The Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary [Paperback]

Deborah Mazza (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 1997 | ISBN-10: 0198600070 | ISBN-13: 978-0198600077

With examples carefully selected by a large team of native speakers of English and Italian, The Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary clearly illustrates the full range of meanings and typical contexts of both languages. Offering wide-ranging coverage, this outstanding dictionary offers over 80,000 words and phrases, and over 100,000 translations, as well as guidance on key constructions, complementation, and difficult points of grammar. Including complete coverage of contemporary idiomatic Italian and English, both written and spoken, The Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary covers the vocabulary that students really need.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Italian --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 704 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198600070
• ISBN-13: 978-0198600077
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,372,104 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary's competitors are noteworthy, August 13, 2006

By 

T. Luck "theloniusluck" (Boh.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (Paperback)

I'm giving this 3rd ed. of the Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary 5-stars because it is an excellent concise dictionary, though the Pocket Oxford's competitors in the concise category -- the Webster's New World Italian Dictionary: Italian/English, English/Italian (ISBN-10: 0139536396) and the Collins Italian Concise Dictionary, 4e (HarperCollins Concise Dictionaries) (ISBN-10: 0060787325) -- are just as good -- if not better -- depending on individual preferences for format and extras.

"Pocket" is a real misnomer -- it's approx. the same size as the Webster's and the Collins Concise, none of which will fit in your pocket. I imagine they might have named it Concise Oxford Italian Dictionary if Oxford did not offer the superior Concise Oxford Paravia Italian Dictionary (read more below). If any feature were to set this "Pocket" apart, it would be its much more detailed bilingual culture guide in the middle of the book ("Italian traditions, festivals, and holidays"; "A-Z of Italian life and culture"; "Letter-writing"). The Collins Concise has cultural note entries spread throughout its pages and "Italian in Action" in the back of the book (Contents: Sentence builder; Correspondance; Fax; Email; Telephone); unlike this Pocket Oxford, the Collins lacks a bilingual text-messaging guide; the Webster's has no cultural or grammar notes save for a brief verb guide, but is so detailed in its entries that it doesn't need to compete in these categories.

One review here laments this "Pocket" Oxford's lack of pronunciation guidelines in the Italian section. "Pocket" has a pronunciation guide in the front of the book. Italian is relatively easy to pronounce -- after memorizing the fairly simple rules, most of the difficulty lies in knowing which syllable is stressed in a word. The rules of stress may be more difficult to master, though they come in time, and this "Pocket" has stress notation WITHIN the headwords listed in the Italian section, as does the Collins Concise; the Webster's lists the stress in an IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) form in brackets after the initial headword. Because Italian pronunciation is generally straightforward, this means that the word in brackets often matches the exact spelling of the headword, though with the stress notation added. The Collins Concise avoids redundancy by noting IPA translation only for those Italian words it considers more difficult to pronounce.

The very basic grammar in this "Pocket" Oxford is, in my opinion, more useful than the "Italian in Action" section at the back of the Collins Concise. The Webster's has a very brief -- though useful in a jam -- few pages on Italian verbs and irregular English verbs, though (again) what Webster's lacks in grammar guidance it more than makes up for in detailed entries. Most students tend to use a separate grammar guide, anyway, as most in-dictionary guides leave much to be desired. [See Harrap's French and English Dictionary (Harrap's Dictionaries) (2004; ISBN-10: 0071440690; $11.95!) for an exemplary in-dictionary grammar. It's also the best concise French-English dictionary available.]

(An excellent -- if brief -- slim, portable grammar is: Oxford Italian Grammar And Verbs (2002; ISBN-10: 0198603819)

Webster's detailed entries make it an outstanding concise, though it was published in 1985 (reprint 1992). Collins Concise has many neologisms of the last 20 years, and is in two-color format (blue headwords/black text), making the pages easier to scan. Collins Concise is generally not as detailed in its entries as the Webster's, though generally more detailed than this "Pocket."

