Nominal phrases from a Scandinavian perspective. By Marit Julien. (Linguistik aktuell/Linguistics today 87.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. xv, 348. ISBN 9789027233516. $169 (Hb).

Reviewed by Asya Pereltsvaig, Stanford University

This volume is concerned with the syntax of nominal phrases in Scandinavian, which are renowned for showing a degree of variation that is quite remarkable given the close genetic relations among the Scandinavian linguistic varieties. The greatest variation is found in definite nominal phrases and in the realization of possessors. Other topics, such as predicate noun phrases, are considered as well. The study is set in the framework of the minimalist program. Overall, this book makes an excellent contribution to the study of noun phrases in Scandinavian languages and in natural language in general.

Ch. 1 surveys the functional projections found in a maximally expanded DP and presents the concept of D-identification, namely the idea that whenever the reference of the DP as a whole depends on D, the features of D must be made visible either in Spec-DP or in the D head itself. Ch. 1 also discusses indefinite noun phrases in Scandinavian, since the syntactic structure of these phrases deviates little from their basic structure.

Ch. 2 is concerned with definite DPs, which show a considerable degree of variation within Scandinavian, in particular when adjectives or numerals are present. According to the author’s analysis, for each variety of Scandinavian the syntax of definite DPs depends on the location of (overt) definiteness markers, which can be inserted in D or in a lower head, and on the attraction of various constituents to Spec-DP. Adjectival inflection, which is shown to have a great effect on the syntax of definite DPs, is also considered in this chapter.

Ch. 3 focuses on the distribution of definiteness markers in nominal phrases containing relative clauses. The analysis proposed here is a development of Richard Kayne’s idea that a relative clause is embedded under a DP. This proposal explains why the presence of a restrictive relative clause has consequences for the distribution of determiners, while the presence of a nonrestrictive relative clause does not.

Ch. 4 addresses demonstratives and strong quantifiers. Julien proposes that both types of elements are generated above the DP. The interaction between these elements and the D head, as well as the syntax of pronouns, is considered here as well.

Chs. 5 and 6 deal with noun phrases with possessors, with Ch. 5 focusing on postnominal possessors and Ch. 6 on prenominal ones. J argues that possessors of both types are generated in a Specifier position inside nP, which is the nominal counterpart of the more commonly used vP. The possessor phrases may surface either in their base position or in a higher Specifier position within the possessed noun phrase.

Ch. 7 deals with predicative nominal phrases and compares them to nominal phrases in argument position. It is shown that noun phrases that pass tests for predicative noun phrases in Scandinavian are not necessarily smaller than those that do not. J thus concludes that the contrast between predicative and argument noun phrases is purely semantic: nominal predicates have an intensional interpretation, whereas nominal arguments may be referential.

Annual review of cognitive linguistics, vol. 3. Ed. by Francisco José Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. 354. ISBN 1588114279. $114.

Reviewed by Martin Hilpert, Rice University

In its third year, the Annual review of cognitive linguistics establishes itself as a forum for cognitive linguistic research from mostly European contributors. The volume contains fourteen papers, an interview with Leonard Talmy, and a book review. The papers cover several key areas of cognitive linguistics, such as blending, grounding, metaphor, and construction grammar.

Esam N. Khalil argues that the psychological notions figure and ground cannot be equated with textual foregrounding and backgrounding. He discusses examples from newspaper texts that show a mismatch of psychological and textual salience, such that background information is textually more prominent than new information. Guillaume Desagulier proposes a blending analysis of advice-giving wanna (as in You wanna be careful!), proposing that two constructions blend together into advice-giving wanna, which inherits formal and semantic characteristics of the two input constructions. Guy Achard-Bayle studies metamorphosis and metaphor in French literary works, finding that both operations involve a semantic change, but behave differently with respect to referentiality and pronominal anaphora at the structural level.

In a case study of Spanish epistemic modals, Bert Cornillie challenges Ronald Langacker’s definition of grounding predications, which excludes elements inflecting for tense. Spanish epistemic modals have tense inflections, but Cornillie argues that they nonetheless function as grounding predications. Paul Chilton uses vector geometry to model viewpoint shifts in discourse. He illustrates the model with spatial prepositions and applies it further to the verbs come and go, tense markers, and weak and strong epistemic modality. Francisco García Jurado and Carmen Maíz Arévalo study the English idiom can’t make head nor tail and its equivalent in Latin. They analyze it in terms of a conceptual metaphor in which coherence is understood as a whole body in its default arrangement.

