Dynamic dialectology: A study of language in time and space By Mieko Ogura (review)

BOOK NOTICES 657 in English, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1953). The only paper which offers thorough description and draws on theoretical ideas, for mutual benefit, is Olga Fischer's study of the rise of the for NP to V construction where the NP is construed as the subject of the verb and not as a benefactive in a higher clause. She relates the change to the emergence of NP to V constructions (/ expect [her to win]), which in turn is attributed to the SOV-to-SVO wordorder change. She properly avoids Latin influence theories, which have been invoked too often in this area, and relates diverse data in an interesting way. The paper was prepared in 1983 and better accounts are now available, but at least one knows how to compare her account with competitors, because she has exploited theoretical devices productively. [David Lightfoot, University of Maryland.] Dynamic dialectology: A study of language in time and space. By Mieko Ogura. Tokyo: Kenkyusha, 1990. Pp. x, 303. Cloth Yen 6700.00. The volume contains a 'Foreword' by William S-Y. Wang, a 'Preface', six chapters, a wide-ranging, up-to-date bibliography, and an index. The theme throughout is the integration of language in time and space—integration of the 'vertical', time-oriented approach of historical linguists with the 'horizontal', space-oriented approach of dialectologists, influenced by work in biology, genetics, and epidemiology. 'Theoretical preliminaries' (1-13) treats interrelations of ideas in linguistics, geology, and biology, and then lexical diffusion, the basis of O's dynamic dialectology. The chapter is concise and clear, with some oversimplification (e.g. not acknowledging that only shared common innovations can be used for subgrouping and glossing rapidly over how crucial the hypothetical developmental change sequences are to her results). 'Spatial distribution of the Great Vowel Shift in England' (14-84) investigates reflexes of Middle English long vowels, beginning with working hypotheses on developmental sequences. O determines regions where change is most advanced ('focal areas'), finding four waves of propagation of change, correlating with extralinguistic facts (e.g. population density). She considers the shift's initial stages—Jespersen's view that high vowels diphthongized first, creating a drag-chain that caused raising of nonhigh vowels, vs. Luick's view (supported here) that mid vowels raised first, creating a push-chain that caused high vowels to diphthongize. In 'The development of the Indo-European languages' (85-146), dynamic dialectology is applied to 'traditional' PIE stops. O assigns values to stages on the development path, totals each language's scores, and identifies 'leader' and 'lagger' languages. Two gradients (focal areas plus surroundings exhibiting less advanced change) are identified, originating in Armenian (A) and Germanic (B); A, with the higher score, is considered older. O finds that A corresponds to Gimbutas' Kurgan expansion, and that B's focal area corresponds to Thieme's northern Middle European homeland. These two gradients correspond to genetically-determined population movements, reconciling linguistic, archeological, and genetic data. Given the model 's dependence on development paths, comment on how all this would be affected by an alternate reconstructed stop system should be provided. 'Language change in China' (147-80) examines reflexes of Middle Chinese initial consonants , finding two gradients; the northern changes faster than the southern. By comparing deviations of theoretical and actual linguistic distances, O estimates borrowing/contact interinfluence between dialects; differences in interinfluence may cause the rate difference between northern and southern gradients. Other changes are merging and weakening of final stops and nasals, with stops evolving faster than nasals. Two gradients for each set are found, with similar patterns, except that nasals show an earlier developmental stage than stops. When all data are considered together, northern gradients 'have propagated far and wide', but focal sites ... are different in the south' (169). This is linked to population migration and geography. The last section deals with semantic change. Different propagation modes are found before the early 19th century compared to now, due to different forms of migration—demie for earlier changes (migration of people with their ideas; slower rate of change) and cultural for later changes (diffusion of ideas through interaction without migration ; faster rate). 'Language contacts in the history of English' (181-99) extends...