A Companion to Gottfried von Strassburg's 'Tristan' by Will Hasty (review)

Abstract

MLR, 99.3, 2004 823 Die Mundart von Bosco Gurin: Eine synchronischeund diachronische Untersuchung. By Charles V. J.Russ. (Zeitschriftfiir Dialektologie und Linguistik, suppl. 120) Stuttgart: Franz Steiner. 2002. 213 pp. ?44. ISBN 3-515-08133-x (pbk). The Swiss village of Bosco Gurin is a small German-language island in the Italianspeaking canton of Ticino. It was settled in 1253 by speakers of the Walser group of dialects from what is now the canton of Wallis. The population of Bosco Gurin is triglossic, with the archaic Gurinerdeutsch dialect as its mother tongue; Standard German and Italian dialect are understood and used as required in individual speech situations. Charles Russ has witnessed the decline of the Gurin dialect since he first started to collect linguistic material in 1978 and has now provided his fellow dialec? tologists with this comprehensive linguistic analysis of Gurinerdeutsch (Gurinish). The book consists chiefly of linguistic description, with approximately half of this dedicated to a detailed synchronic and diachronie analysis ofthe dialect's complex and fascinating phonological inventory. Russ has chosen a 'phonetic-phonemic' model to facilitate comparison with other Swiss German dialects. The remainder ofthe linguis? tic description deals with grammatical and lexicographical features. The account of grammatical features in Chapter 6 concentrates chieflyon noun and verb morphology; word formation is covered within the chapter on lexis (Chapter 7). If I had one request to make of the author, it would be for an expansion of Chapter 6 to include more in? formation on syntax. The documentation of the Gurinish lexis in Chapter 8 is one of the major strengths ofthe book. The description of some especially interesting lexical features, such as the six diminutive suffixes(-tschi, -dschi, -li, -ti, -alti, -i, pp. 126-27), is very detailed. Loanwords are equally well documented, and the remainder of the chapter divides the lexis into thirty-two fields, giving copious examples of each. Historical dialectologists will be grateful for Chapter 4's detailed account of sound changes since Old High German times, and forthe comparison in Chapter 8 of Guri? nish with other Walser dialects. The dialect of Bosco Gurin shares features with two groups of dialects in the canton of Graubiinden and a number of language islands in northern Italy, as these areas were colonized by Walser during the Middle Ages. Chapter 8.2 elucidates the relevant maps of the Sprachatlas der deutschen Schweiz, edited by Rudolf Hotzenkocherle (Bern: Francke, 1975- ), and we learn that the dialects of parts of the Bernese Oberland and central Switzerland also share some characteristics with members of the Walser group. Four appendices present a selec? tion of texts, many of which are hitherto unpublished, including historical accounts of the village itself,recorded and written texts in Gurinish, and the results of a questionnaire and recorded interviews collected by Russ himself. The maps, based on the Sprachatlas, have been well adapted and beautifully reproduced. This is a skilfullypresented and important dialectological document, fillinga small but significant gap in the steadily growing inventory of descriptions of Swiss German dialects. Charles Russ is to be congratulated forthis valuable contribution to the field, which will be, as he intended, of interest to dialectologists and lay people alike. Queen Mary, University of London Felicity Rash A Companion to Gottfriedvon Strassburg's 'Tristan'. Ed. by Will Hasty. (Studies in German Literature, Linguistics, and Culture) Rochester, NY: Camden House. 2003. vi + 3i9pp. ?65; $90. ISBN 1-57113-203-1 (hbk). This latest Camden House Companion contains thirteen essays which, to quote their editor, together 'make important aspects of Gottfried's romance accessible to nonspecialists [. . .], survey some of [sie] significant areas of the scholarly discussion of 824 Reviews Tristan, and chart some of the ways in which we might expect the scholarly discussion to go in future years' (p. 15). Regrettably, the realization of these aims is patchy. Will Hasty's introduction surveys the Tristan tradition, the manuscript transmis? sion of Gottfried, and his scholarly reception. Unfortunately, basic errors of fact give the impression of an editor not fullyon top ofthe subject: the Carlisle fragment is not a manuscript of Gottfried (p. 4), but of his source Thomas; the Middle English Sir Tristrem is in verse, not prose...