878 Reviews focus the subject as clearly as possible, the results are unpredictable and heterogene ity isunavoidable. That notwithstanding, thevolume fulfils its simply stated aims of seeing theproblems and possible solutions better incontext. KING'S COLLEGE LONDON D. N. YEANDLE Sprachnormenwandel imgeschriebenenDeutsch an der Schwelle zum 2I. Jahrhundert. By VIT DOVALIL. (Duisburger Arbeiten zur Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft, 63) Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang. 2006. vi+236 pp.?42.50. ISBN 978-3-631 53425-0. The questions surrounding linguistic norms, standardization, and language change have recently become a major focus of research interest, particularly in respect of German, and thiscontribution by a young Czech scholar is a very timelycontribution to thedebates on these issues.Other studies have tended toconcentrate on the spoken language, examining the degree towhich spoken norms may deviate from standard codifications, but thiswork centres on thewritten language, specifically the language of the supraregional press inGermany, and examines the extent towhich thenorms commonly taken to be standard are actually adhered to in practice and accepted by those usually regarded as language authorities. After a short account of the aims of thework in the firstchapter, the author presents inChapter 2 an extensive attempt to define thebasic termswhich are relevant tohis study, i.e. 'norms', 'language variety', 'standard language', 'nonstandard/substandard language', and ' Umgangssprache'. For each of these he takes thedefinitions given in earlier work, summarizes and classifies them,and tries toarrive at a defensible definitionwhich will serve as a basis forhis own study.This isa useful presentation in itsown rightgiven the range ofoften very varied and sometimes contradictory definitions which have been attempted in the literature over the past century (forty-nine are listed here for 'norms'), and if the author does not always finda sureway through theseminefields (very fewwill be capable of this), theattempt is immenselyworthwhile and provides a helpful set of references for those wishing to inform themselves of thedebates surrounding these terms. The main body of the book (Chapters 3 to 7) contains the empirical investigation and a thorough analysis of the findings.The author's method was firstto select ten variable features (e.g. theuse of preposition plus pronoun rather than thepronominal adverb-i.e. zu was? or wozu?-or the use of the genitive or dative case with statt, wdhrend, and wegen), and establish whether the formsconventionally regarded as non standard are used in thenational press. Using principally the corpora of the Institut fur Deutsche Sprache in Mannheim, he finds this is so forall thevariables he selected, with, forexample over a hundred attestations for theuse of preposition plus pronoun where thenorm requires thepronominal adverb. The sheer volume of thedata found and presented here is quite remarkable. In a second stage he conducted an investi gation bymeans of a questionnaire to fifty-three professors ofGerman linguistics in Germany, asking themwhether they considered the specified forms to be standard or non-standard, and acceptable inwriting. The result of this survey is ifanything even more astonishing, in that a significant number of these variants (notably, by a huge majority, the past subjunctive form brduchte, the past participle gewunken, or the use of brauchenwithout a following zu) were considered to be standard German and wholly acceptable by thisgroup of informants. This latter result isparticularly interesting because itparallels findings fromother recent researchwhich has shown thatGerman schoolteachers and German Lektoren in theUK may be quite uncertain of theprescriptive codification incases where usage varies. However, rather than seeing thisas 'destandardization', as theauthor is inclined MLR, I03.3, 20o8 879 to, it isperhaps the case that even inGerman, where formallyprescribed norms have longbeen unchallenged and therehas been a somewhat defensive attitude towards the codified standard, usage norms are beginning to establish themselves as acceptable competitors. But whatever the interpretation which one might wish to put on the development, the author deserves much credit for such enlightening documentation ofwhat iscurrently taking place inGerman. UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER MARTIN DURRELL VonMythen undMdren: Mittelalterliche Kulturgeschichte imSpiegel einerWissen schaftler-Biographie. Festschriftfiir Otfrid Ehrismann zum 65. Geburtstag. Ed. by GUDRUN MARCI-BOEHNCKE and JORGRIECKE. Hildesheim: OIms. 2oo6. 68i pp.?84. ISBN 978-3-487-I3179-5 It isa lovely custom togive senior academics a special birthday present in the formof a book towhich colleagues and formerstudents have contributed...