Reviewed by Picus S. Ding, Macao Polytechnic Institute

In this second and revised edition, Natsuko Tsujimura presents a well-versed introduction to Japanese linguistics. The textbook is composed of eight chapters (each with suggested readings and exercises of varying lengths at the end), a bibliography, and an index. Ch. 1 (1–4) is a brief introduction. Ch. 2 (5–19) compares the sounds of English, when applicable, to the sounds of Japanese. Ch. 3 (20–113), which discusses the phonological rules of Japanese, introduces crucial concepts such as mora, accentuation, and mimetics.

Ch. 4 (114–205) is dedicated to Japanese morphology, addressing parts of speech, word formation (particularly compounding), transitive-intransitive verb pairs, and deverbal nouns. Ch. 5 (206–339) focuses on the syntax of Japanese, dealing with the scrambling phenomenon, null anaphora, reflexives, the notion of subject, passives, causatives, relative clauses, unaccusativity, and the light verb construction. Ch. 6 (340–421), which mainly concerns semantics, discusses word and sentence meaning as well as tense and aspect in Japanese. This chapter also covers the semantic classes of verbs and pragmatic issues such as the different information status signaled by the particles wa and ga.

Ch. 7 (422–43) explores Japanese language variation in terms of geographic region, level of speech, and gender. Ch. 8 (444–76) looks at how children acquire Japanese. T explores the acquisition of mora, lexicalization patterns with mimetics, morphological rules, and varied forms of styles and levels of speech.

This volume provides an eye-opening introduction to Japanese linguistics as well as to the Japanese language. It reflects the influence of English linguistic analysis on Japanese linguistics. However, there are a few points that should be clarified further in the textbook. While the concept of a bimoraic foot can satisfactorily account for accentuation on compounds, it is unclear which of the two morae on the penultimate foot would bear the accent. Dialectal comparison shows that hasi can bear three accentuation patterns in Kyoto Japanese (e.g. low-high [LH] for ‘chopsticks’, HL for ‘bridge’, and HH for ‘edge’), whereas only two patterns occur in these words in Tokyo Japanese (e.g. HL for ‘chopsticks’ and LH for both ‘bridge’ and ‘edge’; 426). However, if we consider that the surface accentuation pattern in Japanese is derived from underlying suprasegmental categories (Ding 2006), the number of lexical contrasts for these three words will be maintained across the two dialects.

Furthermore, Kitagawa (1980) has pointed out the problem of using reflexivization to diagnose subjecthood in Japanese—namely, that coreference between the subject and the reflexive word zibun does not always hold (329). The use of subject honorification for this purpose is also questionable, unless the particular honorification could equally apply to the subject of passive sentences. It seems that other grammatical criteria should be sought to establish a clearly defined subject in Japanese.

References

DING, PICUS SIZHI. 2006. A typological study of tonal systems of Japanese and Prinmi. Journal of Universal Language 7.1–35.

Kitagawa, Chisato. 1980. Review of Problems in Japanese syntax and semantics, ed. by John Hinds and Irwin Howard. Tokyo: Kaitakusha, 1978. Language 56.435–40.

Reviewed by Olga Thomason, University of Georgia

This volume, Halla-aho’s published dissertation, discusses the probability of an Auslautgesetz in Proto-Slavic (a law of final syllables that narrowed the Proto-Indo-European vowel */o/ to */u/ in closed word-final syllables). The investigation includes an introduction (9–23) and three chapters: Ch. 1 (24–110) gives an exhaustive synchronic overview of the nominal morphology in Old Church Slavic (OCS); Ch. 2 (111–92), the central part of the study, defends the Auslautgesetz hypothesis; and Ch. 3 (193–215) focuses on the dative singular endings in OCS. Each chapter concludes with references, which leads to unnecessary repetitions of several cited publications. The appendix (216–89) lists words that offer additional evidence for the material discussed in Ch. 1.

