The Concise Oxford Russian Dictionary

By Boris Ungebaun

This dictionary provides coverage of 120,000 words and phrases, and over 190,000 translations. It includes completely up-to-date treatment of contemporary Russian and English, including amniocentesis, global warming, information superhighway, multimedia, streetwise, and time-share. There is extra in-text grammatical information; extended constructions, complementation, and difficult points of grammar. It records Russian as it is used today, with special emphasis on modern idioms and colloquial usage, highlighted by numerous illustrative examples. The dictionary also covers common abbreviations and acronyms such as APC, HRT, PC, OMOH, and CKB.
New to this edition is a guide to Russian language and culture on the World-Wide-Web. A new guide to email and the Internet offers a unique gateway to language and culture in the Russian-speaking world. There is also a Thematic wordfinder, which brings together the essential vocabulary from a broad range of subject areas, including the environment, society, business and industry, communication, media, and the arts. Specially designed as a reference section for writing, it covers the key topics required by regional exam boards.

Discover more on oxforddictionaries.com, Oxford's hub for dictionaries and language reference.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0198601522
• ISBN13: 9780198601524
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 1024 Pages
• Weight: 3.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.3" x 6.2" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Review of the Concise Oxford

Very good as far as bilingual dictionaries go. Just regret that I should have got the larger ones. It has also good grammar tips.

Good dictionary, could be better

Regarding the comment about the absence of the word "children" - I checked my copy and sure enough, the plural isn't listed under "child". However, a Russian user looking under the Russian word for children will find the English word "children". I believe the omission probably has to do with this being primarily oriented toward English-speaking users. Irregular plurals of Russian words do seem to be listed at the main entry, e.g. the plural (actually plurals) of the word for "child". A friend gave me a copy of this dictionary and I use it mainly as a supplement to my main dictionary (Katzner's). The advantages of this one are that you are more likely to find a word such as an irregularly conjugated verb when you don't know the root. I still would like to see more cross-references in this regard. The disadvantages of this dictionary are that there are no helpful tables for declension/conjugation as found in Katzner's. Also, Katzner's has a useful section on proper nouns (geographical and people's names), though the Oxford does list some proper names in the main section. And as someone else mentioned, there is no indication when a Russian word isn't pronounced as expected from the spelling (Katzner's does show the pronunciation in these cases). I bought a copy of this dictionary for a Russian-speaking friend who is studying English, but as I mentioned it does seem to be primarily oriented toward English-speaking users and does have some limitations for Russian speakers. All the explanatory text, for example, is in English. But I think the main limitation is that all the clues for variations in meaning of a given word are in English, in both the English-Russian and Russian-English sections. It would probably be adequate for a Russian speaker in determining what an English word means, even when there are multiple meanings, as the correct Russian word could be deduced from the context. However, to determine how to translate a Russian word into English when there are several options to choose from would be difficult.

A good reference dictionary

This is an excellent dictionary for students of Russian. It is well-organized, attractive, and I have to not find a word I need. However, it is pretty big. I wouldn't advise buying it as a travel ditionary.

Excellent

Very comprehensive and an ideal companion to your Russian studies. It appears to have all I need in terms of vocabulary at a beginners/intermediate level, although it could contain more contemporary slang (important I feel when learning a language you will be exposed to on a daily basis)It is though the heaviest book I carry around daily and sometimes I could wish for a lighter dictionary!

Oxford does it again!!

Once again, Oxford University Press has released another outstanding foreign language dictionary!! Full of the everyday words and phrases any student of Russian needs to know, this dictionary is an essential addition to any language library. Oxford University Press has an outstanding reputation in the field of academic publications which really shines through in their dictionaries. The print is easy to read and the Cyrillic is crisp and clear compared with the smudged and hard to read text found in the cheaper dictionaries. The pronunciation guide in the front and the simple conjugation tables in the back make this an excellent dictionary even for beginners, while the HUGE number of entries makes sure you can always find the word you are looking for!!