[ver 28.02: 09 April 3070] Summary: As befits a revised edition, Clan Language contains numerous corrections and clarifications to the previously published material...
Clan Language, Second Edition; Winfred Schleicher; Donegal Publishing Associates, Inc.; 3070; Universal Media Code: DPAI3072-S439667397; 165 C-Bills
Nearly twenty years after the initial publication of Professor Schleicher's classic master work, Donegal Publishing Associates has issued a corrected and updated edition that greatly expands upon his original analysis and incorporates new research to present the most comprehensive examination of Clan language ever attempted by an Inner Sphere linguist. Long known as one of the foremost experts on Star League English (his early championing of the theory that Wolf's Dragoons descended from Kerensky's Exodus based solely on his analysis of the speech patterns of Dragoon members is now rightfully seen as legendary), Professor Schleicher compiled much of the new data for this edition from extensive field research among the so-called Wolf-in-Exile Clan, as well as first-hand interviews with members of the Ghost Bear and Diamond Shark Clans in the Inner Sphere and with numerous Homeworld Clansmen during the first Babylon Diet.
As befits a revised edition, Clan Language contains numerous corrections and clarifications to the previously published material. Professor Schleicher reviewed every single citation and example for accuracy and clarity, replacing many with new material that better reflects his points. In addition, several hundred new examples, culled from actual Clan documents, were added to expand the utility of the chapters on syntax, phonology and morphology. A welcome change was the resetting of these examples in a different typeface than had been used in the 3053 edition; even Professor Schleicher himself agreed that the previous typeface was not the best choice for the extensive phonological notation found throughout the text.
While the hundreds of corrections and clarifications that litter the work are much appreciated, the real joy to be found within is the new material. Foremost among the additions: A chapter on the growing, though still minimal, divide between the Inner Sphere Clan and Homeworld Clan dialects, based on research gathered during the author's time spent at the Star League embassy on Strana Mechty and accompanying Father Mircea Ilionescu of Atreus at the Babylon Diet. Though Professor Schleicher is hesitant to attribute too much importance to this nascent development (and more than one footnote attests to the very suggestion making most Clansmen uncomfortable at best and downright hostile at worst), it is obvious that he believes this gap represents an interesting and possibly transformational shift in Clan society.
Further additions include a revised chapter on Clan battle language (with corpus evidence attested from declassified AFFC intercepts), an examination of the linguistic differences and accompanying code-switching between the various castes of Clan society, and a brief survey of the dialectology of the individual Clans. An extensive bibliography and detailed index constitute the back matter of this tome.
The sheer breadth and depth of this academic undertaking is marred, however, by Professor Schleicher's uncertain fate; he was undertaking final followup interviews on Strana Mechty when communications were lost at the onset of the Word of Blake Jihad. We here at Markesan JAR hope for his safe return and continued contributions to language scholarship.
-- T. Mannheim