The exhaustive classification of the OCS nominal morphology given in Ch. 1 provides solid grounds for the central discussion of the study and proves to be useful for both experts and nonspecialists in the field of OCS. H also briefly discusses grammatical categories (i.e. gender, case, and number) that are essential for understanding the nature of OCS nominal morphology. A description of each declensional class is enriched with numerous links to corresponding derivational types in other IE languages, thus presenting a holistic picture of morphological and phonological processes that occur in the OCS nominal system (and broader in the IE nominal system). Each derivational and inflectional suffix is analyzed in great detail. OCS examples are often cited together with their cognates and some diachronic characteristics. The discussion would benefit greatly from the inclusion of entries from the multi-volume dictionary under the supervision of O. N. Trubachev (Etimologicheskij slovar’ slavjanskix jazykov, 1974–2001); it sheds more light on problematic etymologies of grěxъ (64), mlěko (72), lěto (74), and many other words discussed in this study. It also challenges the treatment of words like lice (72) as borrowings.

There are some unfortunate minor inconsistencies in the representation of morphological processes. It is not clear why the author chooses bьrati and not sъbьrati as a derivational basis for sъborъ (69; see also pp. 62 and 63 for additional examples). Several words are treated as deverbatives when they are truly denominatives (e.g. lъžesъvĕdĕtelь appears as a result of the compounding of lъžь and sъvĕdĕtelь and is not derived from sъvĕdĕti (30; see also pp. 49 and 77 for similar errors).

In Ch. 2 H defends the ‘strong’ variant of the Auslautgesetze theory that states */-os/, */-oN/ > */-u/ in Proto-Slavic. The author clearly outlines all of the language material relevant to this theory, provides a well-constructed summary and analysis of many linguists’ positions on the subject, and unambiguously states his perception of every argument of the theory. By means of deep concentration on the exceptions to the Auslautgesetze theory and suggestions of the anti-Auslautgesetze theory, H explores the nature and developments of the IE grammatical gender and proposes the Auslautgesetze as a necessary factor that insured the preserved distinction between masculine and neuter in Slavic.

Ch. 3 proposes a new solution for the */o/-stem dative singular ending -u by suggesting that this ending was adopted from the */u/-stem declension. H investigates and compares structural rearrangements that could have taken place in the */i/- and */u/-declensions. Special attention is given to the relationship between phonetic developments and morphological distinctions during the conversion of a synthetic language into an analytic one.  H also takes into consideration semantic factors (animate/inanimate).

This volume presents a scrupulous investigation of Proto-Slavic nominal morphology and a well-reasoned support of the Auslautgesetze theory. Thorough classification of the OCS nominal inflectional morphology, discussed in Ch. 1, could be used as a valuable supplement for OCS courses. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in nominal inflectional morphology or nominal etymology.

Reviewed by Picus S. Ding, Macao Polytechnic Institute

In this revised and augmented edition, Derek Offord and Natalia Gogolitsyna provide an up-to-date guide to the contemporary usage of Russian. Consisting of twelve chapters, the book is intended for students of elementary Russian. Preceding the chapters, a ten-page glossary of linguistic terms introduces some relevant linguistic concepts.

Ch. 1 (1–31) introduces the extensive range of Russian registers and dialects. Ch. 2 (32–72) illustrates these registers and dialects with real life examples from the mass media, cyberspace, political writing, and literary prose. Ch. 3 (73–97) deals with homonyms, homoforms, homographs, paronyms, and faux amis. Ch. 4 (98–162) explores some common problems that occur in translating English into Russian, such as the verb to be, modal auxiliary verbs, and transitivity.

Ch. 5 (163–202) investigates vocabulary and idioms in Russian, including neologisms, modal particles, interjections, vulgar language, proverbs, and sayings. Ch. 6 (203–27), which describes the use of Russian in everyday life, covers measurement, currency, numerals, time, telephone numbers, postal addresses, family relationships, acronyms and alphabetisms, and jokes and puns. Ch. 7 (228–51) moves on to verbal etiquette in a variety of situations, such as attracting attention, introductions, greetings, farewells, congratulations, wishing, gratitude, apologizing, requests, invitations, reassurance and condolence, compliments, telephone conversations, and letter writing.

