Bernd Heine, Professor and Director, Institute for African Studies, University of Cologne, Germany

an interesting and informative study that should appeal to linguistic and cognitive anthropologists, cognitive and historical linguists, and laypersons interested in languages ... Heine presents a plausible explanatory framework and lucid descriptions of a variety of lexical patterns and grammatical constructions in several domains of meaning. - Gary B. Palmer, Cognitive Linguistics, 10-2, 1999.

This is an interesting book that offers a dynamic viewpoint on grammar. It offers important analysis of diachronic linguistics. The bibliography of the book offers extensive references for each topic, and the quality of the print is high. This book will spark more thoughts on the topics discussed as well as on the notion of language as an evolving system of communication. Written in a reader-friendly style, I am sure students of linguistics as well as anthropology will find the discussions easy to follow. All in all, this purple paperback is worth the money and time. - Jyh Wee Sew, Linguistics, Vol.35, 1999