Yoshihiko Ikegami discusses the grammaticalization of subjectivity in Japanese, which is evident in alternate ways of expressing psychological states. These predicates are construed from either an egocentric or a third-person perspective, suggesting different conceptions of the self. Georgina Cuadrado Esclapez and Heliane Jill Berge Legrand show how scientific thought is pervaded by conceptual metaphor. They investigate the language of particle physics, in which particles and forces are metaphorically endowed with human social characteristics. Stefan Th. Gries and Stefanie Wulff demonstrate the psychological reality of English constructions in L2 learners. Comparing the responses of German subjects in a sentence-completion task against corpus data, they find that the responses reflect the English constructions, not their German translational equivalents.

Javier Valenzuela, Joseph Hilferty, and Mar Garachana study a Spanish topicalization construction in which the topic is reduplicated. They propose that the construction has a hedging function that flags the topic as a nonprototypical category member. Line Brandt and Per Aage Brandt analyze the metaphorical expression This surgeon is a butcher and argue that hearers make sense of the expression through a sequence of conceptual steps that involves blending, metaphor, and pragmatic inference. Réka Benczes finds that creative noun-noun compounds such as shoebox store and sandwich generation can be fruitfully analyzed in terms of metaphor, metonymy, and blending. M. Teresa Calderón Quindós shows the applicability of cognitive linguistics to the analysis of literary works and presents analyses of poems by Seamus Heaney. Carmen Guarddon Anelo develops a polysemy network of the Spanish preposition desde, which has spatial, temporal, and intersubjective meanings that have come about through metaphorical extension.

Compliments and compliment responses: Grammatical structure and sequential organization. By Andrea Golato. (Studies in discourse and grammar 15.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. xi, 248. ISBN 1588115992. $132 (Hb).

Reviewed by Aleksandar Čarapić, University of Belgrade

Considering that compliments and compliment responses (CRs) have been studied in twelve languages, including six varieties of English, Golato’s study Compliments and compliment responses, which adopts the methodology of conversation analysis (CA), aims to extend this work to German, analyzing the form and function of complimenting sequences in everyday spoken German. Several relevant questions have stimulated this research: What is the design of compliment turns (CTs) in German? Are they mechanical speech events as in other cultures? How is a compliment introduced linguistically into conversation and how does it emerge from the context? How do speakers refer to the object about which the compliment is made? How are compliments responded to in German? How do third parties react when someone else pays a compliment? Do compliments serve different interactional functions? What in the speech event determines the complimenting function of a turn?

The volume consists of nine chapters. Ch. 1, ‘Preliminaries’ (1–9), offers theoretical preliminaries, discusses sequence organization and the study of compliments, interaction, and grammar, and outlines the methodology and the organization of the volume. Ch. 2, ‘Methodology’ (11–25), begins with a description of the data-collection procedures that have been used in the past. It discusses (dis)advantages of the instruments of data collection (discourse completion tasks and questionnaires, role play, recall protocols, field observation, and recording of talk). The discussion additionally provides a rationale for the data-collection procedure and methodology. Ch. 3, ‘Giving compliments: The design of the first CT’ (27–84), focuses on constructions of CTs, emphasizing two elements: first, speakers who give compliments need to refer to the assessable so that the coparticipant can know what the compliment is about; and second, speakers need to address the positiveness of their compliment assertion both syntactically and semantically. Ch. 4, ‘Giving compliments: Sequential embedding and functions of the CTs’ (85–132), links the structural characteristics of compliments with overall sequence organization.

