RECENZJE 141 Lithuanian Commonwealth (pp. 5–16). It is followed by a study of Rabbanite magical texts in Karaite manuscripts by Gideon Bohak from Tel Aviv University (pp. 17–34). Moshe Firrouz from Ben-Gurion University then presents The Karaite Jewish community in Israel (20th and 21st centuries) (pp. 35–43), estimated at about 40,000 individuals. Tapani Harviainen from Helsinki University deals with The rise of Karaim cultural nationalism as part of the European movement (pp. 45–57). Mikhail Kizilov from Tübingen University then presents Jan Grzegorzewski’s Karaite materials in the archive of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków (pp. 59–83). Piotr Muchowski from Poznań University deals with Pas Yeda’ and Massa’ ha-‘Am: The lost works of Avraham ben Yoshiyahu (Abraham Ezyiaszewicz) (pp. 85–112). Karaim literature as a source of information on the spoken language. A case study of the early 20th-century Lutsk Karaim dialect is the study subject of Michał Németh from the Jagiellonian University (pp. 113–132). Dan Shapira from Bar-Ilan University then presents The Karaim translation of the Book of Nehemia copied in the 17th century’s Crimea and printed in 1840/1841 at Gözleve, on the copyist of the manuscript, and some related issues (pp. 133–198). Dorota Smętek from Poznań University deals thereafter with The relation between Hebrew and Turkic in Crimean Karaim literature on the basis of a translation of the Hebrew drama Melukhat Sha’ul (pp. 199–209). Rafał Witkowski, also from Poznań University, proposes Some remarks on the history of the Karaites in Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century (pp. 211–241). The volume ends with two book reviews by Dan Shapira (pp. 243–256) and one by Michael Tarelko (pp. 257–260). All the articles are provided with an abstract, written in English like the articles, and with a list of keywords. Information for authors is given at the end of the volume (p. 261). This first issue of the annual looks promising and one may wish that this “setting afloat” will be followed by other successes, eventually extending its Karaite area. Edward Lipiński Iwona Król, Słowotwórstwo rzeczowników arabskich i polskich w ujęciu kontrastywnym, Księgarnia Akademicka, Kraków 2013, 228 pp. The monograph The Contrastive Analysis of Noun Formation in Arabic and Polish by dr. Iwona Król, lecturer of Arabic at Cracow Jagiellonian University, gives a description and a comparison of derivational mechanisms operating in languages as unrelated as Standard Literary Arabic and Polish. The study deals with noun patterns. Its first part presents the theoretical and methodological foundations of such a contrastive research (pp. 9–47). One would have expected here an explanation of the difference between “transfix” derivatives formed by vowels and the “apophony” in Semitic languages, as presented by Jerzy Kuryłowicz, whose publications do not appear in the bibliography of pp. 218–225. The large second part of dr. Król’s work deals with the affixes and the apophony which form derivative nouns. 142 RECENZJE Having explained the different kinds of derivatives (pp. 49–52), the Author deals first with derivatives of verbal roots, starting with substantives signifying an action, a process or a state, for instance qawl, “speaking”. The subject is treated separately in Arabic (pp. 52–75) and in Polish texts (pp. 75–80), and then the situation in both languages is compared (pp. 80–82). The Arabic noun stems or patterns are examined one by one; the examples are given in Arabic script and in transcription with comparative tables. The words, verbal roots as well as nominal derivatives, are each time translated into Polish. It is a very clear and useful presentation for people studying Arabic or interested in linguistic structures. The same presentation follows for nouns signifying the subject of an action, process or state, in Arabic (pp. 82–88) and in Polish (pp. 88–93), with a comparison (p. 93). The next derivational categories include nouns signifying first objects or results of actions (pp. 95–101), then means of actions (pp. 101–112), names of place and time (pp. 113–123), finally names of abstract features and situations (pp. 123–126). The same presentation is followed in the next chapter, which deals with adnominal derivatives, i.e. derived from nouns or adjectives. The derivatives are likewise subdivided into various categories, and examined in Arabic and in Polish with a following comparison (pp. 127–206). A special section is reserved for diminutives (pp. 192–203). The results of the study are summarized on pp. 207–217 and briefly presented in the English summary of pp. 227–228. The Author notices that derivational patterns in Polish language are more numerous than in Arabic. In fact, Arabic has a fairly small number of