists.

Roots of Afrikaans: Selected writings of Hans den Besten

Roots of Afrikaans: Selected writings of Hans den Besten. Ed. by Ton van der Wouden. (Creole language library 44.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pp. vii, 458. ISBN 9789027252678. $158 (Hb).

Reviewed by David Elton Gay, Bloomington, IN

The late Hans den Besten was one of the most important historical linguists working on the problems of the genesis of Afrikaans. Roots of Afrikaans presents seventeen of his articles on Afrikaans, together with articles in appreciation of his work by Ana Deumert, Paul T. Roberge, and John Holm.

The editor, Ton van der Wouden, has structured the book into three parts. In the first part ‘[t]he structure of Afrikaans as such is the focus’ (4). The articles in this section include studies of the Afrikaans pre-nominal possessive system, the function of the word wat in Afrikaans possessive relatives and in comparison to West Germanic relativization systems, and demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin.

Part 2 focuses on the origins of Afrikaans. This section begins with the article ‘The Dutch Pidgins of the Old Cape colony’, which has been translated from the Dutch for this book. The following articles include studies of the morphosyntax of Cape Dutch Pidgin, relexification and the origin of Cape Dutch Pidgin, and Khoekhoe syntax and its influence on the development of Afrikaans. The section ends with two studies of the languages of enslaved Asians on the Cape.

Part 3 offers two programmatic articles. In the first of these, ‘A badly harvested field’, den Besten looks at the earliest linguistic research done on Afrikaans and its origins; in the second, ‘Desiderata for Afrikaans historical linguistics’, he proposes a series of problems that need further research. Although den Besten was a generativist, as Roberge notes, he mostly ‘embraced a heavily substratist approach’ in his studies of Afrikaans (396).

The book concludes with three articles in appreciation of den Besten’s work. The first of these, ‘Giving voice: The archive in Afrikaans historical linguistics’, by Deumert, discusses the problems associated with the early sources for the history of Afrikaans. The second, ‘Afrikaans: “Might it be a little more ‘South Africa’?”’, by Roberge, is a critical examination and appreciation of den Besten’s research on Afrikaans historical linguistics and its reception among scholars of Afrikaans. In the third article, Holm’s ‘Partial restructuring: Dutch on the Cape and Portuguese in Brazil’ offers an examination of ‘some of the most salient features on Afrikaans…[and] the corresponding features of vernacular Portuguese to identify syntactic features that are characteristic of partially reconstructed varieties’ of languages (400).

The book includes a bibliography of den Besten’s articles on Afrikaans. Though, as Roberge notes, den Besten’s work has some problems, for instance, that ‘den Besten’s stipulation that a stable Cape Dutch Pidgin (Creole) came into being between 1658 and 1713 has not been confirmed empirically’ (394). There can be no doubt that den Besten was one of the foremost scholars of the history and structure of Afrikaans. His work widened the study of the history of Afrikaans to more fully acknowledge the influence of other languages spoken on the Cape—including African languages, Cape Dutch Pidgin, and other creoles—in the genesis of Afrikaans. This book is an excellent collection of den Besten’s writings.

Language, society and identity in early Iceland

Language, society and identity in early Iceland. By Stephen Pax Leonard. (Publications of the philological society 45.) Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. Pp. ix, 188. ISBN 9781118294963. $39.95.

Reviewed by B. A. Thurber, Shimer College

Stephen Pax Leonard sets out to explain how the people who settled Iceland came to speak a unified dialect despite their varied points of origin. The people who settled Iceland in the eighth and ninth centuries came from different parts of Norway and the British Isles, and, therefore, would have spoken different dialects on arrival. Although they were scattered around the perimeter of Iceland, the settlers developed a unified language instead of many local dialects. L examines the social factors that led to this development, focusing on how a common language was important for an Icelandic identity.

The book consists of six chapters, including an introduction and brief conclusion, a list of references, and an index. The introduction (1–23) provides a framework for the book. It includes L’s goals and historical background on the settlement of Iceland. About half the chapter is comprised of a description of the primary sources used. These sources are varied, including historical and religious texts, as well as literature, but the main focus is on legal texts. In Ch. 2, ‘Language and identity: Theoretical considerations’ (24–53), L describes a number of sociolinguistic theories and how they can or cannot be applied to the situation in early Iceland. He emphasizes how Iceland’s isolated situation and its settlement patterns influenced the development of its language.

Ch. 3, ‘Norm-establishment in Iceland’ (54–90), begins with background on the settlers. L describes where they are from and the evidence for dialectal variation in those areas. He then explains how Iceland’s language became homogeneous, including a discussion of the roles of legal texts, the sagas, and skaldic poetry. Ch. 4, ‘Social structures in the lexicon’ (91–115), covers social structures, including the Althing and the role of the law in Icelandic society and how they helped the Icelanders develop their identity on both social and individual levels.