Ch. 5, ‘Compliments in multi-party interactions: Third parties providing second compliments’ (132–55), offers the analysis of various types of agreeing turns, helping us to understand the social act of complimenting and the functions of various response tokens (e.g. German response tokens and modal particles). Ch. 6, ‘Compliment responses (CRs)’ (167–99), patterned after a CA analysis of compliments in American English, concentrates on the preference organization of CRs in German and extends the analysis of CRs to the design of the CT, its function in discourse, and relations between the design of CR and function of the CT within a larger sequence. Ch. 7, ‘Concluding discussion’ (201–12), summarizes the previous findings, presents their broader implications, and discusses certain constraints of the volume, outlining possibilities for future research.

In addition to its valuable findings, subtle observations, and insightful comments, this volume is beautifully written. It is a remarkable example of scholarship and is an important contribution not only to the study of compliments and compliment responses, but also to the linguistic fields of interactional sociolinguistics, CA, (conversational) discourse analysis, contrastive analysis, pragmatics, and the like. As such, it unquestionably deserves a wide readership.

Study abroad and second language use: Constructing the self. By Valerie Pellegrino Aveni. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Pp. 188. ISBN 0521534941. $34.99.

Reviewed by Colette van Kerckvoorde, Simon’s Rock College

Researchers in the field of second language acquisition agree that study-abroad experiences are valuable in developing skills in a second language. When abroad, however, some students, those labeled ‘good learners’, exhibit more willingness to practice L2. This implies that the individual nature of the learner determines willingness to employ the target language, regardless of the situation. Such a view is not consistent with reality: language learners do not categorically use or refuse to use the second language. In this book, Aveni demonstrates that the perceived amount of threat to one’s self-image may determine whether one will seize an opportunity to practice or avoid speaking L2.

A begins with a description of the role of language in the construction and presentation of the self. Since we can only communicate our true self by means of language, self-presentation becomes significantly more difficult with imperfect language skills. Our natural drive to protect our public image is hampered, and it becomes very difficult to project an image that embodies our ideal. She then turns to reasons why learners are willing to take on risk abroad and speak L2 anyway.

Next, A describes four key areas in which the learners’ sense of security must be developed in order to be willing to speak: on the scale of social hierarchy, they must sustain a sense of status in a social interaction and of control over their environment. On the scale of social distance, not only is a sense of validation of their own self-worth required, but also physical and emotional safety.

A then explores additional factors that affect self-construction and, therefore, willingness to use L2. These may be related to the interlocutors, for example, their age, gender, and physical attractiveness, and also how they respond to the learner’s language skills. Crucial are the learner’s perception and interpretation of these. Learner-internal cues include the attitude toward the self, the ability to assess one’s own L2 skills, and the ability to predict the outcome of an interaction. All of these factors interact with each other.

Finally, A turns to strategies that L2 learners develop to deal with the problem of creating an acceptable and satisfactory self-image. The amount of time spent abroad is important: usually, the learners’ attitude toward their second-language skills improves, and they come to realize that occasional failed interaction is not all that bad. All learners exhibit a shift in focus to learner-internal cues and are therefore better equipped to use L2 in a nonthreatening way.

A uses grounded theory methodology, a method frequently used in social psychology, sociology, and medicine. She examines extensive narrative data from students who were enrolled in a study-abroad program in Russia, such as diary entries and interviews, in order to draw conclusions, and she quotes heavily from these data. This feature makes the book especially attractive and accessible for anyone who intends to participate or has participated in a study-abroad program. The voices are authentic, the students are very candid in their reports, and A provides the context and an interpretation. The book does not require any prior familiarity with the literature in second language acquisition.

How English works: A linguistic introduction. By Anne Curzan and Michael Adams. New York: Pearson Education, 2006. Pp. 561. ISBN 0321121880. $78.67.

Reviewed by Jill Ward, Northeastern Illinois University

How English works sucks its readers in with questions friendly to both linguists and nonlinguists. ‘Why do some people say aks and not ask?’, ‘Who speaks a dialect?’, and ‘Why is colonel spelled the way it is?’ pepper the front cover with the promise of answers we forgot we wanted. The book is designed for English or education majors taking an introductory linguistics class, and focuses on connecting literature, education, and linguistics with everyday uses of English relevant to students’ lives.

