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Edwards John . 2009. Language and identity: An introduction. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press. Pp. viii + 314. US $99.00 (hardcover).

Article  in  The Canadian Journal of Linguistics / La revue canadienne de linguistique · March 2012

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 REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 159

of an SO, which is dependent on an Agree relation with a higher element in a deriva-

tion, accounted for in a purely derivational theory in which there is no access to
already Merged elements? Furthermore, when multiple copies of an SO are present
in a derivation, questions arise with respect to how the grammar determines which
copy (or possibly copies) to pronounce. Stroik states that “the sensorimotor inter-
face pronounces elements where the relevant morphophonetic features are checked”
(p. 133). What is the nature of these morphophonetic features? In addition, in order
to enable SURVIVE to account for wh-constructions, Stroik relies on a fairly complex
system of features. For example, in (7), who has a [DISC] feature (see (6)), and in
(8), the same wh-phrase who has [OP] and [REF] features and what has a [REF/WH]
feature (see (5)).
(7) Pat likes books that criticize who[DISC]
(8) Who[OP, REF] read what[REF/WH]
Are these extra complexities (the appearance of numerous copies, the need to de-
termine which copy to pronounce, a complex feature system, etc.) worthy of the
theoretical advantages of SURVIVE? Investigation of SURVIVE, with respect to these
and other issues, is certainly a worthwhile avenue of research.
Despite its short length, this book manages to cover many topics, account for
a variety of troublesome syntactic data that have been debated for years, and raise
a number of interesting issues. This is an intriguing book that should be of interest
to syntacticians working on displacement phenomena, as well as to those who are
interested in the development of an optimal Minimalist theory of syntax.

REFERENCES

Brody, Michael. 2002. On the status of representations and derivations. In Derivation and
Explanation in the Minimalist Program, ed. Samuel D. Epstein and T. Daniel Seely, 19–
41. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Chomsky, Noam. 1995. The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Frampton, John and Sam Gutmann. 2002. Crash-proof syntax. In Derivation and explanation
in the Minimalist Program, ed. Samuel D. Epstein and T. Daniel Seely, 90–105. Oxford:
Blackwell.

John Edwards. 2009. Language and identity: An introduction. Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press. Pp. viii + 314. US $99.00 (hardcover).

Reviewed by Amin Karimnia, Fasa Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran

The book under review explores the relation between language and identity by look-
ing at several key concepts in sociolinguistic studies. The book is divided into 11
chapters, a glossary, a reference list, and an index.
After an introductory note in Chapter 1, the second chapter discusses how iden-
tity has become an important area of investigation in sociolinguistics. It is obvious
that identity is at the heart of how a person or a group defines itself. It is also quite

c Canadian Journal of Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique 57(1): 159–162, 2012

160 CJL/RCL 57(1), 2012

obvious that identity does not exist in isolation. In fact, we all possess a number of
identities. The author states that “while my emphasis in this book is upon the iden-
tity markers and attributes of groupness, I begin by arguing that personal and group
identities embrace one another” (p. 2). The author then elaborates on the depths and
dynamics of repertoires of language. He tries to demonstrate how identity facets are
matched by speech styles and behaviour. Even monolinguals have more than one va-
riety at their disposal. They are at least bi- or multi-dialectal and consequently bi- or
multi-stylistic.
Chapter 3 discusses naming practices and some related issues. As the author
aptly points out, this is not a common topic discussed in books on language and
identity. However, the choice is fully justified throughout the chapter where the im-
portance of names and group labels to personal and group identity is established.
The author contends that name influences one’s perception of others. These per-
ceptions influence the psychological contexts in which people find themselves and
subsequently these contexts contribute to both personal and group identities.
In Chapter 4, the author discusses the main issues in group identity. He puts em-
phasis on the distinction between symbolic and communicative aspects of language.
While these two aspects exist in many group cultures, they are separable. It is possi-
ble for the former to remain important in the absence of the latter. This is most clearly
seen when one examines minority groups undergoing a shift in language use and at-
titude or, indeed, in any group where a shift has occurred in the fairly recent past. We
would no longer expect that English speakers attach any significance to Old English
communicatively though symbolically it is of great value. Another important point
discussed in the chapter is the question of the relative worth of languages or dialects.
No language or dialect is better than another. All questions of inferiority of dialects
in comparison to languages are relevant for considerations of identity. It is argued
that from a linguistic point of view, no dialect is superior to another. Language vari-
eties always create a sense of solidarity and belonging regardless of whether they are
viewed positively or negatively by their own speakers.
Chapter 5 continues with some deeper considerations of dialect assessment. The
author discusses the work of Labov (1976) on American Black English, to provide
important evidence for the point that there is no substandard dialect, or as the au-
thor puts it, “the term substandard must be consigned to the dustbin” (p. 73). He
draws a distinction between attitude and belief. Attitude is considered to be an um-
brella term, incorporating three elements, cognitive, affective, and behavioural, while
belief contains just the cognitive element. The chapter mainly deals with the socio-
psychological aspects that underpin language and dialect evaluation.
Chapter 6 elaborates on the interactions among languages, identity, and reli-
gion. The author asserts that the literature on the relationship between the sociologies
of language and religion is scarce. Several scholars (Schiffman 1996, Marsh 1998,
Spolsky 2003) have asserted that while the sociologies of language and religion have
some ups and downs in terms of importance, they have not lost their power. The work
of missionaries is presented as the most interesting case of the relationship between
language and religion. The missionaries had a religious motivation behind whatever
they did. A closed system of beliefs determined their use of language. The zealous

c Revue canadienne de linguistique / Canadian Journal of Linguistics 57(1): 159–162, 2012

 REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 161

attitudes they had towards language gave particular energy to all aspects of using
that language. Such attitudes towards language and native languages were fired with
a sense of rightness. Such attitudes can create difficulties for those whose cultures are
invaded. The author discusses the activities of a Protestant missionary organization
(the Summer Institute of Linguistics) to show the impact of outside interactions on
the lives of native groups.
Chapter 7 discusses the relationships among gender, language, and identity. The
chapter begins with some remarks on the influence of gender on language. The author
draws attention to the use of vocabulary by male and female speakers in different
cultures and puts this issue in a wider scope and relates it to power, politeness, and, in
general, gender role variance. The chapter mostly focuses on women rather than men.
The author justifies this choice as follows: “it can be more instructive, in linguistic
terms, to study Spanish rather than English language policies in the United States;
it may be more revealing, in racial terms, to consider the social situation of blacks
rather than whites there, too. Likewise, it may be more appropriate to focus upon
women than upon men” (p. 146).
The next three chapters are concerned with nationalism, namely “Ethnicity and
nationalism”, “Assessments of nationalism”, and “Language and nationalism”. Nation-
alism is the product of the French Revolution and the growth of romanticism. The
relationship between nationalism and ethnicity, the one the author emphasizes, has
not been clear to all commentators. Nationalism “is not a creation newly sprung
from the forehead of political philosophy, not something made of entirely new cloth”
(p. 9). The author believes the reason why civic nationalism has emerged with some
degree of popular appeal is that it is supposed to represent the kinder, gentler face of
nationalism. Civic nationalism is progressive, democratic, and above all, related to
the political unit of the state. The author argues, in his discussion of language and na-
tionalism, that when language has been considered the most central and most sacred
element of identity, an attempt will be made to assert its primacy, to differentiate it
from other forms of communication, and to protect it.
The last chapter is devoted to language planning. Language planners, the author
asserts, are like scientists who collect, organize, and analyze information. Their con-
clusions and recommendations, however, will be attended to only to the extent that
they improve existing or desired political stances. There is also a section devoted to
“The ecology of language”. This section has allowed the author to discuss briefly
some important issues such as minority language dynamics, conflict and contact be-
tween large and small languages, endangered varieties, and language rights. In the
last section of this chapter, “Bilingualism and identity”, the author argues that the
significance of being bilingual is psychological and social, rather than linguistic.
Overall, this book is a significant contribution to the study of language and iden-
tity. Due to its scope and depth of discussion, it is a useful resource for upper-level
undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as researchers interested in socio-
linguistics. Although the language of the book is at times arduous, it serves interested
readers quite well as it provides them with a wealth of information on key topics in

c Canadian Journal of Linguistics / Revue canadienne de linguistique 57(1): 159–162, 2012

 162 CJL/RCL 57(1), 2012

sociolinguistics. The book is also of great use for language teachers since it convinc-
ingly shows that studies of the social life of language are often too language-centered
and any investigation of language that considers only language is deemed deficient.

REFERENCES

Labov, William. 1976. Language in the Inner City. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press.
Marsh, Joss. 1998. Word crimes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schiffman, Harold. 1996. Linguistic culture and language policy. London: Routledge.
Spolsky, Bernard, 2003. Religion as a site of language contact. Annual Review of Applied
Linguistics 23:81–94.

Chris McCully. 2009. The sound structure of English: An introduction. Cambridge

Introductions to the English Language. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University
Press. Pp. viii + 233.

Reviewed by Marie Ploquin, University of Quebec in Montreal

The sound structure of English is meant to be an introductory textbook in phonetics

and phonology requiring no prior knowledge of the topic. The eleven chapters of the
book take the beginner from noticing contrastive features of consonants to under-
standing phonological theories. The text is reader-friendly and engages the student
with active learning techniques, such as easy analyses, exercises, and analogies. Each
chapter starts with a useful summary of notions and ends with exercises, a list of key
terms, and further reading suggestions.
Chapter 1, the introduction, begins with a discussion of the difference between
the written and the spoken systems of English, for instance by drawing the reader’s
attention to homophones and digraphs pronounced as single sounds. It continues with
the notions of speech as a system, an explanation of the difference between accent
and dialect, as well as phonology and phonetics.
Chapters 2 to 4 deal with consonants. Chapter 2 presents a thorough discussion
of contrastiveness and introduces the notions of sounds and noise. The discussion
leads to the IPA, minimal pairs, sound distribution, and to the idea of consonant
classification, which is the subject of Chapter 3. In this chapter, the author takes the
reader through the notions of voicing, place, and manner to (re)create a consonant
classification. Chapter 4 deals with the distribution of consonants, namely comple-
mentary, contrastive, or restricted distributions, and the concept of allophony. These
notions are then used to identify whether the glottal stop is an allophone of /t/.
The syllable is the topic covered in Chapters 5 to 7. As the basic structure (onset,
nucleus, coda) of the syllable was introduced in Chapter 4, Chapter 5 takes a closer
look at vowels as the nucleus of the syllable and their distribution in stressed and
unstressed syllables. This leads to the discussion of monosyllabic content words and
function words (referred to as “lexical” and “non-lexical” here). This chapter ends
with a discussion of stress in compound nouns as well as primary and secondary

c Revue canadienne de linguistique / Canadian Journal of Linguistics 57(1): 162–164, 2012

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