BOOK NOTICES 209 Michael Lambert Mcomber's 'Phonemic pharyngealization ' (233-58) erroneously analyzes Arabic /î/ as a pharyngealized glottal stop. Arabic lain is often a voiced approximant, and some stop varieties are made by closing the epiglottis against the back wall of the pharynx. This is the reason why both [h] and [1] have been called 'epiglottal' rather than 'pharyngeal' by Peter Ladefoged and Ian Maddieson (The sounds of the world's languages, Oxford : Blackwell, 1996:168). This volume is typical of the PAL series in that only a few ofthe offerings advance the fields of Arabic dialectology and linguistics. The reader should be forewarned that it also contains numerous typographical and editorial infelicities. [Alan S. Kaye, California State University, Fullerton.] Blackfoot dictionary of stems, roots, and affixes. 2nd edn. By Donald G. Frantz and Norma Jean Russell. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 1995. Pp. xxiv, 442. The Blackfoot language of Alberta and Montana, which has a typically Algonquian structure but a highly divergent (and etymologically often opaque) lexicon, has been unusually well-served by dictionaries , with notable documentary contributions by Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden in 1862, Rev. John William Tims in 1889, and C. C. Uhlenbeck in 1930. Although it does not claim to incorporate the full resources ofits predecessors (xi), this book is probably the richest—and certainly the most accurate —Blackfoot dictionary in existence. A considerably revised and expanded version of a synonymous work first issued in 1989, it represents over three decades' work by Frantz, a generative linguist and a fluent second-language speaker of Blackfoot. His collaborator, a native speaker of Blackfoot, and more than thirty other speakers have provided material which has found its way into the dictionary. The principal dialect represented in the dictionary is that spoken by members of Blood Reserve, between Cardston and Lethbridge in Alberta, though the other forms of Blackfoot, namely Siksika and Piegan, are mutually intelligible with this (certainly Uhlenbeck's work on Southern Peigan documents a very similar form of speech). After prefatory material which explains the structure of entries and the abbreviations used, the main body ofthe work (1-270) is a Blackfoot-English dictionary in which entries are presented as whole words in blocks ofhanging paragraphs. Often third and first person singular past forms of verbs are presented in order to provide information about the structure of relevant paradigmatic forms, and a number ofsample sentences are given in the course of the dictionary. There are about 4000 entries in this section. The second part (271-436) is an EnglishBlackfoot index containing some 5000 entries to the first part. This is printed in two columns. Generally a single EngUsh word is used as a gloss or cue for a single Blackfoot form after which therelevantparadigmatic details of the Blackfoot form are provided in abbreviation. The form is then glossed more precisely in English so that one can, for example, distinguish between the four different Blackfoot words which involve the English gloss 'away'. This procedure enables the user to make the most of the contents of the dictionary by swiftly locating the right word without having to scan huge blocks of text. Both Latin binomials and English names are provided for plants and animals. An appendix (437-42) explains the Blackfoot sound system and the spelling used within the dictionary. This is an excellent and very readily usable work, made all the more helpful to Blackfoot and other users by appearing in paperback. F and R are to be congratulated on this second edition, and we may hope that a complete dictionary of Blackfoot is not too far off. [Anthony P. Grant, University of St. Andrews.] Signs of writing. By Roy Harris. London & New York: Routledge, 1995. Pp. viii, 185. Cloth $55.00. Roy Harris is one ofa small group ofBritish iconoclasts who have devoted themselves to questioning the roots of orthodox linguistic thought. In this book, he argues against the standard view within linguistics that writing is a secondary sign of spoken language. This view is usually ascribed to Saussure, but H traces it back to Aristotle. He argues instead for an 'unrestricted' theory of written communication within a general theory of semiology that will also encompass what he...
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Nov 4, 2022
Alfredo Adán Ríos 
Open Access