The book consists of fourteen chapters. Chapters begin with vignettes regarding current issues of linguistic interest, such as ‘blogging’ or attitudes toward dialects in America. Following each vignette is background on the chapter topic and subtopics, followed by a chapter summary, suggested reading, and exercises. Sprinkled throughout the chapters are ‘special interest boxes’ prompting questions, thought, or connections regarding the larger topic. While the book’s pages do not feature color, charts, photos, diagrams, and maps all contribute to the visual appeal of this text.

Ch. 1, ‘A language like English’ (1–32), addresses the aspects of human language that make it unique. Ch. 2, ‘Language and authority’ (33–63), implores the reader to consider who is ‘in charge’ of language, questioning the authority of grammar books, dictionaries, contracts, and governments over and with language. Ch. 3, ‘English phonology’ (64–100), looks at sound systems, phonological adjustments by speakers, and language change, with a brief connection to spelling.

Ch. 4, ‘English morphology’ (101–28), examines inflection and derivation, changes in words through affixation, word formation, and slang. Ch. 5, ‘Syntax: The grammar of words’ (129–65), refreshes the student’s memory of parts of speech, introduces the notions of form and function, and helps with oft-confused words. Ch. 6, ‘Syntax: Phrases, clauses, and sentences’ (166–206), considers universal grammar, constituents and hierarchies, phrase structure rules and trees, and transformations.

Ch. 7, ‘Semantics’ (207–41), discusses how words mean, reference, prototype theory, and metaphor. Ch. 8, ‘Spoken discourse’ (242–80), looks at discourse analysis, speech acts, the cooperative principle, Grice’s maxims, and politeness. Ch. 9, ‘Stylistics’ (281–319), introduces systematicity, types of texts, and cohesion. Ch. 10, ‘Language acquisition’ (320–55), addresses universal grammar, first language acquisition, the critical age hypothesis, and aphasia.

Ch. 11, ‘Language variation’ (356–91), examines dialects, the studies of William Labov, and language contact. Ch. 12, ‘American dialects’ (392–432), tackles language politics and language variation. Ch. 13, ‘History of English: Old to Early Modern English’ (435–76), revisits language changes in English. Ch. 14, ‘History of English: Modern and future English’ (477–508), addresses social forces, media, and globalization of English, particularly in regard to World Englishes and English’s use in technology.

Additional features include a dialect map of American English; American English consonant and vowel charts; a brief timeline for the history of the English language; a list of symbols, linguistic conventions, and common abbreviations; a comprehensive index; and an extensive glossary.

Grammaticalization and English complex prepositions: A corpus-based study. By Sebastian Hoffmann. New York: Routledge, 2005. Pp. xiv, 214. ISBN 0415360498. $130 (Hb).

Reviewed by Olga Thomason, University of Georgia

This book, a revised version of Hoffmann’s Ph.D. thesis, presents a corpus study of the grammaticalization and use of complex prepositions in English. The corpus data ranges from the Middle Ages to present-day English use (the main focus of the study), drawn from the Gutenberg Corpus and the British National Corpus, as well as from the Oxford English Dictionary and the Middle English Dictionary (quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/). This descriptive study involves diachronic and synchronic approaches and concentrates on thirty preposition-noun-preposition constructions. Multiple figures and tables support the analysis.

The volume contains nine chapters. The first two chapters include a detailed overview of the study and a thorough description of the database, justifying the choice of sources and describing their merits and shortcomings. H does a good job of introducing the material: he clearly explains the main concepts, refers readers to further readings, and often remarks on possible difficulties for the investigation (14, 16, 19, 21). This comprehensive introduction makes this book a must read for everyone who contemplates undertaking a corpus-based study of English.

Chs. 3 and 4 are similar in their format. They begin with a general overview of a certain theoretical problem (the grammatical status of complex prepositions, the grammaticalization), followed by the detailed explanation of H’s position on the subject supported by multiple examples. H is cautious in the choice of his methodology and retreats to manual check of the data if necessary (41). The author holds a functionalist view of language change and maintains that a complex preposition is in fact an indivisible unit. The discussion about complex prepositions as a category (26–31) would benefit if some works of classical and/or historical linguistics on the subject (where these prepositions are often called improper) were taken into account.