Ch. 8 (252–87), which discusses word formation in Russian, focuses on affixes on nouns, verbs, and adjectives as well as compounding. Ch. 9 (288–332) addresses Russian inflection, which ranges from the declension of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and numerals to the system of verb conjugation and the formation of gerunds and participles. Ch. 10 (333–76) studies prepositions in terms of valency as well as verbal phrases that consist of verbs and prepositions. Ch. 11 (377–432), which is devoted to the syntax of Russian, covers the case system, the use of pronouns, short adjectives, and numerals as well as a variety of verbal forms, conjunctions, punctuation, and capital letters. Ch. 12 (433–54) focuses on the placement of stress in adjectives, different classes of nouns, and various forms of verbs. Two indices are also included: one for Russian words, phrases, and affixes (455–86) and another for general terms (487–93).

As a reference guide to the usage of contemporary Russian, this book provides an extremely detailed and useful description of the language. This book will be particularly valuable in enhancing the pragmatic competence of students of Russian, since some pragmatic and sociolinguistic aspects of the language, such as style, register, and obscene language, are not likely to be delivered thoroughly in the classroom. However, in addition to the discussion of stress, the inclusion of a discussion of intonation would also be beneficial: something the authors may like to consider for a future edition.

Reviewed by Mary Sepp, City University of New York, BMCC

This is a much-needed ‘how-to’ book for aspiring linguists. Monica Macaulay provides answers to many of the questions that are posed by graduate students in linguistics, and to some extent, by graduate students in general. The approach is thoughtful and practical, and largely achieves its purpose (xi) of uncovering the mystery of how to succeed in linguistics. The content is fairly comprehensive, assuming a target audience interested in academic careers. In addition to the more obvious practical concerns, M touches upon some of the psychological issues that affect graduate students.

The book is divided into nine chapters covering most of the important and relevant topics for graduate students (e.g. funding, writing, job hunting). Ch. 1 is a guide to getting acquainted with graduate school. M points out some of the built-in resources of a graduate program—faculty advisors and other students. Such resources are important in a number of situations. For example, students may be afflicted with the ‘impostor syndrome’ (6–7) and convinced they cannot compete with the seemingly superior intellects of their peers. The fear that their supposed incompetence will be discovered may cause these students to give up. Thus, according to M, it is important for students to talk to each other, as well as to department faculty, in order to alleviate what are most probably unfounded insecurities. This discussion is covered in just under a page; however, it is one of the more insightful sections in the volume as it identifies what can be a serious problem for many graduate students.

The book as a whole focuses on the topic of writing, including why and how to write as a linguist, how to get feedback, and how to get published. Ch. 2 enumerates the types of writing that linguists do. In Ch. 3, M offers suggestions on the often agonizing chore of finding a topic. There is also a constructive account of how to structure an argument. Ch. 4 deals specifically with writing a linguistics paper. An outline of its conventional structure is presented, along with specifics on critical elements such as how to choose and format examples. Ch. 5 addresses problems that arise in the actual writing process. Here M stresses the value of effective time management and suggests ways to get the process going and actually completed. Ch. 6 covers the topic of conferences and includes tips on writing abstracts, preparing handouts, and presenting a paper. Conference papers and other publishing opportunities are discussed in Ch. 7. In addition, M underscores the importance of getting work published, advice which should not be taken lightly. Ch. 8 is about the graduate student’s ultimate challenge: the dissertation. Again, the emphasis is on time management and staying focused on the task at hand. Finally, the last chapter concerns the end goal of the graduate experience, that is, getting a job. The tips on writing a CV and interviewing are quite helpful, though they are particularly geared toward academic jobs.

