The necessity to learn multiple languages to function in one's society is, in fact, nearly universal, and Edwards presents the polemic that ensues. The book is written in a very accessible tone and assumes little formal knowledge of linguistics.

Edwards begins by explaining the gradual change of a single language into a whole family of multually unintelligible tongues, the process that gives us multiple languages. He then explains how bilingualism works, how one learns a second language whether as a child or as an adult learner. Code-switching, borrowing, and interference are some important themes here.

The meat of the book is how multiple languages interact not just in the brain of the individual, but among the greater society. Language spread and, closely related, language decline is depressingly reported, while the difficulties of language revival are presented. For Edwards, multilingualism is not just the co-existence of multiple languages within a given society, but even the presence of multiple forms of speech. Very fascinating is his description of prescriptivism, which in seeking to uphold "pure" language asserts that other variants are necessarily impure. And even within a single-language group, men may speak strikingly different than women, as among the Gros Ventre of Montana where men say "jatsa" for bread while women say "kjatsa".

 

Dictionary of Multiple Sclerosis includes over 600 fully referenced terms and definitions from clinical neurology, genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology, pathology, pathogenesis, epidemiology, radiology, and clinical trial methodology. This is not a textbook but rather a desktop resource that provides convenient definitions to each term, supported by key references. With an ever-increasing amount of information available from a wide variety of sources, often presented in jargon that can be convoluted, confusing, and difficult to understand, this book is a welcome addition to the literature. It is an invaluable reference tool for clinicians and paraclinical personnel, as well as those personally affected by MS.

This is a supplementary grammar book for intermediate and above learners and for teachers who want to give extra practice material and/or homework. There are rewrite, multiple choice and cloze type exercises. Answer key is supplied in the book.