prefixes and suffixes, reduced still further in the dialects. Polish derivations are mainly based on suffix morphemes, which appear in various derivational categories. In Arabic, derivations either by modification of vowels, called by the Author “transfix modifications”, or by “transfix-prefix modifications” are of great importance. The suffix derivation appears to be less important. Instead, substantivized adjectives and participles become one of the principal mechanisms in Arabic derivational system. Arabic and Polish are too different languages to obtain further fruitful comparisons. The contrastive method gives more tangible results when related languages are analyzed or when different periods or dialects of the same language are compared. The subject seems to have been approached by the Author from the point of view of the Polish language. This explains the lack of a larger discussion of Arabic internal or “broken” plural, which belongs to the category of “transfix” derivatives and may be regarded as an original collective. The Author calls it “irregular plural” (p. 56, n. 171 and p. 58, n. 179). A diversified approach to the infinitive or verbal noun, the maṣdar, would also be appropriate, independently from nouns expressing actions and presented according to verbal stems on pp. 60–67. In fact, the maṣdar can be used as a noun, as a verb, and as a kind of gerund, the differences appearing in its syntactical use. Of course, syntax is not the subject of the book, but mentions of collateral linguistic features can be helpful in understanding the problems and the functioning of the language. The explanation on pp. 52–53 is probably insufficient. Arabic patterns with geminated second consonantal radical are duly recorded, but patterns with geminated third radical, with repeated third radical, and with reduplicated RECENZJE 143 second and third radicals seem to be missing. They are fairly rare, but one can record the adjectives niḫibb, “timid”, qumudd, “strong”, qu‘dud, “ignoble”, ‘arakrak, “thick”. A warning could also have been given against preudo-infixes resulting from the dissimilation of a geminated consonant or consisting in an intrusive hamza, for instance in da’abba, “pack animal”, or ša’abba, “young woman”, quoted in Lisān I, 14. These are the words dābba and šābba, spelled in a way revealing a two-peak syllable which arose through the difficulty of articulating a long vowel in a close syllable (Ch. Rabin). A similar phenomenon occurs in the Hebrew name ’Abraham for ’Abrām, where the intrusive hē plays the same role as hamza in the concerned Arabic dialect of al-Kalb, in the extreme north of the Arabian Peninsula. The book under review is no doubt an excellent contribution to the study and understanding of the Arabic language, offering a systematic analysis of nominal patterns. Its detailed comparison with similar mechanisms in Polish language will help Polish students of Semitic languages to understand the morphological system of Arabic and other Semitic idioms. The Author should be congratulated and the wish expressed that she will be able to continue her study, perhaps extending her research to modern Arabic dialects. Edward Lipiński Doomed by Hope. Essays on Arab Theatre, edited by Eyad Houssami, Pluto Press, London 2012, 189 pp. As well as upsetting the socio-political order in the Middle East, the events of the Arab Spring affected the cultural life of that region. In addition, these events put into focus the question of Arab artistic expression. One thing that emerged amidst this turmoil of change was a lively debate on the condition of Arab theatre and its mission. A range of festivals, conferences, and, most importantly, articles by both the artists and the audiences, whose opinions were voiced by critics, provided a platform for the debate. Doomed by Hope. Essays on Arab Theatre by Eyad Houssami, published by Pluto Press in 2012 in London, joins this debate, which started three years ago. Playwright, director and founder of the Masrah Ensemble Theatre, Eyad Houssami recalls in the introduction that the idea to write on the contemporary Arab scene came to him as he was contemplating the works of Saadallah Wannous, including his famous article Thirst for Dialog. Concerned about the condition of Arab theatre and the political situation in the Middle East, he wrote: Theatre is in fact more than art. It is a complex civilizational phenomenon. If we lose and deprive ourselves of theatre, the world will become a more forlorn, ugly, and impoverished place (Saʽad Allāh Wannūs, Al-Ǧūʽ ilà al-ḥiwār, in Al-Aʽmāl al-kāmila, Bayrūt 2004, p. 39). As bitter as his remarks were, Saadallah Wannous saw the future brightly. He expressed a profound belief that by championing culture one can bring the theatre back to where it belongs and deserves to .