This volume should be required reading for first year students, perhaps incorporated into an introduction to linguistics or a research methods course. It has great informational value and also includes exercises at the end of each chapter, making it suitable for classroom use.

Reviewed by Picus S. Ding, Macao Polytechnic Institute

This volume is a collection of papers presented at a workshop held in 1998. In Ch. 1 (1–26), Alexandra Aikhenvald and R. M. W. Dixon provide a thorough introduction to the issues of areal diffusion and genetic inheritance.

In Ch. 2 (27–43), Peter Bellwood investigates the ‘Archaeology and the historical determinants of punctuation in language-family origins’. Calvert Watkins discusses areal diffusion in ‘An Indo-European linguistic area and its characteristics: Ancient Anatolia’ in Ch. 3 (44–63). This area is later revisited in Geoffrey Haig’s study of modern pan-Anatolian structural parallels, ‘Linguistic diffusion in present-day East Anatolia: From top to bottom’ (Ch. 8, 195–224).

Chs. 4–7 focus on languages of the southern hemisphere. R. M. W. Dixon discusses ‘The Australian linguistic area’ (Ch. 4, 64–104), while Alan Dench investigates Western Australia in ‘Descent and diffusion: The complexity of the Pilbara situation’ (Ch. 5, 105–33). In ‘Contact-induced change in Oceanic languages in North-West Melanesia’, Malcolm Ross concentrates on Takia (Ch. 6, 134–66), and in ‘Areal diffusion, genetic inheritance, and problems of subgrouping: A North Arawak case study’ Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald addresses problems of subgrouping in the languages of the Amazon (Ch. 7, 167–94).

Chs. 9–12 investigate languages of the Far East. Randy LaPolla explores ‘The role of migration and language contact in the development of the Sino-Tibetan language family’ (Ch. 9, 225–54). N. J. Enfield pursues a case study ‘On genetic and areal linguistics in mainland South-East Asia: Parallel polyfunctionality of “acquire’’’ (Ch. 10, 255–90). James Matisoff deals with ‘Genetic versus contact relationship: Prosodic diffusibility in South-East Asian languages’ (Ch. 11, 291–327), and Hilary Chappell describes ‘Language contact and areal diffusion in Sinitic languages’ (Ch. 12, 328–57). Several problems can be found in these chapters. Contrary to Enfield’s description (275), the Cantonese morpheme dak ‘acquire’ can take a temporal adverbial complement (e.g. mai dak loeng jat zau laan-zo ‘bought for two days [and] then broke down’) but cannot take an extent complement (e.g. *siu dak gin ngaa m-gin ngaan ‘laugh to the extent that [one can] see the teeth but not the eyes’), which differs from its corresponding functions in Modern Standard Chinese. Additionally, Chappell’s hybridization of two relative clause structures in Cantonese (342), both in the formula and in the example, should have the word order of Relative Clause + GENITIVE + DETERMINER + CLASSIFIER + HEAD NOUN PHRASE. Finally, alignment problems are found with LaPolla’s examples (235).

The next two chapters are devoted to languages in Africa. Gerrit Dimmendaal approaches the problems of ‘Areal diffusion versus genetic inheritance’ from an African perspective (Ch. 13, 358–92), and Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva discuss ‘Convergence and divergence in the development of African languages’ (Ch. 14, 393–411). Finally, Timothy Curnow concludes the volume by asking ‘What language features can be “borrowed”?’ (Ch. 15, 412–36).

Although the contributors have raised several thought-provoking questions, few solutions are advanced. This reflects the field’s insufficient understanding of the evolution of languages and the difficulty of reconstructing the basic linguistic picture of a prehistoric language family.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Pyatt, Penn State

One of themes of the minimalist syntax theory has been to tie variations in word order across languages to different inflectional and agreement features that can be set as either ‘strong’ or ‘weak’. Exploring the structure of a VSO language like Welsh is an ideal case study to explore different aspects of minimalism—including parameters for subject position—and this is exactly the goal of Ian Robert’s book.