In Ch. 5, ‘Perception and use of language as an identity marker’ (116–43), L examines ways in which the Icelanders considered their language an identity marker. He describes the ways in which Icelanders differentiated themselves from others linguistically, by way of references to foreign languages and the use of pronouns. The chapter ends with a discussion of the grammar of spatial orientation and how it reflects Icelandic identity. L finishes the book with a brief conclusion (144–46), summarizing the results of the study. This is followed by a list of references (147–83) and an index (184–88).

The book should be of interest to anyone studying early Iceland, especially sociohistorical linguists, who will see it as an example of how a common dialect formed under unusual circumstances.

The art of dialectic between dialogue and rhetoric: The Aristotelian tradition

The art of dialectic between dialogue and rhetoric: The Aristotelian tradition. By Marta Spranzi. (Controversies 9.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011. Pp. xii, 239. ISBN 9789027218896. $158 (Hb).

Reviewed by David Pruett, Austin Community College

Marta Spranzi’s book aims to trace ideas about ‘dialectic’ through several centuries’ worth of philosophical and scholarly texts, from Zeno of Elea, Socratic dissoi logoi, Plato’s Republic, and Aristotle’s Topics, through Cicero and Boethius, to Renaissance philosophers Rudolph Agricola and Agostino Nifo. Dialectic is defined by Aristotle in the Topics as a ‘method by which we shall be able to reason deductively from reputable opinions’ without ‘saying anything self-contradictory’ (14). S argues that Aristotle’s Topics ‘contains the germs’ for two kinds of dialectic (1). The first, disputational, entails a rule-governed question-and-answer debate between two interlocutors. The second, aporetic, is an evaluation of equally persuasive opposing opinions, in order to resolve difficulties; this kind of dialectic may be practiced by an individual.

After tracing the threads of theories about dialectic through ancient and medieval texts, S arrives at the Renaissance, a time when Aristotelian dialectic became an important contributor to evolving epistemologies. S describes the unique maturing of the two kinds of dialectic: disputational as developed by Nifo, and aporetic by Agricola. Then, introducing Renaissance literary theories of Carlo Sigonio, Torquato Tasso, and Sperone Speroni, S discusses the inventive function of disputational dialectic by authors writing inquisitive dialogues. Finally, S links dialectic to rhetorical ‘invention’, particularly when it comes to sorting through opposing, and reputable, opinions.

In Ch. 1 (11–38), S discusses the earliest uses and definitions of the term ‘dialectic’, resting on Aristotle’s Topics and sophistical refutations. Ch. 2 (39–57) surveys essential developments of the idea of dialectic in the Latin tradition, as carried forward by Cicero, Boethius, and the Scholastic philosophers. Ch. 3 (59–63) briefly highlights renewed interest in dialectic in the first half of the sixteenth century. In Ch. 4 (65–98), this renewed interest is seen to produce the ‘new dialectic’ movement, culminating in Agricola’s De inventione dialectica, which first theorized the relation between dialectic and rhetoric and sparked a resurgence of interest in Aristotle’s treatises.

Ch. 5 (99–132) expands on the renewed interest in Aristotle’s treatises, focusing on how the texts were translated and interpreted, especially in light of new translations into Latin of commentaries by Alexander of Aphrodisias and Averroes. In Ch. 6 (133–60), S discusses Renaissance theories of literary dialogue, especially those of Sigonio, Speroni, and Tasso, which argue that Aristotelian disputational dialectic is ‘the art of all dialogical reasoning’ that supports literary dialogues (134). Ch. 7 (161–72) jumps to the twentieth century to show the presence of dialectic in contemporary argumentation theories of Stephen Toulmin, Chaim Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, Frans van Eemeren and Rob Grootendorst, and Douglas Walton.

By limiting her analysis to a small set of writers and texts, S effectively illuminates the ways philosophers and scholars use and re-envision the concept of dialectic as it re-appears in the history of ideas down through the centuries.

Éléments de grammaire mongole (dialecte Ordoss)

Éléments de grammaire mongole (dialecte Ordoss). By M. G. Soulié. (LINCOM gramatica 131.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2012. Pp. vii, 87. ISBN 9783862885084. $51.

 Reviewed by Mikael Thompson, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Ordos is the dialect of Mongolian spoken in the Ordos Loop of the Yellow River (containing parts of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu). This book, published in 1903, was the first major study of Ordos. A young French translator of Chinese in Beijing, Georges Soulié, who later produced several works in Chinese studies (including the first major Western study of Chinese acupuncture), studied Ordos under the direction of Monsignor Alfons Bermijn, after most of the language materials collected by his mission had been destroyed in the Boxer Rebellion (iii–vi). Ironically, however, the institutions that allowed him to produce this book eventually rendered it obsolete. The ablest Western Mongolist of the twentieth century, Father Antoine Mostaert, began his work in Ordos three years later, and his publications are the starting point for any study of Ordos.

