The English languages By Tom McArthur (review)

204 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 76, NUMBER 1 (2000) phonology, morphophonology, morphology, and syntax. Each of these major sections is subdivided into more specialized topics, some of which, such as the discussion of onomatopoetic words (440-48), have never before been covered in English. Of special interest is the discussion of supersegmental phonology (53-59), which characterizes Lithuanian prosody as a typological mix involving both tonal and nontonal dynamic accent on the level of the phonological word. A word stress that falls on a geminate vowel, diphthong, or vowel + sonorant combination may be long rising or long falling (an opposition that forms frequent minimal pairs); the word stress that falls on any other type of syllable nucleus, however, is nontonal. Accent marks, though not part of the official writing system, are provided throughout, and much space is devoted to explaining morphophonemic alternations involving stress (77-84). Also of particular value is the extensive discussion ofLithuanian syntax, particularly the complex topic of thematic case marking on the level of the simple phrase (497-598) and complex sentence construction (717-81). Finally, comparativists in particular will appreciate the exhaustive nominal and verbal paradigms that illustrate the language's synthetic morphology , which preserves many grammatical forms lost in other modern Indo-European languages. Although the description focuses on standard contemporary Lithuanian (based primarily on West High Lithuanian), much information is included on all of the regional dialects as well as on various diachronic aspects of the language. An extensive bibliography is also provided (783-76). This in-depth, well organized, and attractive reference work will prove to be of great value to both the serious student and the professional linguist; yet it is also extremely user friendly and assumes no prior education in general linguistics or in Lithuanian studies . Every technical term is provided in parallel Lithuanian and English and receives a clear and concise explanation. All of these features render the book accessible and interesting to the beginner as well as to the trained linguist. Lithuanian grammar will take its place alongside such important contributions as Introduction to modern Lithuanian (Leonardas Dambriunas et al. Darbininkas, New York, 1966) as a milestone in the expanding English-language tradition of Lithuanian philology. [Edward J. Vajda, Western Washington University.] The English languages. By Tom McArthur. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Pp. 247, xxi. This handy resource on the development of what are often called world Englishes (or varieties of English around the world) and the relatively recent emergence of English as an international lingua franca is divided into nine chapters:, 'Organized babel' (1-29); ? universal resource' (30-55); 'Cracks in the academic monolith' (56-77); 'Models of English' (78-101); 'Standardness' (102-37); 'Scots and Southron' (138-59); 'Substrates and superstrates' (160-79); "The Latin analogy' (180-96); and "The shapes of English' (197-234). Within and particularly at the end ofeach chapter is a series of what the author labels 'panels'—diagrams, quotations, or references regarding specific points or works referred to in the text. For example, Panel 1.1 presents a selection ofexpressions in Tok Pisin (23); Panel 2. 1 lists the international distribution of English , French, Spanish, and Portuguese usage (47-48); and Panels 4.8-4.10 (97, 100-1) reveal various circular models conceptualizing the distribution of Englishes around the world. These panels are a novel strategy for presenting information within the form ofapublished academic work, and, in effect, they are similar to the function of 'poster sessions' at professional conferences. McArthur poses the question of whether the complex ofvarieties he calls 'the English languages' may be considered similar to the Romance language family . (The author also presents a very illuminating discussion about the uses and limitations of historical models and the metaphors employed to explicate them [one of the most popular is certainly the genetically -based 'family tree' metaphor], 78-101.) However , as might be expected, this rather large histoncal question is not really answered in any definitive way. Nonetheless, he does a good job of laying out the relevant facts and asking the right questions (see Chs. 1,4, and 8), especially when comparing the spread of English to that of Vulgar Latin during the Roman Empire. The question of...