Chs. 5 and 6 present a description of diachronic development of complex prepositions and their synchronic status and distributional characteristics in present-day English, respectively. H analyzes thirty very frequent complex prepositions, dividing them into three groups based on the approximate date of their first attested usages as an indivisible unit. H reasonably limits his data to written occurrences due to the character of the earliest sources of the corpora. He repeatedly warns readers about possible distortions because of the insufficient amount of data from the early stages (61, 65, 66, 68, 69, etc.). He also shows that a complex preposition is not a rigid category and often uses quantitative and collocation data to demonstrate the gradualness of this phenomenon. Figures 5.1 (92) and 4.1 (55), showing the distribution of literal and complex prepositional occurrences, use various time periods ranging from forty-nine years to 150. The reason for such differences is not clear; furthermore, one may presume that it is this diversity that is accountable for the rapid rise in the frequency of a given preposition.

Chs. 7 and 8 focus on a detailed description of the most frequent complex preposition in terms of and the grammaticalization status of low-frequency preposition-noun-preposition constructions, respectively. In his discussion of the saliency of the frequency for grammaticalization, H makes valuable remarks on analogy, invariability, and relative frequency as crucial factors influencing the development of low-frequency constructions. Ch. 9, followed by extensive notes for all of the sections and a bibliography (188–208), not only summarizes the study, outlining its main findings, but also suggests directions for further research.

This research is an important contribution to the field of corpus linguistics. By competently combining synchronic and diachronic analysis of the data, H presents a valuable insight into the nature of complex prepositions and their relation to grammaticalization. This book will be a useful source for any linguist interested in complex prepositions and their development.

Thinking syntactically: A guide to argumentation and analysis. By Liliane Haegeman. (Blackwell textbooks in linguistics.) Oxford: Blackwell, 2006. Pp. xii, 386. ISBN 9781405118538. $43.95.

Reviewed by Asya Pereltsvaig, Stanford University

This book is an introductory textbook in generative syntactic theory. Its declared aim is ‘not to present all the intricacies of one syntactic theory’, but ‘to reconstruct and to illustrate as explicitly as possible the thinking behind generative syntax’ (vi). In this way, the present volume differs from so many other syntactic textbooks on the market that present syntax as ‘a spectator sport’, instead of getting students themselves involved in syntactic thinking. Haegeman leads the students through the maze of building syntactic argumentation. Another aspect that distinguishes this book from many other introductions to generative syntax is the kinds of examples used. Instead of using artificial examples that may seem irrelevant to students of introductory syntax, H uses many attested examples, mostly from journalistic prose. Though the examples are generally drawn from English, data from other languages are presented as well. Each chapter is complete with numerous and detailed exercises. The book also contains a note to the teacher on how this textbook can be used alone or in a sequence of syntax courses.

Ch. 1 offers an introduction to scientific methodology and how it can be applied to the study of syntax. The main hypothesis introduced is that the meaning of a sentence is calculated on the basis of its component parts and their relations in the structure. Moreover, patterns of question formation in English and French are surveyed as well. Ch. 2 introduces the key tools for identifying the constituents of a sentence. It is shown that two of the main constituents of the sentence are its subject and its verb phrase, with the latter being considered a ‘projection’ of the verb. The concept of a lexical projection is introduced here as well. Ch. 3 shows how subject and verb phrase are related through a linking element, the inflection of the verb. Here H introduces the hypothesis that the inflection of the finite verb heads its own projection, and thereby introduces the concept of a functional projection.

Ch. 4 pursues the hypothesis that the meaning of the sentence is worked out on the basis of its component parts and their structural relations. From this hypothesis, H deduces that sentences must have more than one subject position. Hence, H introduces an additional hypothesis that the subject is first inserted inside the VP and then moved to the subject position outside the VP. The fifth and final chapter returns to question formation and shows how the system elaborated in the first four chapters of the book can be implemented to derive the word order in English questions. This chapter focuses on the importance of the movement operation for the formation of sentences.

Overall, this book presents a very refreshing way of teaching introductory syntax courses and fills the void in terms of introductory syntactic textbooks that focus on generative syntax, but do not presuppose much background knowledge of syntax at the outset.

Strategies in academic discourse. Ed. by Elena Tognini-Bonelli and Gabriella del Lungo Camiciotti. (Studies in corpus linguistics 19.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2005. Pp. xi, 212. ISBN 9027222908. $126 (Hb).

