The written languages of the world: A survey of the degree and modes of use. Volume 1: The Americas Ed. by Heinz Kloss and Grant D. McConnell (review)

BOOK NOTICES 247 formalism and in English prose (but usually without examples). The syntax model uses only permutation transformations, which means that expansion of the PS rules and structural complexity are handled by lexical rules. This lexicalist approach closely resembles structuralist morphology , where inflection and derivation were treated by form class at the word level. It might appear that grammar has gone full circle. Actually , Press uses a morphological approach for simple and complex clauses, employing such devices as features and what amounts to case frames for verbs. The consequence of a deep morphology is that some idiosyncratic factors of the language are treated as fundamental categories. The (nonuniversal ) resolution of verb stems as momentaneous or durative 'essentially dictates what other tense-aspect markers the verb may cooccur with* (64). However, some peculiarities are not treated as basic. For example, some postpositions that serve to indicate predicates of motion or place must be coded as [ + verb, + postposition] ifthe term verb is to be retained for those stems which predicate. An alternative analysis would be to expand the VP as a nonverbal predicate. If some language-specific phenomena are considered deep categories, and if specialized structures may be generated freely from the PS rules (pronouns, imperatives, headless relative clauses), then it seems consistent to posit non-verbal predicates as expansions of VP. In Hopi and Kawaiisu, also, postpositional predicates are primarily restricted to locative/ motional concepts; this gives P's non-verbal predicate analysis historical as well as semantic motivation. This grammar represents a well-conceived, careful investigation, which is also convenient to use. P has given us an intriguing work—not only a priceless contribution to Uto-Aztecan studies, but also an interesting theoretical exercise . [David L. Shaul, Berkeley.] The written languages of the world: A survey of the degree and modes of use. Volume 1: The Americas. Ed. by Heinz Kloss and Grant D. McConnell. Les Presses de l'Université Laval, 1978. Pp. 633. This is the first volume in a series published by the International Center for Research on Bilingualism. The remaining seven volumes will deal with other parts of the world: Oceania, Europe, eastern and southern Africa, northern and western Africa, southwestern and southcentral Asia, eastern and southeastern Asia, and the USSR. The plan of the survey is 'to include all living languages which are alphabetized' (19); but the word 'alphabetized' is used loosely— languages written with syllabaries, e.g. Cherc kee, are also included. The bulk of this book consists of numerous tables, roughly arranged by countries in the Americas. For each language the information is surveyed according to a 'Union list oftopics', which includes (a) language names, (b) statistical and geographical data, (c) language corpus, (d) script and spelling, (e) status, (f) background of literature, (g) use in religion and ideological writings, (h) categories of literature, (i) periodicals , (j) schools, (k) mass media, (1) incidence as a second language, and (m) reference framework. No doubt this information required a great deal of effort to collect. It can be useful for some purposes, and may even 'contribute to the spread of more enlightened and progressive language policies' (31). However, this massive amount of raw data should have been digested and synthesized somewhat, and served in a more attractive and less bulky format. The printing of English and French texts in adjacent columns makes the pages hard to read. Repeating the 'Union list of topics' on every page adds needlessly to the bulk. If the later volumes of this series can be improved in these respects, they should attract more users. [William S-Y. Wang, Berkeley.] The true interpreter: A history of translation theory and practice in the West. By Louis G. Kelly. Oxford : Blackwell; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1979. Pp. xi, 282. $32.50. The field of translation theory, its history and application, is so vast and diverse, and the book at hand so erudite and content-packed, that a brief note can do little more than account for its main argument and delineate its limits in space and time; what cannot be even attempted ...