Navajo-English Dictionary

by Leon Wall and William Morgan

Book Overview

Navajo is spoken in the American Southwest (primarily Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah) by the Navajo people, or Dine'. The largest of all the Native American tribes, the Navajo are one of the few tribes that still use their native language in everyday communication. The Navajo language first appeared in writing in the mid-1800s. In 1939, the alphabet was standardized and printed materials were available. Shortly after, during World War II, bilingual...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0781802474
• ISBN13: 9780781802475
• Release Date: June 1994
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Navajo-English Dictionary

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.

Best Handi Book

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!

Clues to Code Talkers?

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, Arizonagiinisi -- fifteen centsha'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