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BOOK NOTICES
Meaning in language: An introduction to
semantics and pragmatics. By ALAN
CRUSE. Oxford & New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000. Pp. xii, 424.
Paper $24.95.
Alan Cruses Meaning in language is a valuable
contribution to the study of meaning. In his new
book, C attempts to survey the full range of semantic
phenomena (x) without being bound to any one particular theory of meaning, and he succeeds admirably. Though primarily intended for undergraduate
and beginning graduate students with some background in linguistics, the book will also serve well as
a reference work for researchers in lexical semantics.
In writing an introductory textbook, a writer has
to be selective in the treatment of topics. C is no
exception. Although the book encompasses lexical
semantics, grammatical semantics, and pragmatics,
C clearly focuses on lexical semantics.
The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 (Chs.
14) introduces some fundamental notions. Ch. 1
provides an orientation to the study of meaning.
Some notions from the field of logic are treated in
Ch. 2. Ch. 3 surveys varieties of meaning (descriptive
vs. nondescriptive) and dimensions of meaning.
Modes of meaning combination and the validity of
the principle of compositionality are discussed in Ch.
4.
Part 2, which comprises nine chapters (Chs. 513)
and is the longest (83261), is devoted to word meanings. There is a detailed and insightful analysis of
lexical relations. Topics examined in this part include: contextual variation of word meaning, the conceptual approach to word meaning, paradigmatic
sense relations, word fields, two main strategies of
meaning extensionmetaphor and metonymy, syntagmatic sense relations, and the componential approach to semantics.
Ch. 14, which constitutes Part 3, surveys meanings
created by different grammatical elements. Part 4,
consisting of Chs. 1517, analyzes meanings related
to situational contexts. The basic topics in pragmatics
addressed in this part are reference and deixis, speech
act theory, and conversational implicature, which are
essential to understanding communication.
Cs book has many strengths as a textbook. A
wealth of telling examples throughout the book illustrate and clarify. All chapters (except Ch. 1 and Ch.
5the two introductory chapters) have challenging
and stimulating discussion questions and exercises
with answers suggested, which offer the students an
opportunity to check their understanding of the principles and concepts presented in the book. Each chapter concludes with suggestions for further reading,
180

which is particularly useful for those interested students who intend to delve further into the topics discussed.
Several careless printing errors are the only flaws
this reader finds about the book. For example, on p.
281, the two sample sentences: John repaired his
bicycle in the garage and John put his bicycle in the
garage, are mistakenly reversed.
Written in clear and concise language, this book
offers comprehensive coverage of the topics in the
study of meaning in language. Students will profit
considerably by reading this excellent text. [HUIMIN
JI, University of Georgia.]

Word order variation: A constraintbased approach. By JOAO COSTA. (LOT

dissertations 16.) The Hague: Holland
Academic Graphics, 1998. Pp. 447.
Most contemporary generative theories of syntactic structure predict a single configuration for each
syntactic combination, the result of the interaction
of necessary principles and parametric settings. Optimality theory (OT), however, is predicated on the
notion that all constraints can be violated on a language-specific basisalthough OT has not always
been successful in analyzing apparently free variation in language. The book under review combines
both theoretical paradigms in an attempt to derive
multiple word orders, largely involving adverbs, focused elements, and other adjuncts. Most of the examples come from European Portuguese and
English, with occasional specimens from other languages. The book contains brief introductory and
concluding chapters and six substantive chapters of
which the first three deal with structural representations and the latter three outline a model of constraint
interaction.
Following an introduction, the book begins with
a chapter on the distribution of adverbs. Using comparative data from several languages, Costa concludes that adverbs may be adjoined to different
projections but may not be right-adjoined; apparent
right-adjunction results from the movement of elements into [Spec, AdvP]. Prosodic factors that affect
adverb placement are also introduced, allowing for
apparent deviations from canonical adverb placement.
Ch. 3, The distribution of arguments, concentrates on Portuguese, beginning with the position of
subjects. Preverbal subjects are claimed to occupy
[Spec, IP] as topics while postverbal subjects are in
[Spec, VP] (the base position) and are focus elements. Prosodic factors including the sentential stress