Reviewed by Aleksandar Čarapić, University of Belgrade

The chapters in the collection Strategies in academic discourse were selected from contributions to the conference Evaluation in Academic Discourse held in June 2003 in Siena, Italy. The collection deals with theoretical and descriptive issues and techniques in the study of text and discourse.

In addition to the introduction written by Elena Tognini-Bonelli, the collection contains thirteen chapters. Ch. 1, ‘Conflict and consensus’ by Susan Hunston, focuses on the ‘conflict article’ as academic subgenre. Ch. 2, ‘Subjective or objective evaluation?’ by Julia Bamford, considers expressions of academics’ positions in argumentation, looking at the expressions of (un)certainty in lectures. Ch. 3, ‘Aspects of identification and position in intertextual reference in PhD theses’ by Paul Thompson, investigates the complexity of averral and attribution in a corpus of Ph.D. theses. Ch. 4, ‘Authorial presence in academic genres’ by Céline Poudat and Sylvain Loiseau, considers different styles of authorial presence in linguistics and philosophy, focusing particularly on personal pronouns in French. Ch. 5, ‘Pragmatic force in biology papers written by British and Japanese scientists’ by Akiko Okamura, analyzes types and tenses of verbs employing the pronoun we in British and Japanese scientists’ research articles in English. Ch. 6, ‘Evaluation and pragmatic markers’ by Karin Aijmer, focuses on the properties of indexicality and heteroglossia to explain the multifunctionality of pragmatic markers.

Ch. 7, ‘This seems somewhat counterintuitive, though …’ by Ute Römer, considers the ways in which book reviewers make negative evaluations, and examines systematic differences in reviews based on the gender of the reviewer. Ch. 8, ‘Is evaluation structure-bound?’ by Lorena Suárez-Tejerina, focuses on academic book reviews, considering the reviews in her corpus in toto, and approaches the question of how evaluation relates to the structure of the review. Ch. 9, ‘From corpus to register’ by Maria Freddi, deals with partial overlap between expressions of evaluation and argumentation in academic discourse. Ch. 10, ‘On the boundaries between evaluation and metadiscourse’ by Annelie Ädel, deals with the distinction between evaluation and metadiscourse. Ch. 11, ‘Language as a string of beads’ by John M. Sinclair, focuses on metadiscourse, which he considers a misleading term. Ch. 12, ‘Academic vocabulary in academic discourse’ by David Oakey, describes the application of the results of vocabulary research to a problem faced by nonnative English speaking students of economics in the UK. In Ch. 13, ‘Evaluation and its discontents’, Wolfgang Teubert completes the collection with a wide-ranging argument about the contrasts between language as a mental versus social phenomenon.

One of the strengths of Strategies in academic discourse is the number of spoken and written corpora used from discourses in agriculture, (applied) linguistics, biology, economics, literature, and philosophy. Though the quality among individual chapters varies, as a whole they successfully combine corpus linguistics, discourse and text linguistics, and genre-analytical and pragmatic frameworks to weave together a variety of studies of academic discourse into a coherent and solid collection. The book also provides insightful views and new directions in the study of not just academic but other discourses as well.

The syntax of Old Norse: With a survey of the inflectional morphology and a complete bibliography. By Jan Terje Faarlund. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pp. xvii, 300. ISBN 0199271100. $91.66 (Hb).

Reviewed by Peter Tunstall, Grantham, UK

Intended as a successor to Marius Nygaard’s Norrøn syntax of 1906, this work offers a comprehensive synchronic description of Old Norse syntax, the first in English, based on principles–and-parameters theory (PPT).

Ch. 1, ‘Introduction’ (1–6), presents some technical background and sets the scope of the study. As defined here, ‘Old Norse is another term for Medieval West Nordic’ (1), that is, the language of Norway and its colonies c. 800–1400. All examples are taken from manuscripts written in Iceland or Norway between 1200 and 1400.