If you must buy an OXFORD Italian dictionary, go for the Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary, as it is the finest unabridged bilingual on the market. If you have the unabridged, then purchase of the Concise Oxford-Paravia Italian Dictionary ("C-O-P" 2003; ISBN-10: 0198607695) would perhaps be redundant. The listing here on amazon describes the Concise version as having 175,000 words and phrases and 290,000 translations. I own it and I tell you it is the finest Concise Italian-English dictionary on the market, the only "problem" being it's heavier (hardcover) weight -- it's not as portable as the (paperbacks) Webster's or Collins Concise, but if you don't care about a bit more weight in your zaino, then escort this beauty to class.

N.B. If you find all of these features extraneous and just want a very portable, inexpensive It-Eng dictionary, go for the durable vinyl-flexi-cover Oxford Italian Mini Dictionary or the Italian Dictionary (Collins GEM). They are both pocket size, if chubby. Both have phrasebooks for travelers/students and certainly more vocabulary than a standard phrasebook! They both appear to have as many entries as (if not more than) the less-durable, newsprint (quick to yellow and stink) dictionaries in the $5 to $10 price range. Both minidictionaries are printed on better -- though not that much -- quality paper than the "newsprints." Newsprint cheapies are probably produced as a cheaper alternative for textbook bundle packages sold to university bookstores. Don't waste your money on them unless you've been "bundled" and have no choice.

IN SUMMARY:

(for) disinterested students who are just getting through a 2-year language requirement and have absolutely no interest in continuing their studies: an inexpensive, durable flexi-vinyl-cover, not-stinky-newsprint minidictionary with travelers phrasebook (Oxford Mini or Collins Gem, linked above)

(for) indecisive 2-year language requirement students who are lukewarm about continuing their language studies: (two-color format) Collins Concise Italian Dictionary or Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary, with the grammar features and cultural commentary the Webster's doesn't offer

(for) Italian Studies majors and/or committed students of the language: Webster's or Oxford Paravia Concise Italian Dictionary for meaty entries; between these two, Webster's is less expensive, lighter and much more flexible than the hardcover Concise Oxford Paravia, but, though very detailed in its entries, is not as loaded as the C-O-P and lacks the C-O-P's excellent extras

Dedicated students of the Italian language will be best served with the Webster's to take to class and the C-O-P to study with from room-to-room at home, as the (unabridged) Oxford Paravia is so heavy that you'll likely use it only at your desk or dictionary stand.

(for) those who love the Italian language: the Webster's, the (unabridged) Oxford Paravia, and the fantastic, monolingual il DEVOTO-OLI vocabulario della lingua italiana 2009, con CD-ROM (Mac & Windows) by Giacomo Devoto & Gian Carlo Oli; editors: Luca Serianni & Maurizio Trifone (2008, ISBN-13: 9788804578178, available from major online distributors of Italian publications, at approx $150, includes shipping, vs. amazon's approx $277 -- -- sorry! amazon won't allow links in reviews)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disintegrated, December 3, 2009

By 

elizabeth nannini "juno reader"" (Castro Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (Paperback)

I bought this for my Mom for xmas last year and within days of using it it began to lose pages. the entire english section of the book is now a collection of loose pages which makes it very hard to use and keep track of. Now quite recently the binding has completely disintegrated so there is nothing holding it together. It is a great resource but the binding issues need to be addressed. I would return it just on principle but it is just too much trouble for a 10 dollar book. Maybe the hard bound version would have been a better choice.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Serves Most of My Needs, May 15, 2010

By 

Douglas P. Murphy "Author, The Griffon Trilog... (Charlottesville) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (Paperback)

I like this dictionary for several reasons. It is fairly lightweight and portable. The print is large and bold and thus easy to read in poor light. Most of all, however, nearly all the words I try to look up are there. Nothing is more frustrating than to try and read a book in Italian and to have a dictionary that does not contain half the words. I have not had any trouble with the pages falling out with repeated use. Nearly all the paperback dictionaries will do this eventually for the most part.