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166John C. Traupman live,' users of this dictionary, even though they have consulted the list of abbreviations, will nevertheless constantly have to make a mental adjustment whenever they encounter this abbreviation in the body of the dictionary. The abbreviation vtir for 'transitive, intransitive and reflexive verb' is a novel feature but one of limited usefulness. It could be used if a verb as a main entry has one and the same meaning in all three functions, e.g., ausnüchtern 'to sober up,' and no illustrative examples are provided. However, if the verb has several meanings in the various functions, the entry should be broken down according to the functions. Levels of usage are carefully indicated for both source and target languages. Because usage labels can mean different things to different people, they have been clearly defined in the front matter. For example, the label dated "indicates that the word or phrase, while still occasionally being used especially by old speakers, now sounds somewhat old-fashioned" (p. x). The difference between the three labels lit, liter, and Liter is also explained, although the user may be left with the impression that the latter two are an over-refinement. Unlike many German and English dictionaries which group all compounds within a single entry under the first element of a series of compound nouns regardless of alphabetical order, this dictionary adheres to strict alphabetical order. Thus, for example, the combining form Bau- is entered eleven times in the dictionary in order to place in their proper order those entry words that interrupt the alphabetical sequence of compound nouns formed with Bau-. Full attention is given to the geographical distribution of German. In addition to Swiss, Austrian, and East German usages, regionalisms of West German are also indicated. On the English side, the regionalisms of North England and Scotland are indicated, as well as Irish usage. Great care is given to providing extensive grammatical information, such as the indication that certain adjectives can occur only at the attributive or predicate position, the indication of separable and inseparable prefixes of verbs, the indication of mass and count nouns, and a very thorough treatment of idiomatic prepositions that follow verbs, nouns, and adjectives. This work is a lexicographical achievement of considerable dimension. It is certainly the best German and English desk dictionary in print and in many respects is superior to the multi-volume dictionaries as well. John C. Traupman Saint Joseph's University Duden: Das grosse Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in sechs Bänden. Ed. Günther Drosdowski et al. Vol. 1 A-Ci; Vol. 2 CI-F; Vol. 3 G-KaI; VoI. 4 Kam-N; Vol. 5 O-So. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, 1976- . DM 48 per volume. Brockhaus Wahrig: Deutsches Wörterbuch in sechs Bänden. Ed. Gerhard Wahrig , Hildegard Krämer, Harald Zimmermann. Vol. 1 A-BT. Wiesbaden, Stuttgart : F. A. Brockhaus, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1980- . DM 128 per volume. Until recently, there was no current unabridged dictionary of German. Now, fortunately, two six-volume dictionaries aiming to fill this gap have begun to Reviews167 appear. The works differ significantly in layout, coverage, treatment of entries and price; each has its place on the user's shelf. The Duden dictionary is nearly complete; five volumes have already appeared . It costs less than half the price of the Brockhaus-Wahrig. It is more compact in layout, somewhat more complex to use, and has fewer entries. Duden also offers more grammatical information about entries, more numerous examples of typical usage of the entries in phrases, easier access to phrase entries and usage citations from current sources. Brockhaus has about twenty percent more entries, closer coverage of technical vocabulary and is more encyclopedic in its definitions. Word entries are easier to find; they appear in absolute alphabetic order. Umlauted vowels immediately follow unmutated ones, but are not otherwise treated differently for purposes of ordering. The layout and ordering of entries in the Duden is somewhat complex and departs from strict alphabetization in certain circumstances. Compound words are arranged and treated in groups. The first element of the compound, followed by a hyphen, serves as the alphabetized entry word for its family of compounds. Each...

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