Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics FROM THE PUBLISHER
Historical and comparative linguistics has been an important scholarly discipline for 200 years, and yet this is the first dictionary ever to be devoted to it. With nearly 2,400 entries, Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics covers every aspect of the subject, from the most venerable work to the exciting advances of the last few years-many of which have not yet even made it into textbooks.
All of the traditional terms are here, but so are the terms introuced only recently, in connection with such varied subjects as pidgin and creole languages, the sociolinguistic study of language change, mathematical and computational methods, the novel approaches to linguistic geography, the controversial proposals of new and vast language families, and the attempt at relating the theories of historical linguists to thoes of archaeologists, anthropologists, and genetics.
SYNOPSIS
Types of entries are as follows: terminology of classical historical linguistics, techniques of comparison and reconstruction, laws and processes, terms from dialectology, processes of word-formation, philological terms, sociolinguistic terms, language contact and convergence phenomena, language families, isolated or important or unique language names (Yuchi, Basque, French), Latinates, population typology (e.g. accretion zone), mathematical and computational methods (e.g. Oswalt shift test), and grammaticalization (e.g. emergent grammar). An interesting entry is the Zulu linguistic term hlonipha, "A word used as a polite replacement for a taboo word...such as heck for hell." This dictionary would have greatly benefited from a thematic index with entries grouped according to the above categories. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Focusing uniquely on historical linguistics, namely, the study of how languages change over time, Trask (A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics) offers an alphabetical dictionary that will best serve those already knowledgeable about linguistics. The author emphasizes terms related to how languages change, such as methods of comparison and reconstruction, philological terms, and terms describing word formation. "Metatypy" and "Northern Cities Shift" are among those entries citing recent trends and scholarship. Prominent language families and individual languages (some extinct) receive coverage, but individual scholars do not, and Trask excludes entries on tagmemics and detailed entries on theories of generative grammar. Definitions range in length from a single short sentence to multiple paragraphs running more than a page. Boldface type indicates cross references to other definitions, highly consistent guides that are especially helpful given the book's lack of an index. The entries are supported by references to a 30-page bibliography and 12 tables. Unfortunately, because the list of tables offers only page numbers with no titles, the tables are less accessible than they should be. In comparison, the Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics, edited by Hadumod Bussmann (Routledge, 1999. 2d ed. ), offers depth and breadth for beginning and advanced readers, while David Crystal's Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (Blackwell, 1997. 4th ed.) is a thorough work addressing a wide audience. Recommended for specialized collections and academic libraries.--Marianne Orme, West Lafayette IN Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
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