R’s study is divided into five chapters. Ch. 1, ‘The analysis of VSO languages’ (7–46), reviews past linguistic analyses of VSO languages including Welsh and shows that the evidence in Welsh VSO order is the result of incomplete subject raising; that is, the verb raises to an inflectional head as in many SVO languages, but the subject raises only to some lower specifier position. In Ch. 2, ‘Case agreement and mutation’ (47–85), R discusses variations of subject agreement in Welsh and the ‘direct object mutation’ and makes various proposals on how agreement features are realized. The analyses proposed here crucially rely on assumptions of mutation and subject agreement that data may not be agreed upon by all Welsh linguists. Thus, this chapter could be considered controversial.

Ch. 3, ‘Genitive case, word order in DP and objects of non-finite verbs’ (87–118), focuses on the structure of Welsh DPs (including Welsh N to Q raising) and on nonfinite clauses. R argues that Welsh verbal nouns, although not true nouns, demonstrate some nominal properties and should be classified as participles. Ch. 4, ‘The C-system and the extended projection principle,’ examines focus movement in Welsh and V2 sentence structure in Middle Welsh and Breton, a sister language of Welsh. Finally, in Ch. 5, ‘Head-movement and EPP-features,’ R discusses theoretical implications for the extended projection principle and effects observed in Welsh and Breton as well as selected Northern Italian dialects and English.

Reviewed by Ioana-Rucsandra Dascalu, University of Craiova, Romania

Forensic linguistics is situated somewhere between law and linguistics. Specialists understand just how important the study of speech and discourse evidence is to establishing legal truth and justice. Roger W. Shuy’s Linguistics in the courtroom: A practical guide is the perfect tool for those who want to work in the legal system as consulting staff. S details how to treat attorneys, how to write reports and affidavits, and how to participate in depositions.

S’s method applies the linguistic domains of morphology, syntax, and pragmatics to the analysis of dialect variations and intention. Understanding speech acts is important for accounts of offering, denying, accepting, and apologizing, whereas discourse analysis and lexicography are essential for confirming dictionary definitions used at trials. Although most civil and criminal cases end before going to trial because of negotiated plea agreements, dismissal of charges, or agreements by both parties, many cases require the evaluation of audio or video tape recordings, government-made transcripts, indictments, written reports of witnesses, and even police interviews (51). Linguists are often hired in the United States and in the United Kingdom to analyze these documents.

In universities, forensic linguistics is commonly associated with programs in criminology, business, psychology, sociology, and law: fields that prepare experts in the areas of linguistics and law.

Overall, this volume is an excellent work that will be useful for experts involved in legal activities.

Reviewed by Iulia Pittman, Auburn University

What was supposed to be volume 2 of Passport to the world: Learning to communicate in a foreign language—a book written for students with no foreign language learning experience—became an independent project for a different audience with greater challenges. Achieving success in second language acquisition is a thorough guide through the complexities of foreign language learning that offers numerous effective strategies that help the learner overcome the hurdles language learning poses. This book, written in clear and accessible prose, is aimed at teachers and students of a foreign language, teachers of foreign language pedagogy, and independent learners of a foreign language.

The book is divided into three parts and each part contains several chapters that explore various interrelated topics. Each chapter contains a ‘Preview’, a ‘Review’, and exercises that help the reader process the concepts presented. The text is interspersed with case studies that present real-life situations and solutions to them. The three parts are followed by an epilogue with further remarks and suggestions on how to become highly proficient in a foreign language.