Prior knowledge of PPT is not assumed, and ‘theoretical argumentation’ and ‘technical details have been kept to a minimum’ (xii). Thus, Faarlund’s rejection of oblique subjects in Old Norse receives only a brief justificatory note along with references to the debate (194–95), while the innovation of a reference phrase between the noun phrase and determiner phrase is introduced without fuss (56–57). Just over four pages of Ch. 1 are spent on the basics of X-bar theory, movement, and adjunction, with further terms explained later as they come up. This is not to say that the problems inherent in such a study are skirted over; more than once, F supplies competing interpretations, whether for want of native speakers to decide the matter (216), or because no one hypothesis has been found preferable (196–97).

Some 17 percent of the book is devoted explicitly to nonsyntactic features: Ch. 2, ‘Phonology’ (7–15), and Ch. 3, ‘Inflectional morphology’ (16–54). While these areas are covered by existing textbooks, their treatment here is particularly well structured. The main topic is addressed in Ch. 4, ‘The noun phrase’ (55–80); Ch. 5, ‘Determiner phrases’ (81–93); Ch. 6, ‘The adjective phrase’ (94–106); Ch. 7, ‘The prepositional phrase’ (107–20); Ch. 8, ‘The verb phrase’ (121–88); Ch. 9, ‘The finite sentence’ (189–243); Ch. 10, ‘Subordinate clauses’ (244–79); and Ch. 11, ‘Reflexive binding’ (280–84). A ‘Bibliography of Old Norse syntax’ (285–94), subject index (295–98), and selective word index (299–300) complete the volume.

Points are amply illustrated with data from a range of sources, including sagas, homilies, diplomas, and laws. F’s ‘standardized Old Norse orthography’ (xv) is for the most part consistent, though a few irregularities have crept in: byskup (100) : biskup (206); ón (263) : ván (162); man : mun (162); best (228) : bezt (96); dvaldist (101) : lamdisk (104), and so on.  In a few instances, an acute accent has been omitted, for example, hrið (195), or, less often, added on a short vowel: hínum (145). Otherwise, typos are rare: pví for því (157), hjlópu for hljópu (167). None of this mars the quality of the syntactic discussion. Glosses are as a rule accurate and idiomatic; I noticed only one misprint: ‘on Bolli’ (65), example 32a, should read ‘for Bolli’.

The book is clearly written and accessible to nonspecialists, in keeping with the broadness of F’s envisaged audience: ‘students and scholars working on historical Germanic linguistics, diachronic syntax, or Scandinavian languages’, and ‘philologists and others interested in Nordic languages, civilizations and history’ (xi).  It should prove a valuable resource.

Boko dictionary. By Ross Jones. (Languages of the world/dictionaries 24.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2004. Pp. vii, 313. ISBN 389586627X. $97.20.

Bokobaru dictionary. By Ross Jones. (Languages of the world/dictionaries 30.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2004. Pp. vi, 338. ISBN 3895868361. $99.60.

Busa dictionary. By Ross Jones. (Languages of the world/dictionaries 31.) Munich: LINCOM Europa, 2004. Pp. vi, 201. ISBN 389586837X. $92.40.

Reviewed by Michael Cahill, SIL International

These dictionaries are of a cluster of three related Eastern Mande languages, spoken mainly in Nigeria and spilling into Benin. They are a result of Jones’s decades of experience in Nigeria, and also relate to his Ph.D. dissertation on the grammar of the cluster, also published by LINCOM Europa.

The three dictionaries are almost identical in their layout, with about 6,000 entries each, though no pictures. An introduction gives a brief sketch of the grammar, including a helpful sketch of grammatical tone and the complex pronoun system, in which the form depends on case-like functions and verb aspect. In the main section, J lists a word (given by orthographic representation of the root), its part of speech, phonetic representation (including tone), a one- or two-word definition in English, and usually an illustrative sentence (except for the Busa dictionary) with an English free translation. Subentries, including many phrases using the main entry, are listed in indented separate lines. Homonyms or radically different senses of the stem are listed as separate entries with subscripts, for example, na₁, na₂, na₃. Variant pronunciations or synonyms are sometimes given. He also includes a ‘Finderlist’ in each dictionary, with English words and their respective Boko, Bokobaru, or Busa equivalents.

