Customer Reviews

Word-Hoard: An Introduction to Old English Vocabulary, Second Edition (Yale Language Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Full disclosure: Professor Barney taught me Old English. His tools were a collection of notes, Mitchell and Robinson's Guide to Old English, Campbell's Old English Grammar, and his own Word Hoard. Of the three books, now that I can read Old English, Word Hoard is the one that is still fascinating to read. Barney took the most common words in Old English and discussed their meanings, where they came from, and what happened to them later (as with Old English gar, "spear"). If you are interested in Old English, this book is a must-have. If you are have ever been curious about how English has changed over the last 1,000 years, buy this book.

This slim work goes deep rather than broad, taking a close look at a few hundred of the OE words most frequently encountered in the extant literature. Each word's entry will include some modern and ancient language cognates, as well as shades of meaning and "philology nerd" points of interest. It's a marvelous book to dip into when brushing your teeth or waiting for your toast to pop up--every time you open it you'll come away with a deeper understanding than you had before, not only of OE, but of modern English as well. It's worth the price just for the discussion of the Anglo-Saxons' unfamiliar apprehension of the nature of colors.

This book is a good book if you already know Old English. It is not alphabetical and difficult to find words. I am positive this will shall be a wonderful book to have around, once one knows Old English in full! But for the moment [for most beginners] it is not wholly ideal.
If you know some [even a fragment], large portions or all of Old English, I recomend it.
I do not mean to sound negative, but I am most duly trying to give my honest thoughts to the best of my ability.

This short but valuable book is a treasure trove for word lovers, amateur (and professional) etymologists, and fans of Old English language and literature. The book is essentially a word list of the most often-encountered words in the main body of the Old English literary corpus (primarily Beowulf, considering the length of the poem, but ranging across other works as well), arranged in order of frequency. Each entry offers a definition, common compounds and kennings, as well as cognates in Modern and Middle English and other related languages (e.g., German and Old Norse). Some entries are short and straightforward, while others reveal interesting etymological connections I hadn't been aware of before.

The book is more interesting than useful, however, which is why I gave it four stars instead of five. A great book to peruse for fun or leisure -- and probably very useful for new students of Old English -- but more seasoned students and scholars will exhaust its limited number of words quickly. And its brevity means that it's concerned only with the most common words, which seasoned scholars will probably already know well.

An excellent bathroom book -- and yes, I mean that as a compliment! :) The only strange thing is that the book, though published recently (or reprinted might be more accurate), looks as though it were typed on an old IBM Selectric II Typewriter (I recognize the typeface, because I used to use one of these myself :). A bit jarring in this day and age where computer-produced copy is the norm, but once you get used to it, it doesn't detract.

This book is *extremely* helpful. It's a high-frequency word list, meaning that it includes the most common words in Old English literature, and it's organized in an intuitive fashion: by roots.

The author suggests in the foreword that you start from the back of the book, by learning the first word in each root group, and then work through the rest of the book. I wish I had done that at the beginning of the semester. I just worked my way through that list (about 200 terms), and it made my course reading so much easier that I would pay $13.50 for that list alone.

Buy the book and put the words on flash cards. It's a lot of time invested up front, but it's saving me a tremendous amount of time because I'm using my glossary sooo much less.

The volume of information in Word-Hoard is excellent, putting together conceptually and etymologically related words to condense the exercise of learning Old English vocabulary down. Each cluster of words has a write-up and individually the words are accompanied by grammatical details such as strength/gender, as well as all-important compounds made from the words.

All of this is typeset in dreary university typewriter font. For some, it will be an irritation but for others like myself who've delved into many such texts as part of a degree it may bring back fond memories. It's workable, let's leave it at that.

It's not an essential study book but it certainly adds its particular spice and works best alongside a good dictionary such as Bosworth/Toller or Clark. For those with an interest in Old English words it would be a lovely introduction to the vocabulary.

I think the less than stellar reviews are from people who are missing the point of the book. Reread the title, folks! Yes, it's a tiny thing; only a couple of pages long: and it looks like it was typeset back in the dark ages (hwaet-ha, I make funny joke, yes?), using an actual typewriter. More of a pamphlet really, and I guess I can understand being annoyed at paying $15 for a pamphlet. However, it contains all of the root words you need to form a respectable anglo saxon vocabulary. Does it deliver as such? I think it does. It's a sort of mini lexicon. It goes with me when I have a little down time for study. It will eventually find its way onto index cards. Might actually make a good thing to sell *as* index cards, if I might make the suggestion.

This book, to me, is one of a kind. I know of no other book that is at once so erudite and so enjoyable to read. For anyone interested in Old English or the history of the English language, few books will be more illuminating than THE WORD HOARD.

A small, but useful book in Old English language, it provides the new student a supplement while under the teachings of a OE tutor. A good reference work for all students of Old English.

This book is what it claims to be. A word hoard: a list of words and their meaning. It is a small book, but it is easy to carry around. The better word hoard is the grossly misnamed A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by John Richard. His book is massive, but burdensome to carry. I like Barney's word hoard, because it is so easy to take to the coffee shop or where ever you do your reading. A light book, but useful. Wyatt Kaldenberg