In Part 1, ‘Learning’ (Chs. 1–5), Leaver, Ehrman, and Shekhtman provide insight into the specifics of foreign language learning and equip the reader with tools applicable to learning in general. Ch. 1 (3–37) challenges the reader to think about the purpose and duration of studying a foreign language and offers suggestions on how to become a life-long learner. Ch. 2 (38–64) presents the roles cognition, memory, aptitude, and metacognition play in foreign language learning. Ch. 3 (65–91) is a detailed overview of learning styles and learning strategies. Ch. 4 (92–130) introduces the affective variables in foreign language learning, including anxiety, motivation, defense mechanisms, and personality. Ch. 5 (131–46) outlines the array of relationships typical to the foreign language learning experience.

Part 2, ‘Language’ (Chs. 6–8), starts with Ch. 6 (147–71), a chapter that addresses linguistic structures including phonology, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary-building strategies. In Ch. 7 (172–82) and Ch. 8 (183–200), the authors unveil the complexities and subtleties of sociolinguistic competence and cultural understanding by addressing issues such as register, turn-taking, and nonverbal means of communication.

Part 3, ‘Independence’ (Chs. 9–10), looks at learner autonomy and common situations outside the classroom. Ch. 9 (201–14) discusses the role of the learner in the learning process and empowers the learner with several self-regulation skills. Finally, Ch. 10 (215–33) includes suggestions for managing written and oral communication.

Despite some minor editorial issues, this book is very informative and well structured. It can certainly be of great use and interest to students and teachers alike. The difficult task of successfully learning a foreign language is laid out clearly, thus increasing students’ language-learning efficiency. Furthermore, although primarily a review for most teachers, this book invites teachers to be more reflective about their methodologies and to adjust their teaching to maximize the amount of learning.

Reviewed by Roberta D’Alessandro, University of Cambridge

This volume is a selection of papers from the Georgetown University round table on languages and linguistics that took place March 26–29, 2004. The chapters are grouped into three main parts: ‘Causal architecture’, ‘Negation’, and ‘Tense and aspect’. Following the introduction, in ‘Three benchmarks for distributional approaches to natural language syntax’, Colin Philips argues that computational models of language will only be successful if integrated with the knowledge provided by linguistic theory.

Part 1, ‘Clausal architecture’ focuses on the left periphery, following Rizzi’s (1997) seminal work. Liliane Haegeman’s ‘Argument fronting in English, Romance CLLD, and the left periphery’ provides a detailed analysis of topicalization in English. Haegeman argues that the notion of speaker is crucial for English topicalization, which targets a high projection and is restricted to those sentences with a full complementizer phrase (CP), as opposed to topicalization in Romance languages or Greek. In ‘A detailed map of the left periphery of Medieval Romance’ Paola Benincà analyzes the clause structure of several Old Romance varieties and proposes the existence of an abstract Medieval Romance, which involves more movement to the CP than the modern varieties. James McCloskey’s ‘Questions and questioning in a local English’ offers a detailed analysis of subject/auxiliary inversion in Standard and Irish English. Next, Lisa deMena Travis, ‘VP-, D˚-movement languages’, compares verb and determiner phrase movement in Malagasy, Malay, Breton, Irish, and Zapotec.

Part 2, ‘Negation’, includes three chapters on the syntax and semantics of negation. In ‘Parasitism, secondary triggering, and depth of embedding’, Marcel den Dikken provides and analysis of polarity items (PIs) based on observations of the Dutch PI heel ‘whole’. ‘Light negation and polarity’ by Bernhard Schwarz and Rajesh Bhatt, offers an interesting overview of rescuing positive PIs under negation. Finally, Henriëtte de Swart’s ‘Marking and interpretation of negation: A bidirectional optimality theory approach’ analyzes negative indefinites.

Part 3, ‘Tense and aspect’, opens with Alice ter Meulen’s ‘Cohesion in temporal context: Aspectual adverbs as dynamic indexicals’, which discusses the role of aspectual elements in dynamic semantics. Specifically, she addresses the contrast between the present and the past in asserting presupposed information. In ‘Tense, adverbials, and quantification’, Toshiyuki Ogihara, adopting Bäuerle and von Stechow’s (1980) approach, studies the interaction of tense and quantified temporal prepositional phrases. Ogihara argues that, although adverbials play a direct role in determining anteriority, tense plays only an indirect role.

