The Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language is a wide-ranging and thorough study of language and its functions. Ducrot and Todorov, two eminent French theorists, cover such major trends in the development of modern linguistics as general grammars and Saussurianism, as well as methodological and descriptive concepts. Combining the breadth of a dictionary (800 terms are listed in an alphabetical index) with the depth of an encyclopedia (50 articles provide sustained discussions of specific topics or areas), this is a definitive reference for the study of linguistics, semiotics, poetics, and literary theory. "It is rare to find a translation that surpasses the original; [this] is such a work. …This new translation, accessible to all American scholars, will become an indispensable research tool for those concerned with the historical development of the sciences of language or with contemporary critical theories."

• Choice "All of [the] articles are well-informed and useful and many…are models of lucidity and acumen. …Porter's translation is stylish, accurate, and highly readable…A truly outstanding achievement."
• MLN "A valuable addition to any linguistics or stylistics library and is helpful reading for anyone who wishes to find his bearings in Continental, modern linguistics."
• Style "The attempted coverage is nothing if not panoramic: linguists from Panini through to Chomsky, fields from language pathology to literary theory, concepts from generative rules to fictional viewpoint."
• Times Literary Supplement