The Busa dictionary is significantly smaller than the others because it has no illustrative sentences as the others do. The number of entries and subentries, however, is comparable. For example, under the letter ‘f’, Busa has 91 entries while Boko has 99. Busa has 109 subentries, while Boko has 130.

Orthography is mostly phonemic. Digraphs in these languages include <gb> and <kp>, representing the doubly articulated stops. Some dictionaries separate these alphabetically from <g> and <k>, since they are separate phonemes, while others list them in the midst of the <g> and <k> entries. J does the latter. Other digraphs are <kw>, <ky>, <gw>, <gy>, <sw>, and <zw>, which may be single phonemes or sequences, but also are listed in the midst of <k>, <g>, <s>, and <z>. By contrast, nasalized vowels are listed separately from oral vowels, presumably because they are not digraphs.

The back covers of all of the dictionaries tell us that comparison of the dictionaries ‘illustrates consonant weakening, elision, and significant changes in the tone system’. I would also add semantic shift to this list. The dictionaries are a rich source of data for demonstrating historical change of all of these types, and the forms and glosses are close enough so that recognition of cognates is not generally a problem. For example, ‘offence’ in Busa and Bokobaru is [tààrí] but is [tààé] in Boko. ‘Snot’ in Boko is mid-toned [kyã], but the corresponding low-toned [kyã̀] in Busa and [kyã̀ ~ kñã̀] in Bokobaru mean ‘catarrh,’ while ‘snot’ is now expressed by a longer word: [kyã̀kòkŋ́] and [kñã̀kòkŋ́], respectively. Interestingly, to ‘blow nose’ is kyã̀ pε in all three languages (though with mid tone in Boko).

The heart of a dictionary is the definitions. In these works, J mostly supplies one-word glosses, as is common for bilingual dictionaries, quite handy for quick reference and crosslinguistic comparisons, but of less value in understanding the pragmatic uses and semantic shades of a word. For example, he lists four words for ‘courage’ in the ‘English-Boko Finderlist’. When one looks them up in the main Boko section, they are all given the definition ‘courage’. The example sentences give some insight into their uses, but are of little help in telling when to use which term (as if a non-English speaker tried to compliment someone by saying ‘What an abnormal child you have!’ rather than saying ‘remarkable’). Sample sentences are generally the only clue to more in-depth semantics and pragmatics, and they vary in their usefulness.

I suspect the one-word definitions may be culturally misleading as well in some cases, for example, ãbaao ‘reporter’. A native English speaker reading this thinks of either television, some print medium, or a person who makes a living from his reporting. Could ãbaao be rather a ‘town crier’ type of person, who announces news in the community in a strictly oral mode?

An interesting feature of the dictionaries is the etymologies given for many of the words. Some are obviously from French or English, but the picture is murkier when it comes to words that have their ultimate origin in Arabic. He lists many of them as coming via the neighboring Dendi, and gives the corresponding Dendi form. Hausa, however, is also an influence in the area, and this raises questions—for example, did Boko ãnabi ‘prophet’ (Bokobaru/Busa annabi) come from Dendi annabi or Hausa annabi? J says it is from Dendi, which historically had a huge impact, but Hausa is also currently influential. Languages of northern Ghana such as Dagbani and Konni, two countries away, also use anabi, under Hausa influence. A sketch of the past and current sociolinguistic situation of the area would have been illuminating. It seems likely that many of the etymologies are hypotheses subject to systematic confirmation.

The parts of speech sometimes cannot be justified syntactically, and one wonders if these were written with the linguistically naïve English speaker in mind rather than the linguist. The main culprits are what in English would be adjectives that are expressed as verbs in many African languages. ‘Big’ [gbεnε] is listed as both ‘predicate adjective’ and in another context, ‘attributive adjective’. From the example sentences, it appears to be simply an intransitive verb.

At approximately $100 each, these are quite expensive, especially for paperbacks. This is a pity, because despite a few shortcomings, these are quite good volumes and deserve wider distribution than the price will allow. Besides institutional libraries, I would imagine the potential buyers would be limited to linguists with a very specific interest in the area, and expatriates who are assigned to work among one of those language groups. For these groups, though, the dictionaries are a wonderful source of well-organized information and will be quite valuable.