Zifonun, Gisela: Das Deutsche als europäische Sprache. Ein Porträt. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021. -- ISBN 978-3-11-061615-6. 355 Seiten, € 32,00 [Open Access unter https://www.degruyter.com].

The book "German as a European Language" by Gisela Zifonun promises to introduce characteristic features of the German language. It consists of eight chapters that address various aspects of German and compare them to other languages such as English, French, Polish, and Hungarian. The book attempts to convey grammar in an illustrative and concrete manner, but often lacks explanations and backgrounds for the comparisons. It is aimed at language enthusiasts, but requires linguistic expertise and does not have a clear target audience. The book concludes by stating that German fulfills nine characteristic features of the Standard Average European and therefore belongs to the European language family. However, overall, the book does not fulfill the purpose of learning something new or refreshing existing knowledge. [Extracted from the article]