This book offers cutting edge research on syntax and semantics and is extremely well-conceived and well-edited, a pleasure to read.

References

Bäuerle, Rainer, and Arnim von Stechow. 1980. Finite and non-finite temporal constructions in German. Time, tense, and quantifiers, ed. by Christian Rohrer, 375–421. Tübingen: Niemeyer.

Rizzi, Luigi. 1997. The fine structure of the left periphery. Elements of grammar: A handbook of generative syntax, ed. by Liliane Haegeman, 281–337. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Reviewed by Bojana Petrić, Eötvös Loránd University

In this inspiring book, Aneta Pavlenko argues against the monolingual bias in linguistics, which ‘privilege[s] the knowledge and competencies of the linguistic minority [i.e. monolinguals]’ (5), and aims to offer instead ‘a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of bi- and multilingualism on the example of one field—language and emotions’ (3).

The first two chapters provide a foundation for the rest of the book as they offer an overview of major concepts and findings from research into bi- and multilingualism (Ch. 1, 1–21) and the relationship between emotions and multilingualism (Ch. 2, 22–43). P points to blind spots and their consequences in the two fields: on the one hand, the lack of bi- or multilingual perspectives in crosslinguistic research on emotions has led to validity and reliability problems since researchers’ and informants’ linguistic histories, and their impact on data collection and interpretation have rarely been taken into account or reported (Ch. 1). On the other hand, emotions—reduced to constructs such as attitudes or anxiety—have been understood too narrowly in the study of bilingualism and second language acquisition (Ch. 2).

Chs. 3, 4, and 5 explore the languages of emotions, focusing on vocal, semantic, and discourse levels respectively. Here P thoroughly reviews an impressive number of studies from a range of fields on similarities and differences between the ways emotions are expressed and interpreted in different languages through vocal cues (Ch. 3, 44–76), semantic concepts and terms (Ch. 4, 77–111), and features of discourse (Ch. 5, 112–50). She points to the scarcity of studies on bi- and multilinguals and shows how research focusing on their vocal cues, emotion lexicons, and discursive strategies for expressing emotions in their respective languages can contribute to both studies of multilingualism and language emotionality.

Chs. 6 and 7 discuss the relationship between languages and emotions from two angles: Ch. 6 (151–91) focuses on the neurophysiological level, while Ch. 7 (192–226) explores social cognition. Drawing on psycholinguistic, neurolinguistic, and psychoanalytic sources, P develops a theory of language embodiment to explain why bilinguals perceive their emotional selves as different in their different languages (Ch. 6). The theory posits that bi- and multilinguals’ languages are embodied and physically experienced to different degrees depending on the context of acquisition and extent to which socialization and affective language conditioning occurred in their respective languages. Ch. 7 turns to wider social, ideological, historical, and political factors in exploring the role of emotions in bi- and multilinguals’ linguistic decision-making, highlighting the relationship between emotions, languages, and identities.

In Ch. 8 (227–45) P develops an integrated perspective on emotions and multilingualism and discusses numerous avenues for future research involving bi- and multilingual participants. The book finishes with recommendations for procedures for data collection, reporting, and analysis in research on emotions and multilingualism.

Drawing on a wide range of sources from linguistics, psychology, anthropology, neurolinguistics, and other fields, and using examples from her own experience as a multilingual and cases of famous translingual writers, P has written an exceptional scholarly work, which will be of interest to researchers from different fields. Her critical observations about shortcomings of various strands of research and taken-for-granted research procedures make the book an intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking read. The book is also highly enjoyable as P skilfully weaves together detailed analysis, insightful synthesis, poignant personal account, narrative vignettes, quotes from memoirs, and anecdotes to engage the reader not only intellectually but also—in accordance with the topic—emotionally as well.