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REVIEWS Email linguist.editor@gmail.com Introducing Language Typology Edith A Moravcsik Cambridge University Press, 2013, 308 pp; ISBN 978-0-521-19340-5, Hardback, £55; ISBN 978-0-521-15262-4, Paperback, £19.99 Language typology is the study of similarities and differences between languages, focusing on typologically and universally shared features that cannot be accounted for by common origin, language contact or shared environmental conditions. The first chapter of this book introduces the tools and methods used to analyse data and to generate existential statements about what may occur in languages; unrestricted universals (eg, 'all languages have personal pronouns'); and various kinds of implicational universals (eg, 'in all languages that have prepositions and where the demonstrative follows the noun, the adjective also follows the noun'). Subsequent chapters focus on lexis (body parts, kinship terms, personal pronouns, numerals etc); syntax (classifiers, the concept of grammatical 'subject', linearisation patterns and so on); morphology (including forms and meanings of affixes, and the ordering of morphemes in words); phonology (frequencies of different sound types and harmony patterns, plus parallel features in sign languages and writing systems); and language change (including first and second language acquisition, and language evolution). The final chapter attempts to account for the cross-linguistic frequency of grammaticalisation of 28 The Linguist lexical items, harmonisation (ie, a preference for maintaining pairs of correlated features), and proximisation (preference for adjacency of semantically related constituents) by invoking ease of processing and the need for clarity and economy. Each chapter begins with an outline and a list of key terms, and ends with a summary, a set of reader activities and an annotated reading list. The text proceeds in an accessible, step-by-step manner, with frequent recapping. Helpful parallels are drawn with other fields of human experience, such as cooking and shopping. In theory, the scope of language typology covers all human languages – past, present and even future. Information about past languages is very limited but, according to one estimate, the languages currently spoken may represent only 3 percent of the languages that have at some time existed. Worse still, descriptions of about two-thirds of present-day languages are lacking. Nevertheless, with data from 143 languages and references to studies of many more, this book gives an intriguing glimpse into the extent to which languages vary and how this variation is constrained, with similar features clustering in languages that have very different origins and histories. Jonathan Marks MCIL JUNE/JULY Deciphering Molotov The etymology of words in several languages has been my hobby for more than 50 years. So many thanks for a most informative and interesting article by Roger Cooper (TL52,2). However, to read that 'Molotov is related to molodoi (young)' is astonishing! Surely molot ('hammer') is the true source of the pseudonym chosen by Mr Skryabin, as a sturdier name for an aspiring Bolshevik? Victor Mirski MCIL Getting in on the joke I enjoyed reading 'Never a Dull Day' (TL52,1) on high-level conference interpreting. However, I need to correct the erroneous claim that jokes are impossible to translate (effectively). To put it simply, some are and some aren't. In the former category are jokes that may rely, for comic effect, on culturally-bound items which do not translate or are not readily translatable. For example, jokes that rely on a knowledge of celebrities, stereotypes and conventions embedded in a particular country or culture. Likewise, jokes involving puns (typically homophony and homonymy), wordplay and 'garden path' sentences render lexical or syntactic elements ambiguously, and are difficult, if not impossible, to translate successfully. In the latter category are jokes that, for the most part, tell a humorous tale or anecdote. It is the plot, character and setting that convey the humour. These do translate and, providing that the joke is funny, will translate effectively. My own research in Italian has uncovered a number of very funny jokes that translate effectively into English with only minor amendments. In particular, the one about the Italian gentleman, his new shoes and a discotheque… but perhaps that's one to be told at the end of Members' Day! Graham Elliott MCIL Correction In TL52,2 we incorrectly listed Maria Allen as MCIL. Dr Allen has been a Fellow for 26 years and we would like to apologise for this error. www.iol.org.uk