This book was written after several months of study of written Mongolian, with Ordos pronunciations given by a non-native speaker, and is prey to all of the possibilities of error that this would suggest. In the chapter on pronunciation and orthography (9–18), the written forms are given along with a French-based transcription of the pronunciation; some pronunciations given are literary readings, not Ordos forms. Now, written Mongolian has a highly ambiguous script, and Ordos has undergone extensive sound change that the orthography does not always conceal, and S’s far too brief treatment is marred by extensive errors: ambiguities in written Mongolian show up in the pronunciation (e.g. gem ‘flaw’ and kem ‘limit’, spelled identically in written Mongolian but misspelled here as ‹gim›, are both given as gem), and the written forms are poorly edited and often crudely misspelled (e.g. *‹čiil› for ‹jil› ‘year’, *‹sibke› ‘dung’ for ‹sibege› ‘rampart’); worse, in several examples the pronunciation of a misspelled written form has been given in place of the actual Ordos (e.g. *ölčii for ölǰii ‘good fortune’). The book’s failings are symbolized by one pair of words meant to show how velar letters are used to distinguish the vowel harmony of words: ǰarlig ‘decree’ and ǰerlig ‘wild’ are identically misspelled as ‹yrliγ› with the back-vowel velar (13).

The grammatical sections are paradigm-based and discuss irrelevant European categories like gender at too great a length. The facts of vowel harmony are included implicitly but not properly emphasized; the discussion of the verb is a resume of the French verb with the corresponding Ordos forms inserted, without the benefits of a treatment based on Ordos agglutinative morphology. However, the forms given do appear to be accurate enough.

This book cannot be recommended to anyone besides Mongolists interested in the history of their field. Sadly, despite S’s admirable enthusiasm for his task and his deserved fame as a pioneering translator of Chinese and Japanese classics, this book is riddled with inaccuracies and should not have been reprinted.

Expecting the unexpected: Exceptions in grammar

Expecting the unexpected: Exceptions in grammar. Ed. by Horst J. Simon and Heike Wiese. (Trends in linguistics: Studies and monographs 216.) Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2011. Pp. vii, 450. ISBN 9783110219081. $140 (Hb).

 Reviewed by Natalie Operstein, California State University, Fullerton

This book takes a systematic look at one of the most thorny problems in linguistics—that of exceptions to observed structural regularities. The book contains both invited papers and contributions to a 2005 workshop on exceptions in grammars from the 27th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Linguistics. Divided into four parts, it consists of a preface, two introductory chapters, and ten thematic chapters, which are supplemented by an invited critical commentary and, in all cases but one, a response from the original author(s).

In the first introductory chapter, Horst J. Simon and Heike Wiese discuss the relationship between exceptions and rules, existing approaches to dealing with exceptions, the historical development and disappearance of exceptions, and the role of exceptions in linguistic theory. The second introductory chapter, by Edith Moravcsik, identifies general approaches to the problem of exceptions, drawing examples from syntax.

Part 1 opens with an article by Barış Kabak and Irene Vogel, who examine exceptions to vowel harmony and stress assignment in Turkish and propose lexical pre-specification of the exceptional forms as an alternative to previous analyses. Greville G. Corbett looks at the interaction of exceptional phenomena in the area of inflectional morphology, and Damaris Nübling examines irregularities in the diachronic development of the Germanic verbs have, become, give, take, come, and say.

Part 2 opens with an article by Thomas Wasow, T. Florian Jaeger, and David Orr, who use a quantitative approach to correlate both exceptionally high and exceptionally low uses of relativizers in certain relative clauses in English with the lexical choices of determiner, noun, and adjective in the head NP. Jóhannes Gísli Jónsson and Thórhallur Eythórsson use the diachronic development of case selection in Icelandic and Faroese to argue for a dichotomy between two kinds of exceptions: those that are semantically related and partially productive, and those that are semantically unrelated and cannot be extended to new lexical items.

Part 3 opens with an article by Frederick J. Newmeyer, who argues that exceptions to typological generalizations in syntax are best handled by extra-syntactic approaches. Sam Featherston uses selected syntactic phenomena from German and English to argue that many perceived exceptions turn out to be systematic and rule-governed. Ralf Vogel argues that, on the basis of variation in speaker acceptability of certain free relative constructions in German, a distinction needs to be made between exceptions and systematic variation in speech communities. Frederik Fouvry presents a computational linguistics view of ‘extra-grammaticalities’, proposing a method for dealing with exceptional structures.

The main article in Part 4 is by Michael Cysouw, who uses the World atlas of language structures to explore the global distribution of rare traits in the world languages.

This book provides an interesting overview of exceptionality in grammars. A useful feature of some of the articles entails discussions of existing approaches to exceptionality and a healthy critique of idealizations current in linguistic work. Although the selection of the articles is heavily tilted towards syntax, the book as a whole may be of interest to a wider range of linguists interested in exceptionality.