Generative linguistics: A historical perspective By Frederick J. Newmeyer (review)

900 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 73, NUMBER 4 (1997) section we learn about optimality theory, and in syntax the minimalist program is introduced. This is a book that is definitely up to date. Both of these research paradigms are presented in enough detail so that their appeal to the general linguistic audience is obvious. The tone of the book is remarkable and consistent throughout. The author remains an excited proponent of all topics, eager to share her knowledge and discoveries with the reader. She adopts a friendly, chatty tone. The book is written very much in the first person ; at the end of the book one almost feels as if one knows the author. All of these features work successfully, I think, to engage the reader in the somewhat daunting task of assimilating all of the material in the book. As a teacher, I like the many fresh examples, many of which come from Italian and Japanese, but also from American Sign Language . I think these and others from other unfamiliar languages will also engage students. The cross-referencing is prolific, and the indexes are just what a student would want. The first contains languages, the second contains new terminology (even distinctive features), and the third a subject index. With these extensive indexes and cross referencing , the reader is less disturbed by the minimalist table of contents—five chapter titles, the bibliography , and indexes. The care with which this sizable volume has been put together and overseen is impressive : I found only one typo in the entire book. I don't think this book should be limited solely to a classroom textbook. It could also serve as something of a reference. Chapters are amply referenced so that students can follow up on topics that pique their interest . Furthermore, its ample size guarantees that there will always be something to come back to. [G. Tucker Childs, Portland State University.] Möglichkeiten und Mechanismen kontaktbewegten Sprachwandels unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Finnischen. By Nicole Nau. (Edition Linguistik 8.) Munich & Newcastle: Lincom Europa, 1995. Pp. 216. DM 47.00, $36.20. In this Ph.D. thesis, Nau gives an overview of language change. Many theories abound in this area, and N does not offer a theory of her own but rather applies current theories to Finnish. Not only does she adduce examples from Standard Finnish but also from Colloquial Finnish and from Finnish dialects which have been more influenced by other languages . In addition, N uses plenty of examples from other (mostly European) languages. The book contains eight chapters of which the first four are introductory chapters. After a short introduction (1-3), Ch. 2, 'Theorien, Thesen, Modelle zum Sprachwandel' (4-30), discusses relevant theories of language change and grammaticalization. Ch. 3, 'Vom Sprachkontakt zur Sprachmischung' (31-47), does the same for language contact. It also contains a short history of the Finnish language. Finally, Ch. 4, 'Klassifikation von Entlehnungen und Untersuchungsmethoden ' (48-55), examines which elements are typically borrowed. The next three chapters form the core of the book. Ch. 5, 'Vom Lexicon in die Grammatik' (56-93), deals with borrowings and their effect on Finnish. N gives us examples from phonology (borrowing of phonemes such as voiced stops, syllable structure, vowel harmony in borrowings, and stress) and morphology (ways of borrowing of derivational morphology ). In addition, N treats the incorporation of suffixes denoting femininity in nouns denoting female animals and professions and the effects these suffixes have on the rules of Finnish phonology and morphology. Ch. 6, 'Zwischen Lexikon und Grammatik: Inhalts - und Funktionswörter' (94-122), is the most interesting chapter. It deals in detail with the development of auxiliaries, comparison, and the article. Section 6.2 deals with the development of future expressions in Finnish. N sketches the different ways ofexpressing the future since the first written Finnish documents. Section 6.3 deals with four ways to express the superlative in Finnish and the adjacent Uralic languages: a suffix, which goes back to an older Uralic suffix, an analytic construction with a form denoting 'all', a construction with an article, and a construction borrowed from Russian. Languages which have the latter construction (Karelian, Veps, and Vot) have borrowed m some form...