The great Tzotzil dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán By Robert M. Laughlin (review)

464LANGUAGE, VOLUME 53, NUMBER 2 (1977) I noted: p. 126, 1. 32 wheh for when; p. 127, 1. 25 MOst for Most; p. 128, 1. 13 meshe for mesTie; p. 132, 1. 43 kysha, kyshane for kutfha, kuujihane; p. 135, 1. 13 arrive for arrived; p. 140, 1. 40 meshe'et for mejihe'et; p. 141, 1. 12 meshepe for me^hepe. Furthermore, there are some puzzling omissions. The grammatical sketch is divided into VII sections, but I was unable to find Section V. More seriously, an omission on p. 131 deprives the sentence of meaning: 'These are always verbs with -yaxe markers, and they seem to the constructions where the emphasis is on the complete absence of involvement of the subject [sic!] in the state that it is in ...' If these mistypings and omissions occur in the grammatical sketch, the reader is entitled to wonder how many there are in the Cupeño of the texts. However, it would be unfair to leave the book on this note. Despite these typographical shortcomings, Mulu'wetam is an important contribution to UtoAztecan scholarship, and will prove rewarding to the careful reader. REFERENCES Boscana, G. 1846. Chinigchinich: a historical account of the origin, customs and traditions of the Indians at the missionary establishment of St. Juan Capistrano, Alta California. New York: Wiley & Putnam. [New edition, Santa Ana, CA: Fine Arts Press, 1933.] Davis, J. F. 1973a. A partial grammar of simplex and complex sentences in Luiseño. UCLA dissertation. -----. 1973b. Review of Morphologie des Verbs im Cahuilla, by A. Fuchs. Lg. 49.510-14. Harrington, J. P. 1933. Annotations. In the 1933 edition of Boscana, pp. 98-227. Hill, J. H. 1966. A grammar of the Cupeño language. UCLA dissertation. Seiler, H. 1970. Cahuilla texts. Bloomington: Indiana University. [Received 5 August 1976.] The great Tzotzil dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. By Robert M. Laughlin. (Smithsonian contributions to anthropology, 19.) Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1975. Pp. xii, 598; 6 tables; 4 figures; 5 maps. $14.40. Reviewed by Louanna Furbee-Losee, University ofMissouri, Columbia Occasionally the chance combination of talent and circumstance yields a unique work like this, usually resulting from the efforts of one or a few exceptional minds in the proper setting. This book, however, represents the best efforts not of a few exceptional persons, but of a great number of them, from three or more cultures, at times working without adequate support. It is Laughlin's accomplishment that he has orchestrated everything, keeping his sense of mission and perspective throughout the 14 years that the book was in preparation—and, by so doing, has achieved translation of something close to the genius of the Tzotzil into a book of great beauty. To describe The great Tzotzil dictionary {TGTD) as an important scholarly contribution slights it: it is indeed large, scholarly, and important, but these qualities follow from the fact that it faithfully mirrors the life of the Zinacantecan Tzotzil through their language. Tzotzil is a Mayan language with more than 120,000 speakers, all living in the State of Chiapas, Mexico. Of the Mayan languages of Mexico, only Yucatec has more speakers; of all the indigenous languages of Mexico, Tzotzil ranks seventh. There are five dialect areas, comprising 19 townships. TGTD records the speech of Zinacantán, which (along with the Chamula, Chenalhó, and Mitontik townships) REVIEWS465 belongs to the central dialect area. Most of the 10,000 Zinacantecans are monolingual . L has consciously modeled his work on Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English language. Since L is not a native speaker of Tzotzil, as Johnson was of English, and since Tzotzil is not a well-known language, as English is, the product departs from its model in various ways. Still, L is probably the best non-native speaker the language has ever had; and he was aided by two superb Zinacantecan collaborators, Romin Teratol and PAnselmo Peres, as well as by countless other Zinacantecan consultants and by many non-Indians with expertise in Tzotzil. Despite such competent help, L's progress on the dictionary slowed repeatedly as he learned more about the language; thus, when a new derivational suffix was discovered, years into the project...