Femina (Trinity College, Cambridge MS B.14.40) by William Rothwell

Abstract

MLR, 102. I, 2007 227 which come about without deliberate intervention (see Chapters I-4), and changes where there is intervention, i.e. deliberate attempts to influence the formor status of a linguistic variety (see Chapters 5-7). Marn C. Jones is a French specialist, with a par ticular interest inChannel Islands French, onwhich she isprobably now the foremost academic authority,and has also published a researchmonograph on language contact in Wales, while Ishtla Singh is anAnglicist whose research has focused on English based creoles. They also look insightfullyat awide range of other linguistic fields. Each chapter consists of a general discussion illustrated by case studies. Chapters I and 2, 'InternallyMotivated Changes' and 'ExternallyMotivated Changes', assess the contribution to the topic of language change made by different schools. Chapter 3, 'Language Birth', is illustrated by such contrasting case studies as 'Proto-Indo European, Proto-Germanic and (Old) English', Tok Pisin (a New Guinea pidgin), and Scots. Chapter 4, 'Language Death', also deals with thehitherto overlooked topic of 'dialect death'; thedeath of a language comes as theend of a period ofobsolescence (atwhich stage theprocess may be reversed by revitalization, as discussed inChapter 5); the socio-political and linguistic aspects of obsolescence are illustrated by case stu dies ofEast Sutherland Gaelic and Pennsylvania German; dialect death isexamined in the context of language standardization, with case studies of French andWelsh. The second part of the book makes an important distinction betweeen revitaliza tion,which is designed to strengthen the position of languages that in one way or another are (or are perceived as being) under threat, and revival, the attempt to 're vive' a language thathas ceased tobe used as a spokenmedium. Chapter 5, 'Language Planning and Revitalisation', is illustrated by three highly contrasting case studies: in theUSA, the perceived threat to the position of English has led tomoves tohave English adopted as the official language; in Jersey, the aim is tomake Jerriais (the perhaps moribund local Norman French dialect) 'an attractive and "useful" resource formodern users' (p. I09); and in the Seychelles, measures to enhance the pres tige, codification, and range of usage of the local creole, Seselwa, are being officially adopted and implemented. Chapter 6, 'Language Revival', is largelydevoted to a case study ofCornish which explores the theoretical problems that arise in theprocess of revival and provides an admirably balanced assessment of the half-dozen different (and sometimes mutually antagonistic) schools of thought advocating 'revived' forms of the language. A finalchapter on 'Language Invention' examines the reasons forthe success, or the lack thereof,of invented languages. There are informative treatments of Esperanto and Volapiik but more space is devoted to an unsuccessful feminist language, Laadan, than to any of the other twenty case studies in the book except Cornish. If,as itfullydeserves, thebook goes into a second edition, theauthors could perhaps consider replacing this section with one or more additional case studies. These might include the adaptation of Latin over many centuries for the treatment of subjects unknown to theRomans (such as the contraceptive pill and global warm ing), and 'Rumantsch Grischun', an overarching officialwritten form drawing on the differentRomansh dialects of Switzerland but not intended to serve as a spoken medium. This is an erudite and user-friendly volume which presents awealth of new data. It is likely tobe widely welcomed. UNIVERSITY OF WALES ABERYSTWYTH GLANVILLE PRICE Femina (Trinity College, Cambridge MS B.I4.40). Ed. by WILLIAM ROTHWELL. Aberystwyth and Swansea: The Anglo-Norman Online Hub. 2005. xii+ iI8 pp.; (http://www.anglo-norman.net/texts/femina.pdf). Not on general sale. ISBN 978-O-9552124-0-6. This new edition of the single copy of the early fifteenth-centuryFemina is one of a number of freelyavailable online publications emerging from theproject atwhose 228 Reviews centre lies thepreparation of a revised version of theAnglo-Norman Dictionary. The edition ispresently available inPDF, but a searchable XML-derived version was due in 2006. Written inAnglo-French with aMiddle English translation, and comple mented by rubrics in Latin and footnotes indicating the pronunciation of French terms, the text consists principally of an abridged copy of one of themanuscripts of Bibbesworth's Tretiz, followed by extracts fromUrbain leCourtois and Bozon's Proverbes de...