however, Blakney does not tell us his authority in each particular instance, and we are not always sure whether the explanation he gives for a particular character is an accepted Chinese explanation or one possibly of his own ingenuity. Even the short Chinese quotations which he includes (of which we might wish more) are given without even the name of the book. The inclusion of such bibliographic references would add greatly to the value of the book, without detracting from its mnemonic quality. It then could serve also as an introduction to Chinese etymology. Here the authorities are particularly important to us, for what is of value is less what seems plausible to us or to an individual Chinese commentator, or even what the facts of origin may have been, than what the people have considered their characters, rightly or mistakenly, to imply. That is, the accepted connotations, whether historically sound or not, are of more interest than what may be but archeological curiosities.

Used after some elementary knowledge of Chinese character has been gained from such a book as Bullock's Progressive Exercises in the Chinese Written Language and in conjunction with such a one as Hirth's Notes on Documentary Chinese or Hauer's Das San-tze-king (in Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen zu Berlin, Ostasiatische Studien, 1924) the present work will prove a great help in the acquisition of a vocabulary in written Chinese.

R. E. SALESKI

Die Laute des Ful. (Neuntes Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für Eingeborenen-Sprachen.) Pp. 155. By AUGUST KLINGENHEBEN. Berlin, Verlag von Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohmer) A.-G.; Hamburg, C. Boysen; 1927.

The Fula people seem to have been chiefly in the region of the great bend of the Niger River, from which, in the early part of the nineteenth century, they spread under the leadership of Othman Dan Fodio and established a great empire. In this territory they still remain as a ruling caste, distinct from the subject peoples in their lighter color, their superior intelligence and strength of character, and their language. There are seven dialects of Ful which were available to Dr. Klingenheben in his study; they range from Senegambia on the west, through the central Hausa states, to the Bagirmi territory east of Lake Tchad. His own closest acquaintance is with the dialect of the Hausa region, which also is the one best known to and described by Westermann. A careful study of the sounds, as recorded by the latter scholar, shows

that they can be reduced from 49 actually found, to 28 etymologically independent sounds which are the basis of the complete number. The nature of these sounds, and the character of certain others, which appear in other dialects, are discussed in detail. There follows then the development of the primitive Ful language into the several dialects, a careful comparative phonology; and finally, a classification of the phenomena of sound change which have been found to occur in this development.

It has been known to scholars that the Ful dialects differ from the other African languages, especially in the use of suffixes, and in some ways seem to stand nearer to the Hamitic languages. The most recent studies indicate even that they are to be ranked as a divergent branch of Hamitic. But the tracing of remoter linguistic relationships is possible only after the construction of the comparative grammar and the reconstruction, so far as is possible, of the primitive languages of the groups concerned. This is the task to which Dr. Klingenheben has applied himself, and for his work the students in African languages should be grateful.

It is regrettable that African languages, apart from ancient Egyptian and Coptic, have received little attention from American scholars. They present many interesting features, which throw light on the possible variant methods of human expression. Miss Alice Werner's Language-Families of Africa2 (London, 1925) is available as a description of the different types of languages and of the distribution of the of the language groups in Africa, and after a perusal of this book one may start the serious study of these languages with a certainty that it will be profitable.

ROLAND G. KENT

NOTES AND PERSONALIA

At the December meeting of the Linguistic Society, a plan for a Linguistic Institute, to be held at New Haven in the Summer of 1928, will be presented to the Society for consideration. The Institute will be under the control of the Society, but any financial deficit will be guaranteed from other sources. The sessions will continue for six weeks, and a large variety of linguistic courses will be offered, to be conducted by scholars distinguished in their fields. These courses will be intended for advanced graduate students and for high school and college teachers who feel the need of a better understanding of the history of the languages in which they are interested; and also for advanced scholars who may wish to familiarize themselves with remoter parts of the linguistic territory. The Institute will be of advantage also to scholars who wish merely the opportunity of working during the summer at a large library, along with the privilege of association and discussion of problems with other scholars in the same field. It is proposed to charge a registration fee of twenty dollars and a tuition fee of forty dollars per course.

