Customer Reviews

The Blackfoot Dictionary of Stems, Roots, and Affixes

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This is a detailed and informative dictionary. It includes a pronunciation guide, Blackfoot-English and English-Blackfoot sections. (There is no grammatical overview of Blackfoot included.) The Blackfoot entries are in-depth, with various verb tenses and different forms of the same word provided.

To my knowledge, this is the only lexicographical resource for this rapidly disappearing language, certainly the only one easily available outside the linguistic community. As such, it is invaluable for anyone seeking information on Blackfoot. A complete English-to-Blackfoot index with both lexical entries and their relevant page numbers follows the extensive Blackfoot-to-English section, wherein the principal forms of words are cited (for instance, the plural and possessed forms of nouns) with relevant tonal changes, to provide all necessary morphological information. Cross-references to similar or derived words are also provided.

I hear complaints from others that things are hard to find in this dictionary, which is true. The Blackfoot language does not follow the format of English, which makes it hard to organize the language into a useful English book. On the other hand,it is great fun to browse around in the book and see what you can find. It is a treasure trove of cultural details. It is useful to look at the part of speech for each word and see how it fits in with the rest of the language, and also to read the usage examples.

If you want to find a specific word and are stuck on that word, you will find this a very frustrating book. You must approach your search creatively and flexibly. Sometimes you will find what you are looking for, and sometimes you won't. You will have more luck with English to Blackfoot than you will with Blackfoot to English.