Nilgiri Areal Studies.

• Position: Brief Reviews - Book Review

Nilgiri Areal Studies. By K. V. ZVELEBIL, edited by Jaroslav Vachek and Jan Dvorak. Acta Universitatis Carolinae Philologica Monographia, vol. 133. Prague: CHARLES UNIVERSITY, THE KAROLINUM PRESS, 2001. Pp. 535.

This collection of articles by the distinguished Czech scholar of Dravidian linguistics spans his work of almost five decades in one of his major fields of interest, the languages and cultures of the Dravidian-speaking "tribals" of the Nilgiri Hills of South India. It contains over thirty articles and reviews, a number of which were first published in this journal, along with an introduction by the author written especially for the volume (as were a few short pieces in the body of the volume). The articles range from the technically linguistic (e.g., "Irula vowels") to the broadly cultural (e.g., "The Cat in Irula Culture"). The organization is logical, not chronological. A general survey of 1981 is followed by a few early pieces originally published in Czech (from the fifties, before Zvelebil had visited the area, starting in 1968), which are primarily of historical interest. The most substantial portion of the volume are the twelve articles on Irula language and culture, the earliest published in 1968, the latest written especially for this volume. There follow...