But this plan cannot be carried out unless the Society gives its approval at the December meeting, and the preliminary response in January and February, to the circulars which it is proposed to send out, should prove sufficient to presage success for the undertaking. Correspondence is invited by Professor E. H. Sturtevant, Box 1849, Yale Station, New Haven, Connecticut, by Professor R. E. Saleski, Bethany College, Bethany, West Virginia, and by the Secretary of the Society.

The First International Congress of Linguists will be held at The Hague, April 10-15, 1927. The reasons for the holding of this Congress read in part very like those which were advanced for the formation of the Linguistic Society of America; the following is an extract from the letter of invitation which has gone out:

It is hardly necessary to insist upon the need of such a Congress. Philologists, Orientalists, Americanists, etc., have long had their international meetings, where they find opportunities for a stimulating exchange of views and ideas and suggestions. Students of Linguistics have hitherto lacked such opportunities.

Hence it is that linguistic problems have only received scant, if any, attention, e.g., at Philological Congresses. They have never yet formed the central point of discussion at a meeting of competent students. And the want of such a discussion has become ever more strongly and generally felt.

General Linguistics, however, has come to cover so wide a field, that international coöperation is indispensable. Quite a number of problems can in no other way be solved, to mention only questions of method such as uniformity of terminology and phonetic notation, or plans for a permanent international organisation.

Recent developments have shown, that international coöperation, for a time disturbed by the great war, is more than ever necessary and possible. There is no earthly reason, why we, students of Linguistics, should any longer deny ourselves the benefits that we might derive from personal contact and discussion. More profitable and more permanent results may be expected from them than from the publication of long and learned treatises. The President of the Congress will be Professor C. C. Uhlenbeck, of Nijmegen; the Secretary-Treasurer is Professor Jos. Schrijnen, St. Annastraat 17, Nijmegen, to whom all correspondence should be addressed. Five American scholars, all members of the Linguistic Society of America, are on the Committee of Honour: Franz Boas, who is also a Vice-President of the Congress; P. E. Goddard, A. L. Kroeber, Truman Michelson, and Edward Sapir. It is hoped that American scholarship will be suitably represented at this Congress, although the date, coming just in the middle of our second academic term, makes it practically impossible except for those who are on leave of absence from their institutions.

Professor Walter E. Clark of the University of Chicago has gone to Harvard University as Wales Professor of Sanskrit, succeeding Professor Charles Rockwell Lanman, who became Professor Emeritus in 1926.

Dr. Oscar F. W. Fernsemer, Instructor in German at Hunter College, has been promoted to an assistant professorship in the same institution.

A. Irving Hallowell, of the University of Pennsylvania, has been promoted from an instructorship to an assistant professorship in anthropology.

William E. Knockerbocker, of the College of the City of New York,

has been promoted from an assistant professorship to an associate professorship of Romance Languages.

Clarence G. Lowe, formerly Assistant Professor of Latin at Washington University, St. Louis, has gone to the University of Nebraska as Associate Professor of Classics and Acting Chairman of the Department.

John Cooper Mendenhall, Assistant Professor of English in the University of Pennsylvania, has been promoted to a professorship.

Roscoe E. Parker, formerly at the University of California, has accepted a call to be Assistant Professor of English at the University of Tennessee.

Alexander H. Schutz, formerly of the University of Missouri, has gone to the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, in the Department of Romance Languages.

J. B. Stearns, until recently Assistant Professor of Greek in Yale University, is now in the Classical Department of Dartmouth College.

The following additional members were received into the Linguistic Society before the end of September:

Prof. Jane Gray Hunter, 175 Riverside Drive, New York City. (Classics, Hunter College)

Miss Jane F. Goodloe, Homewood Apartments, Baltimore, Md.

Mr. Charles P. Iwanicki, 28 W. Lane Av., Columbus, Ohio. (Classics, Ohio State Univ.)

Prof. Charles A. Messner, State Teachers College, Buffalo, N. Y. (Latin)

Mr. Francis R. Preveden, 1376 E. 62d St., Chicago. (Prof. at DePaul Univ.; Research Asst. in Comp. Phil., Univ. of Chicago)