SITUATION-BOUND UTTERANCES IN Ll AND L2. Istvan Kecskes. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2003. Pp. x + 228. $118 cloth.

This volume discusses issues related to situation-bound utterances (SBUs)—a particular type of formulaic expression—from a cognitive-pragmatic perspective. It consists of an introduction, nine chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction defines SBUs, briefly presents the theoretical framework, and points to the key topics to be discussed in the book. These key topics include the distinction between linguistic and conceptual knowledge (chapter 1). This is important to Kecskes' dynamic model of meaning (DMM), which consists of culture-specific conceptual properties (CSCP)—or attributes of a particular concept—at the conceptual level and word-specific semantic properties (WSP) at the lexical level. Uniting these two levels yields the coresense of the SBU, the most salient decontextualized sense of the utterance. This contrasts with the SBUs' consenses, or other senses that the utterance can have depending on the context (chapter 2). The sense that is accessed in a particular situation will depend on the salience of the various meanings to the hearer, which, in turn, depends on the hearer's prior knowledge as well as the contextual cues available, which can bias the interpretation toward a particular consense (chapter 3). It is hypothesized (chapter 4) that the more structurally and culturally similar the first language (L1) and second language (L2), the easier for the learner to interpret the meaning of SBUs in the L2 (chapter 4). This hypothesis is supported by empirical evidence in chapter 9. Interpretation of the meaning of a SBU can be difficult because the meaning is not usually readily transparent from its components (chapter 5). In this way, SBUs are unlike patterned formulas, which have a compositional structure and whose meanings are typically transparent and which, therefore, can play a role in the acquisition of grammar (chapter 7). Ultimately, in order to accurately interpret and appropriately use SBUs in the L2, learners must undergo a process of conceptual socialization. The knowledge base underlying their language use must be transformed from a system that is originally an Ll conceptual system to a dual-language system, thus forming a common underlying conceptual base (CUCB) for the two languages (chapter 8).