Customer Reviews

Sumerian Lexicon: A Dictionary Guide to the Ancient Sumerian Language

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This volume is a brilliant and succinct compilation of Sumerian literary vocabulary, and is an indispensable reference for all students of Assyriology and Sumerology.

The most noteworthy change in this version of the lexicon, is the alphabetization of all entries. In previous on-line editions, the lexicon was organized by syllabic groups, which was most useful for observing the development of Sumerian over the ages. The most fundamental words of the language were the simplest syllables. As their culture developed and progressed, more and more complex words were developed, usually by agglutination and/or contraction of existing words. However, this organization made the lexicon somewhat tedious to flip through, and for most purposes, this edition far surpasses the previous ones. Those wishing to see the development of the language can still view the previous version on-line.

Even if this was not the only 'complete' lexicon of the Sumerian language in print, it is still - and will be for some time - the one to get and go to first. Halloran's commitment to this project really shines through here, and the publication of this volume is a definite and monumental step forward for the studies of this ancient, pre-Semitic culture of Mesopotamia.

This book is clealy a labor of love on the author's part. It grew out of the author's website, which has been used by students of Sumerian as an on-line dictionary since 1999. The information on the website has been expanded and put into a convient sized book for students to use.

The entries are succinct and printed in an easily readable type face. I tried using the book to translate some Sumerian texts, just to see if I would find any quirks in the book, and was pleased to find that it contained all of the words I needed to look up.

This is a well done book for which there has long been a need. Students of Sumerian will find this a superb and highly useful addition to their library.

When I opened this book, I was utterly disappointed: the dictionary did not contain even a single pictogram (save those on its yellow cover). All the vocabula values were in Romanization and thus, this book looked like a modern Turkish dictionary for college students.

I really wonder, what this kind of dictionary is good for? For mastering the colloquial Sumerian? To be used as a phrase book in time-machine travels? What a pity the clay tablets were not written upon with Roman letters back then!

I also have strong reservation about other 5-star reviews of this book and cannot help wondering what exactly caused their exaltation about this lexicon!

And I want to caution other potential byers of this useless book: none of the reviewers of this book, except me, purchased it! Be aware what their opinion is worth!

Expensive for 318 pages.I would not call it lexicon, because it does not contain linguistic comparison or study of the origin of words.It is a compilation NOT a legitimate dictionary, written by an amateur.

This is an excellent reference for anyone intersted in Sumerian. I suspect that it will increase in value as many texts on Sumerian often do, so I urge serious students to get a copy soon. I hope it will stay in print for a while.

The only thing that I would like to see added is a pictograhic guide to go with the lexicon.