language, culture and communication: essays by joseph h. greenbergby anwar s. dil

Board of Trustees, Boston University

Language, Culture and Communication: Essays by Joseph H. Greenberg by Anwar S. DilReview by: Daniel F. Mc CallThe International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1973), pp. 131-134Published by: Boston University African Studies CenterStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/216986 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 131 BOOK REVIEWS 131

ministrator, erstwhile confidant of the British, and self-appointed spokesman for the Muslims on the coast; Chanan Singh on Manilal Amisalal Desai, one of the leaders of the Asian communities' efforts to gain social and political equality with the white settlers and a champion of the causes of African political leaders such as Harry Thuku; and finally Roger van Zwanenburg on S. K. Robertson, radical and racist editor of the Kenya Critic, who took up the banner of the "small man"'in the European settler community.

Their careers were as diverse as their origins, yet King feels a unifying theme is evident in each of the authors' attempts to "elicit, from the detail of an individual life, material that is directly relevant to the wider understanding of political developments in Kenya." For example, he claims with some justi- fication that the protest phenomenon must be viewed as rather more complex than has hitherto been the case. Issues as diverse as the settlement of political grievances predating colonial rule, the disabilities brought about by colonial rule, and personality clashes are inextricably interwoven. King's two essays are an excellent example of a synthesis of these.

As is to be expected in such a collection, the quality of the essays varies

considerably. Several do not fulfill the expectations of the introduction and are obviously inadequately researched, reading as a series of disconnected

episodes. The collection is nevertheless useful in making readily available to

undergraduates and other interested persons information on these men and their times, much of which is unpublished. The price of 35 shillings in East Africa seems somewhat excessive.

WILLIAM F. MC KAY

Boston University

LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION: ESSAYS BY JOSEPH H.

GREENBERG. Selected and introduced by Anwar S. Dil. Stanford: Stanford

University Press, 1971. Pp. xiv, 367. $10.00.

Joseph Greenberg is a name well known to, historians of Africa. In 1948 he

began the publication of a series of essays on the classification of African

languages. In 1954 these essays were collected and revised in book form and in 1963 an extension and refinement of this work appeared. Long before 1963 the implications of his analyses had attracted attention beyond the circles of his linguistic and anthropological colleagues, however. By 1957, at least, his- torians were striving to assimilate what was pertinent to their studies, as some of the discussions at the meeting in London that year of the School of Oriental and African Studies-sponsored Second History and Archaeology of Africa Conference show. "In a continent where the written word is so scant," the emperor of Ethiopia said in giving him the Haile Selassie Award for African Research in 1967, "the work of Professor Greenberg, which scientifically re-

ministrator, erstwhile confidant of the British, and self-appointed spokesman for the Muslims on the coast; Chanan Singh on Manilal Amisalal Desai, one of the leaders of the Asian communities' efforts to gain social and political equality with the white settlers and a champion of the causes of African political leaders such as Harry Thuku; and finally Roger van Zwanenburg on S. K. Robertson, radical and racist editor of the Kenya Critic, who took up the banner of the "small man"'in the European settler community.

Their careers were as diverse as their origins, yet King feels a unifying theme is evident in each of the authors' attempts to "elicit, from the detail of an individual life, material that is directly relevant to the wider understanding of political developments in Kenya." For example, he claims with some justi- fication that the protest phenomenon must be viewed as rather more complex than has hitherto been the case. Issues as diverse as the settlement of political grievances predating colonial rule, the disabilities brought about by colonial rule, and personality clashes are inextricably interwoven. King's two essays are an excellent example of a synthesis of these.

As is to be expected in such a collection, the quality of the essays varies

considerably. Several do not fulfill the expectations of the introduction and are obviously inadequately researched, reading as a series of disconnected

episodes. The collection is nevertheless useful in making readily available to

undergraduates and other interested persons information on these men and their times, much of which is unpublished. The price of 35 shillings in East Africa seems somewhat excessive.

WILLIAM F. MC KAY

Boston University

LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION: ESSAYS BY JOSEPH H.

GREENBERG. Selected and introduced by Anwar S. Dil. Stanford: Stanford

University Press, 1971. Pp. xiv, 367. $10.00.

Joseph Greenberg is a name well known to, historians of Africa. In 1948 he

began the publication of a series of essays on the classification of African

languages. In 1954 these essays were collected and revised in book form and in 1963 an extension and refinement of this work appeared. Long before 1963 the implications of his analyses had attracted attention beyond the circles of his linguistic and anthropological colleagues, however. By 1957, at least, his- torians were striving to assimilate what was pertinent to their studies, as some of the discussions at the meeting in London that year of the School of Oriental and African Studies-sponsored Second History and Archaeology of Africa Conference show. "In a continent where the written word is so scant," the emperor of Ethiopia said in giving him the Haile Selassie Award for African Research in 1967, "the work of Professor Greenberg, which scientifically re-

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:04:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

132 BOOK REVIEWS

constructs an important aspect of the African past, is of the highest impor- tance for our greater knowledge of this continent."

