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236 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 74, NUMBER 1 (1998) have been published, and Mordkhe Schaechter's Yiddish IIwithout any doubt is one ofthe most complete and well-written. In 4 preliminary study units, 24 study units, and 13 appendices, the book offers the student ofYiddish an unequalled wealth of information. The preliminary units contain all linguistic terminology necessary for a smooth transition from an elementary textbook in English to a more advanced course written entirely in Yiddish. Each of the 24 basic units starts with a short text, accompanied by extensive word lists; then, grammatical and styUstic problems encountered in this text are discussed. A number of exercises provide ample opportunity to use the newly acquired grammatical and lexical material. The appendices contain useful summaries of information normally found only in specialized literature (orthography vs. pronunciation, the geographical distribution of certain phenomena, verbal aspect and aktionsart, etc.). Yiddish II teaches the rules of Standard Yiddish, and the pronunciation taught is that prescribed in Uriel Weinreich's College Yiddish (1992. New York: YTVO Institute for Jewish Research.) Much attention , however, is paid to the most important dialectal varieties ofYiddish (i.e. the language the student will be most likely to hear spoken), differences between literary and colloquial usage, the speech of religious and secular Jews, learned and popular styles. Thus, in addition to teaching the standard language, the book aims at providing the reader with a sound understanding of authentic Yiddish, including some features that are often encountered in everyday Yiddish but tend to be omitted in other textbooks. In a few instances, the author's wish to give complete information in relatively simple Yiddish leads to unnecessarily long explanations and the excessive use of double underscoring to indicate stress patterns makes uneasy reading. This, however, does not detract anything from the overall value of Yiddish II, a book that teachers and students alike will enjoy using. [Rogier Nieuweboer, Groningen University.] Lexicon grammaticorum: Who's who in the history of world linguistics. Ed. by Harro Stammerjohann. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. 1996. Pp. xxvii, 1047. DM 586.00. This is a one-volume biographical dictionary, in double columns, of deceased linguists who are felt by the editor, the twenty co-editors, or the four hundred or so general contributors to have made meritorious contributions to the field oflinguistics. Some 1500 names are included here, the vast majority being those of individuals rather than schools or subfields of linguistics. Linguists are presented alphabetically and entries minimally provide dates (sometimes only years) and places of birth and death, a brief description of their special fields, at least one paragraph discussing their career and contributions to the field, and a list of significant writings, with another paragraph outlining literature about them where this is available. Tables of abbreviations, both of general words and journal names, are provided in the prefatory material, and a great deal of information is presented as concisely as possible. The bulk is correct, as are most cross-references, but the piece on Raven McDavid directs one to a nonexistent article on Edmond Edmont , while that on Thomas Burrow would lead one to expect a piece on Murray Emeneau (very much alive in 1996). The length of articles varies widely: A number of articles on Americanist linguists are of the utmost brevity, whereas the piece on G. I. Ascoli takes up eight columns. Some articles (for instance that on J. R. Firth) are even divided into subsections. This lack of uniformity of coverage is startling. The linguists included tended to deal with languages of the northern hemisphere. The coverage of Arab linguists can be especially commended, while the questione della lingua is more than amply reflected in the histories of its participants. However, the innovative brilliance of the Icelandic First Grammarian , probably Hallr Teitsson, is insufficiently appreciated . Linguists chosen were overwhelmingly male. Numerous women linguists, from Hildegard of Bingen to my fellow Bradfordian, the Africanist Ida Ward, are omitted. Although delighted with the Usting ofNorth Americanist linguists (several being Native Americans, including the Lakhota, EUaDeloria), I find the coverage of linguists who have worked on languages of South America, Africa, and the Pacific simply miserable. The book lacks articles about Cestmir Loukotka, Paul Rivet...

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