Reviewed by: Beginning Creek (Mvskoke emponvkv) by Pamela Innes, Linda Alexander, and Bertha Tilkens Edward J. Vajda Beginning Creek (Mvskoke emponvkv). By Pamela Innes, Linda Alexander, and Bertha Tilkens. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004. Pp. xviii, 254. ISBN 0806135832. $29.95. This introductory course is aimed at speakers who wish to maintain and pass on their ancestral language. Each chapter begins with a straightforward explanation of the concepts covered, so even students with no formal linguistic training will find the presentation easy to follow. At the same time, the material is sophisticated enough to be of illustrative value to typologists as well. The inclusion of morpheme glosses beneath most example sentences should be particularly welcome to the serious linguist. Produced through collaboration between a professional linguist (Pamela Innes) and two native speakers (Linda Alexander and Bertha Tilkens), the text balances linguistic detail with basic cultural information about the Creek (Muskogee) and Seminole (Miccosukee) peoples who traditionally spoke closely related dialects of the same language. Two CDs reproduce much of the vocabulary and exercises found at the end of each of the book’s eleven chapters. Along with samplings of ceremonial songs, speeches, and stories, the recordings provide valuable examples of native pronunciation and help render the book usable for self-study. All examples appear in the Latin-based alphabet used to write Modern Creek. This orthography is explained in the introductory chapter and further exemplified in the audio recordings. Because the standard writing system does not indicate the language’s complex system of prosodic tones, the CDs are especially crucial for conveying the basic phonology. The book’s remaining ten chapters cover form-class derivation, the expression of basic grammatical relations, and the intricacies of finite verb morphology. The sequential presentation of information on verb structure—by far the language’s most challenging facet, alongside the tonal pronunciation—is especially successful pedagogically. Students gain a thorough overview of the verb’s complex polypersonal stative-active system of affixes, as well as of its system of internally expressed tenses and aspects. [End Page 951] Chapters also deal with negative and interrogative affixes in the verb complex, as well as with the expression of subject and direct object noun phrases in both their definite and indefinite forms. Perhaps the book’s chief omission is the lack of any systematic description of adpositions and oblique nominal functions of various sorts. Each chapter is styled as a sort of lesson that concludes with a vocabulary list, a series of drills or exercises, and a brief excursus into some aspect of traditional society or culture. There is also a suggested reading section that points the student to additional sources on the grammatical and cultural topics covered in the given chapter. The book ends with a general bibliography, and Creek-English and English-Creek glossaries that usefully identify verbs as stative or active and also mark which verbs take dative prefixes. Users will find A dictionary of Creek/Muskogee (Jack B. Martin and Margaret McKane Mauldin, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000) to be an invaluable accompanying reference. Another useful pedagogical resource, regrettably omitted in the bibliography, is the brief audio course, Introduction to Muskogee (Creek) (compiled by the Kialagee Tribal Town with speaker James Wesley, Richardson, TX: Various Indian Peoples Publishing Company, 1999). Overall, this affordably priced course is highly recommended for anyone wishing to master basic Muskogee language structure. Edward J. Vajda Western Washington University Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America