Historians who expect to, find things of value to them in this selection of Greenberg's writings will not be disappointed. Some essays, of course, may be of greater or lesser significance to, non-linguists. An important factor which affects the configuration of this volume's contents and their relative impor- tance to, historical studies is the intent of the editor. Anwar S. Dil is director of the Linguistic Research Group of Pakistan, and he seems to be more ori- ented to socioi-linguistics than to other concerns in the discipline. Socio- linguistics is not necessarily synchronic, but this focus of attention is still rather new and the emerging specialization has as yet scarcely begun to explore the diachronic aspects.

Of the nearly 150 publications listed in an appendix, Dil has selected about a score of Greenberg's writings. After comparing what is included and what is excluded, this reviewer has the impression that Dil is somewhat less inter- ested in the historical dimensions of language and culture than is Greenberg. That is not to, say that all of the historically relevant materials have been eliminated here, but rather that the historian should follow up some of the other writings in various journals and volumes of collected essays. "Historical Linguistics and Unwritten Languages" (1953), "African Languages" (1960), which contains a summary of his classification, "African Tongues and Tribes" (1960), "Culture History" (1964), "The Study of Language Contact in Africa" (1964)-all these by their very titles would attract the attention of historians, but there are many others which also; have significance for them.

In the first essay, "Linguistics and Ethnology" (1948), published the year Greenberg began teaching at Columbia and only two years after the publica- tion of his thesis, Greenberg sets out the logical possibilities of research on language and culture and their interrelationships, pointing out the synchronic and diachronic aspects at each juncture. It was as if he were surveying the terrain he intended to travel; he has since covered much of that ground. This essay, like many others, exhibits his extraordinary powers of analysis and gen- eralization and his simple, straightforward, and lucid exposition. Here he avoids using his accomplishments as a mathematician which make some of his linguistic discussion hard going, even for some linguists. This essay and several others are tours de force in ordering whole areas of knowledge in re- latioin to each other. Throughout there is an enormous erudition which is never displayed merely for effect but only when pertinent to, the argument. In fact, his writing is characterized by a stringent economy.

As an undergraduate at Columbia, Greenberg at first intended to become an historian, concentrating on the medieval period for which his youthful acquisition of Hebrew, German, Latin, and Greek gave him a good founda- tion. A fellowship in anthropology changed the direction of his graduate studies but did not dampen his interest in history. His first publication ap-

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BOOK REVIEWS 133

peared in the Journal of Negro History in 1940,1 and his thesis, The Influence of Islam on a Sudanese Religion, is an historical as well as an ethnographic study. Moreover, he learned the fundamentals of linguistics from E. Sapir and L. Bloomfield, and is therefore a strong proponent of historical linguistics and time perspective despite the fact that many of his colleagues have lost interest in those subjects.

Another editor could select a set of essays which would better display Greenberg's contribution, to, history. Historians undoubtedly know his "Lin- guistic Evidence for Influence of the Kanuri on the Hausa" in the Jourhal of African History (1960) and perhaps they know his "Langues et histoire en Afrique" in Presence Africaine (1963), but they may be unaware of "The Mogogodo, a Forgotten Cushitic People" in the Journal of Afric Lan Lguages (1963), "On the African Affiliation of Hebrew and the Semitic Languages" in Jewish Social Studies (1962), "Arabic Loan-Words in Hausa" in the Southwest Journal of Anthropology (1947), and even some pertinent reviews, such as of Language Change and Language Reconstruction by H. M. Hoenigs- wald and of Les Langues du monde by Meillet and Cohen.

Greenberg has written some essays which are primarily historical and which benefit only minimally from his linguistic skills, for example, The Negro Kingdoms of the Sudan: Transactions of the New York Academy of Science, but to, bring together the compendium of his writings that contribute to his- tory might point up uncompleted expectations. The classification of African languages is only a foundation for a linguistic history of the African peoples; Greenberg has made only a few ventures in that direction. He has shown the way, indicated the richness of his discovery, then turned his attention else- where. He is less consistently historical than A. L. Kroeber,2 but that could be said of almost all anthropologists. Perhaps prompted by his global view and his facility for handling masses of data, Greenberg prefers to keep himself attuned to the full range of linguistic problems rather than pursuing one type for too long.

Linguistic research is time consuming to, an extent probably not appreciated by outsiders, and Greenberg has husbanded his time for projects of his own choosing. Rather than follow up his classification of African languages by a massive onslaught o,n the opportunities for historical linguistics his theories exposed, he turned to the general classification of Central and South Ameri- can languages and to, socio-linguistics. Although he has done a certain amount of work on Amerindian, Caucasus, and other languages, Greenberg is pri- marily an Africanist. He has do,ne field work, especially in Nigeria, founded the Linguistic Society of West Africa of which he was the first president, and

1 All the works of Greenberg cited hereafter are listed in a bibliography prepared by Dil and included in the volume under review.

