Customer Reviews

Navajo-English Dictionary (Hippocrene Dictionary)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a Navajo-English dictionary only--the entries are listed only in Navajo, with English translation. So unless you already know some Navajo, it may not be very useful to you. Different verb forms are listed separately, which makes this a very handy book if you're trying to translate a Navajo text.

Having known only English as my primary language this book helps the laymen learn the basis of translating the Najavo culture and language into English and back again.

Extremely detailed with notations on pronunciation, verbage and usage of slang.

Having know a Navajo Native American for a while, this book helped me understand the subtlties of the Navajo Language and Culture.

Nothing compares to a real teacher, but this book does help. Buy it!

The print of too many headwords is just illegible! I hope that the publisher will re-make the printing plates.

On the plus side:

There's a great variety of phrases "what they saw," "they shot at him" "he started to chase him," which is what many Navajo verbs actually translate out to (as well as nouns, which are much simpler), so this can be very useful if you're reading a text and trying to get an idea of going on.

On the negative side:

- The type is small and the font is clumsy.

- Even with the small pronunciation guide, you won't learn how to speak the words. You might check out Conversational Navajo Dictionary -- Dictionary and Pronunciation Cassette Set which is now available in CD form in some Navajoland area stores. It's also basic but at least has some audio.

- If you're trying to use verbs in other ways (eg. "I shot at you," instead of "they shot at him"), you aren't going to find any hint here as to how to do that. A little study of the Navajo verb plus something like Colloquial Navajo: A Dictionary may be of greater help if you're actually trying to learn some verbs with any facility!

My judgment is that this book could be a good complement to a collection of Navajo materials, but doesn't do much good on its own.

The book is exactly what it claims to be, a dictionary of Navajo words with English translation. To be really helpful a polyglot dictionary should translate in both directions. This one does not. If I need to know the Navajo word for "rabbit," I'm out of luck. A short section in the front of the book deals with pronunciation of Navajo words.

It is exactly what I wanted. I still have to buy the "Learning Navajo" CD to make sure I pronounce the words correctly. You will need both to learn Navajo. I hope this CD is what I need.

I'm sure this is a good dictionary, but the actual printing is not very good, and therefore some words are hard to read. Also, it does not have an English-Navajo side to it, so that makes it only just so useful.

Members of the Navajo tribe have volunteered in the armed forces throughout every conflict since 1868. In WWII, the Code Talkers were able to transmit messages, and despite every effort, the US enemies never broke the complex syntax and complicated tonal qualities. The US Marine force acknowledges that without the members of this tribe the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima and other crucial locations.

The Navajo-English Dictionary was designed to aid Navajos learning English, those desiring to learn Navajo, and to help preserve this rich language. Without "The Sound System of Navajo" section in which Wall and Morgan teach about the pronunciation of the words this dictionary would serve as a research tool, but would not provide a way to correctly speak any of the over 9,000 entries.

The dictionary is formatted strictly with the Navajo words then the English definitions. If you wanted to find the perfect English word, then translate it into Navajo, you will have to search through the book. There are two columns of definitions per page. The Navajo is in bold, and I did not find it difficult to link the words together.

Writers:

The book will help create veracity whether your story is set in the old west, any world war, or current conflicts. Well-researched information allows the reader to suspend disbelief and become part of your story. For historians, this book is invaluable.

Here is a brief dictionary of a few of the words, but I am not able to show the correct grammar marks.

'a' a'a'n -- this is a hole in ground, tunnel, cove, or burrow.

bi -- he, she, it, they, theirs.

Be'e'sh Sinil -- Winslow, Arizona

giinisi -- fifteen cents

ha'adi -- where; where?

There are so many words and phrases, so much beauty and history, that any linguist, archeologist, or scholar will love the book simply for the history that is inherent in this ancient language.

5 Stars.

Victoria Tarrani

When looking for Native American word lists, this was the first dictionary I came across. I bought it because it was the only one I could find. If I had spent a little more time with it before I checked out I might not have, because this dictionary is not realy just words but entire thoughts and terms. This maybe just a function of the Navajo language or it may be just the way it was edited. If you are looking for a word list this is not the book for you.