2 See Albert L. Kroeber, Anthropology (New York, 1948); An Anthropologist Looks at History (Los Angeles, 1960).

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:04:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

134 BOOK REVIEWS 134 BOOK REVIEWS

inspired the publishing of the West African language monograph series. Dil neglects to mention in his fine brief biography that Greenberg is also past president of the African Studies Association and that his presidential address to that group is pregnant with implications for history.

While it may be too, early to judge the results of the current research in socio-linguistics, Greenberg's lasting reputation will probably be based on his work on African languages, especially their classification. The main body of his thirty years of publications is in the African area and his concern for the historical dimensioln is early and longstanding. Hopefully these factors will encourage him to further his already great contributions to this field. Green- berg has; written that "the awakening interest of historians in the possibilities of contributions from linguistics .. . imposes on the linguist an obligation to develop... historical linguistics in Africa to, a greater extent than heretofore" (p. 189). Some day, no doubt, his other obligations will allow him to return to this one. Meanwhile, this book is a good opportunity for those who have not yet assessed his work to become acquainted with it, and at a price which is moderate for a book these days. However, African historians will want to also, use African Languages (1963) and some of his other scattered histori- cal essays.

DANIEL F. MCCALL

Boston University

SIR GARNET WOLSELEY'S SOUTH AFRICAN DIARIES (NATAL) 1875. Edited

by Adrian Preston. Cape Town: A. A. Balkema, Ltd., 1971. Pp. x, 293. $11.00.

This volume exhibits a certain amount of academic overkill; those hot spe- cializing in Victorian military studies may find more here than they want to know about Garnet Wolseley. The book is an example of careful scholarship combined with a lively writing style. The title is deceptive, since the previ- ously unpublished diaries take up a minority of the pages; the rest of the volume includes an extensively documented introductory essay of 140 pages, an effort which overshadows the 115 pages of text, plus notes, bibliography, and index of 32 pages. Less than a fourth of the introduction is concerned with Wolseley in South Africa. Adrian Preston's excellent essay is full of facts and insights on military politics; together with the diaries from 20 March to 10 September 1875, the material presented is an impressive contribution to the study of the subject. This is not African history but a specialized aspect of colonial history, only a portion of which is relevant to South Africa. Al- though Preston claims interest primarily in Wolseley's story, he spends much of his time on the historical information that puts the general into context. The great questions of that era of South African history-the background to

inspired the publishing of the West African language monograph series. Dil neglects to mention in his fine brief biography that Greenberg is also past president of the African Studies Association and that his presidential address to that group is pregnant with implications for history.

While it may be too, early to judge the results of the current research in socio-linguistics, Greenberg's lasting reputation will probably be based on his work on African languages, especially their classification. The main body of his thirty years of publications is in the African area and his concern for the historical dimensioln is early and longstanding. Hopefully these factors will encourage him to further his already great contributions to this field. Green- berg has; written that "the awakening interest of historians in the possibilities of contributions from linguistics .. . imposes on the linguist an obligation to develop... historical linguistics in Africa to, a greater extent than heretofore" (p. 189). Some day, no doubt, his other obligations will allow him to return to this one. Meanwhile, this book is a good opportunity for those who have not yet assessed his work to become acquainted with it, and at a price which is moderate for a book these days. However, African historians will want to also, use African Languages (1963) and some of his other scattered histori- cal essays.

DANIEL F. MCCALL

Boston University

SIR GARNET WOLSELEY'S SOUTH AFRICAN DIARIES (NATAL) 1875. Edited

by Adrian Preston. Cape Town: A. A. Balkema, Ltd., 1971. Pp. x, 293. $11.00.

This volume exhibits a certain amount of academic overkill; those hot spe- cializing in Victorian military studies may find more here than they want to know about Garnet Wolseley. The book is an example of careful scholarship combined with a lively writing style. The title is deceptive, since the previ- ously unpublished diaries take up a minority of the pages; the rest of the volume includes an extensively documented introductory essay of 140 pages, an effort which overshadows the 115 pages of text, plus notes, bibliography, and index of 32 pages. Less than a fourth of the introduction is concerned with Wolseley in South Africa. Adrian Preston's excellent essay is full of facts and insights on military politics; together with the diaries from 20 March to 10 September 1875, the material presented is an impressive contribution to the study of the subject. This is not African history but a specialized aspect of colonial history, only a portion of which is relevant to South Africa. Al- though Preston claims interest primarily in Wolseley's story, he spends much of his time on the historical information that puts the general into context. The great questions of that era of South African history-the background to

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 21:04:38 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions