Average customer rating:
- so/so
- Not very good, but certainly better than nothing.
- Complex & Confusing
- Not a true bilingual dictionary, but excellent nonetheless
- Excellent for a serious learner.
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Oxford English-Hindi Dictionary
S. K. Verma
Manufacturer: Laurier Books Ltd
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Similar Items:
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The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary
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Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi Script
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Teach Yourself Hindi Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (Teach Yourself Language Complete Courses)
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Introduction to Hindi Grammar
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Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary
ASIN: 0195648196
Release Date: 2003-06-01 |
Book Description
With over 25,000 words and phrases, the Oxford English-Hindi Dictionary offers comprehensive coverage of everyday vocabulary. Each English headword is translated into Hindi, and expressions and phrases illustrate how words are used in context. Words are labelled in Hindi according to subject, and whether the language is formal or informal, and there is plenty of useful information on the usage of various English words. Other helpful features include grammatical information on irregular verbs, nouns, and adjectives, and easy-to-understand pronunciations in Hindi script for every headword. The dictionary also contains useful appendices on Roman numerals, weights and measures, and chemical elements. All of these features are packed into a compact, portable format, making this the ideal dictionary for learners and teachers of English, and those who want to improve their command of the English language.
Customer Reviews:
so/so.......2007-02-14
not as good as Oxfords Hindi-English dictionary for an English speaker; however it is a good companion to the Hindi-English. For example get the word you need from the English-Hindi then look it up in the Hindi-English for a better understanding and grammar. I am glad I got it for that but I would not rush to get it b/c it is expensive and not very big.
Not very good, but certainly better than nothing........2007-01-11
This dictionary is indeed rather complex. I read the script perfectly and even still can't make much sense out of a great deal of it. Whether or not its in script or not is not the issue here. The issue is alot of the words aren't really the words used in Hindi. They are more words adopted from English than the sanskritized words. So for those of us wishing to learn the traditional truely Hindi words this could pose a problem. Another thing that is ridiculous is alot of basic words such as "Spanish" aren't in this dictionary. For a dictionary that is supposed to be so concise I'd hardly consider basic words like "Spanish" a word to leave out. I am sure there are better dictionaries out there and wouldn't really recommend it, but I suppose it's better than nothing.
Complex & Confusing.......2006-07-03
I bought the wrong book. This book was too complex and confusing.
Not a true bilingual dictionary, but excellent nonetheless.......2006-07-01
I just have to clarify some aspects of this book. Since it has been designed to help people whose mother tongue is Hindi learn English, it does not translate all the words directly from English to Hindi. However, often there are rather explanations of the English terms provided in Hindi, while some words do not have the requisite English-to-Hindi translation (one word to one word) one would expect from such a dictionary. Further more, the words which are directly translated, do NOT contain the crucial information on their grammatical gender in Hindi (again, it is clearly not a bilingual dictionary and not a "companion" to the Hindi-English dictionary by R.S. McGregor). Still, the book has helped me a lot in learning Hindi's written language.
The reason why this book does not always offer one-word translations of English words, is that they simply do not exist in Hindi. As a native speaker with full proficiency in Hindi (but only the oral language, hence trying to learn the written language), I can affirm that fact. A lot of words relating to Western concepts do not have equivalents in Indian culture, and therefore no real Indian words. Still, the majority of the English words are given direct Hindi translations.
This book does give some colourful and generally humorous translations of concepts which are quite recent or alien in India - for instance pizza (not the best example) is translated roughly as "a round piece of dough on which one may put tomatos". Quite funny to read those kinds of entries!
This dictionary is made in India for people whose native tongue is Hindi and who wish to learn English. That is why there is no information provided on the Hindi nouns' genders. The publication is therefore not intended for non-Hindi speakers to use as an English-Hindi dictionary.
Still, being an Oxford dictionary, I will highly recommend it. The book is excellent in its coverage of Western terms and concepts and gives explanations and translations in the finest form of Hindi I have probably ever read, clearly adhering to Oxford's renowned standards. It still serves as a bilingual dictionary, and serious students will most surely have profit from using it. I have three other English-Hindi dictionaries (and they are, in contrast to this one, marketed as English-Hindi dictionaries for Anglophones learning Hindi) and none of them can compare with the breadth and quality of this Oxford work.
For a formal review and synopsis, consult the product information page for this dictionary at the British version of Amazon, at www.amazon.co.uk . This American version has not added that information.
Excellent for a serious learner........2006-04-18
This dictionary uses the Hindi script exclusively for Hindi writing. I suspect that the dictionary is aimed at Hindi speakers for whom english is a second language. There is actually little english in the dictionary other than the words and their corresponding examples.
This dictionary is best suited to people serious about Hindi. I haven't checked out any other dictionaries, but I suspect that there are other ones beter suited to people with a more causual interest.
Otherwise it is a dictionary form Oxford so it is good. It has a large range of words. A cheaper paperback version would be nice.
Book Description
This thoroughly modern and accessible course in Hindi teaches both Hindi and romanized script.
Colloquial Hindi is easy to use and completely up-to-date. Specially written by an experienced teacher for self-study or class use, the course offers you a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Hindi. No prior knowledge of the language is required.
What makes
Colloquial Hindi your best choice in personal language learning?
* it's interactive - lots of exercises for regular practice
* it's clear - concise grammar notes
* it's practical - useful vocabulary and pronunciation guide
* it's complete - including answer key and special reference section.
Cassettes accompany the course to help you with listening and pronunciation skills. By the end of this rewarding course you will be able to communicate confidently and effectively in a broad range of situations.
Customer Reviews:
Was expecting a little more........2007-09-25
Although it's a great intro with lively discussions and a great deal of vocabulary is introduced and incorporated, it's not all toghether "the" best primer available, especially since it lacks heavily in regards to verbs, conjugations, and other aspects. It's GREAT for complete beginners, but a speaker with some working knowledge may find it a tad bit unchallenging.
if you're a complete newbie, i recommed getting this fair-quality book, but just know its not great.......2006-06-17
ok, this is a good book. by studying from this, you'll develop a knowledge of basic hindi grammar backed by a couple hundred words. it is broken into 2 parts. the first 10 lessons is about speaking and the second last six is about writing. i'm now on lesson 9 of the first part and spending a little reviewing the previous lessons.
i have 1 major complaint about this book. WAY TOO MUCH VOCAB IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE FIRST TEN LESSONS. by this, i mean that if u want 2 learn how to count, say colors,illnesses, and common everyday foods, u must look at the glossary.most aren't included in the dialogues. hindi #'s are very,very irregular compared 2 english and trying to look it up in the glossary and memorize like that makes things harder. (i can only count up 2 twenty so far and i'm on the 9th lesson!). the same goes for the other things i mentioned.
and 2 add a little more, the author likes to explain things clearly. but explain things clearly by using linguistic or language jargon. i had to find out on my own wat transitive and intransitive verbs were on own 4 example.
but other than these, everything seems fine to me. but i havent tried the writing lessons. and do get the cd's. but if u can't u'll survive with the cassettes(although that'll be a little harder with those)
BUT BEWARE! SUM INDIAN PEOPLE ARE RUDE AND UNFRIENDLY!(NOT EVERYONE IS LIKE THAT THANK GOODNESS). i know this personally. they might think u to be a criminally insane freak 4 ur interest in the language.
but pakistanese on the other hand are people u won't have to worry about. the ones i've met are very impressed by my limited knowledge of hindi.
good luck!
Suitable For Whetting Your Curiosity And More.......2006-05-23
I purchased both the book and the audio CD, and so far I've read maybe 8 or so pages, but have played the CDs quite a bit as a companion to my daily commute. Bhatia is my first exposure to Hindi langauge instruction. So far the experience has been enjoyable, though a lot of Hindi letters sound alike to my tin ear.
Compared to products I've used for other langauges (mostly Berlitz tapes), the Hindi CD is a vast improvement, moving beyond "set piece conversation" into more general usage.
Obviously, I'm not in a position to critique Bhatia's style of instruction or other technical details.
The CDs I received are "burned" (CD-Rs) with one-color silk screening, and not pressed. That's OK, but for extra safety, ripping a copy for general use is recommended. Keeping CD-Rs in hot cars is an express ticket to data oblivion.
My only minor gripe is that I wish that those who write about Hindi or Indian culture would stop apologizing for India's social problems. Remember, the USA broke away from Great Britain in 1776 with a population of about 3 million. India started her own path in 1947 with a population hundreds of times greater. It took the USA roughly 70-80 years to achieve social and economic milestones comparable to Europe. So just chill and remember that respect comes to those with lots of money and power (such as one gains by splitting the atom.)
User-friendly intro to an extremely important world language.......2005-06-20
Bohut acche! Tej K. Bhatia's book is an outstanding, gentle, yet comprehensive introduction to the Hindi language for a beginner. It's difficult to cite the numerous reasons why this book is so valuable for the apprehensive beginning language-learner, but I'll make an attempt to summarize the high points:
(1) Bhatia is careful not to overwhelm the beginning learner with the complexities of the Devanagari script too early. He has the perfect instructor's touch here, rendering most of the early dialogues in Roman characters while gradually easing the learner into Devanagari as he/she gains more confidence in the basics of speaking and comprehending.
(2) Bhatia's book has just enough grammar to give any Hindi learner a handy mental framework for organizing the rules of sentence construction, without being too intimidating. Happily, Hindi grammar resembles that of Mandarin Chinese in some respects, though not quite as simple as Mandarin-- it's fairly consistent, broad-brushed enough to allow sophisticated emotional and logical expression yet accessible enough that even beginning students can basically vocalize their thoughts after just a couple weeks of study. Bhatia does a fine job of really organizing this grammar in the right sequence, explaining the niceties of Hindi syntax while taking some of the language's trickier aspects (e.g. postpositions, as in Japanese, participles, causatives, the oblique) and making them seem eminently manageable.
(3) Pronunciation, often neglected in self-teaching language books, gets more than a cursory treatment here, an asset not to be downplayed!
(4) The tape/CDs have a wealth of spoken material and can be conveniently played at home, on the road or on the plane or train or bus.
(5) Bhatia's book, as the series title suggests, really focuses on Hindi as a colloquial idiom. While this may at first seem trivial, it's a very important asset to his book! In India, there are in effect two forms of Hindi-- the formalized literary version used in ceremonial and official circumstances, and the popular "Bollywood" Hindi that's used on the street and in the markets throughout India and, indeed, much of the world (including in quite a few South Asian shops in New York City, where this "common Hindi" is a sort of lingua franca). It's this colloquial Hindi (very closely resembling Urdu), essentially, that's so rapidly become a world language and taken much of the world by storm as Bollywood movies and music, among other Indian exports, become so popular.
In practice, this "colloquial Hindi" isn't even entirely Hindi, but a hybrid spoken tongue with a Hindi foundation plus plenty of contributions from Malayalam, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, and other Indian as well as European languages tossed in to spice the mix, popular throughout the Subcontinent in its varieties. While Bhatia doesn't delve too much into the varied vocabulary of this "dialectical Hindi(ish)" language, his dialogues and idiomatic expressions do a fine job of conveying true conversational Hindi to the learner and thus providing a nice basis for communicating in the popular Hindi that's actually used between native speakers.
In its dialectical varieties, Hindi-Urdu has close to a billion speakers worldwide, may soon become a UN official language and-- along with Spanish and Mandarin Chinese-- may well be one of the "essential languages" of the 21st century as India continues its ascent. Moreover, since Hindi is a fellow Indo-European language, it has enough similarities to intrigue and delight a native European-language speaker and smooth the learning process. In fact, if you've already learned an important European language like French, German or Spanish-- or Farsi Persian or Dari, which Hindi-Urdu in many ways resembles-- you'll have a headstart in mastering the quirks and structures of Hindi, especially as Bhatia presents it.
Besides which, Hindi is a beautiful and poetic language that sings as much as it speaks, equally at home conveying complicated scientific concepts as in expressing the deepest emotions of the heart. Bhatia is an experienced and talented teacher of this wonderful language, and after just a couple months of studying you'll find yourself able to communicate at a decent level, maybe even humming some Hindi music during your lunch break.
Barhaiya! Really excellent.......2005-01-22
This is a fantastic resource. I have just received my copy and already I am in love with it. It is very well-written, and strikes a nice balance between the structure of the langauge and usability. I especially like that the author is no fan of prescriptivists, and so presents "Hindi as she is spoke". I would not say that it is "better" than Snell's TYH, but it takes a slightly different approach, and is, in my opinion a great complement to the other work.
My only gripes are the way that all the devanagari is stuck at the back (grr!) and that I had to buy the book and CD separately. Even with those minuses, it is absolutely worth it, and I would rate it a must have.
Book Description
This book introduces Proto-Indo-European and explores what the language reveals about the people who spoke it. The Proto-Indo-Europeans lived somewhere in Europe or Asia between 5,500 and 8,000 years ago, and no text of their language survives. J. P. Mallory and Douglas Adams show how over the last two centuries scholars have reconstructed it from its descendant languages, the surviving examples of which comprise the world's largest language family. After a concise account of Proto-Indo-European grammar and a consideration of its discovery, they use the reconstructed language and related evidence from archaeology and natural history to examine the lives, thoughts, passions, culture, society, economy, history, and environment of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Our distant ancestors had used the wheel, were settled arable farmers, kept sheep and cattle, brewed beer, got married, made weapons, and had 27 verbs for the expression of strife. The subjects to which the authors devote chapters include fauna, flora, family and kinship, clothing and textiles, food and drink, space and time, emotions, mythology, religion, and the continuing quest to discover the Proto-Indo-European homeland. Proto-Indo-European-English and English-Proto-Indo-European vocabularies and full indexes conclude the book. Written in a clear, readable style and illustrated with maps, figures, and tables, this book is on a subject of great and enduring fascination. It will appeal to students of languages, classics, and the ancient world, as well as to general readers interested in the history of language and of early human societies.
Customer Reviews:
An interesting reference for the reconstruction of PIE, but not a satisfying introduction.......2007-07-12
When I heard that Oxford University Press would be publishing THE OXFORD INTRODUCTION TO PROTO-INDO-EUROPEAN AND THE INDO-EUROPEAN WORLD, I was excited. I envisioned an update of Oswald Szemerenyi's old Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics that, because of the specific research interests of authors J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams, would not only reflect contemporary developments in IE linguistics, but would seamlessly show what we can reconstruct for the culture of PIE speakers. Well, the book is something like that, but it turns out not to be much of a useful introduction to the field.
The book is over 700 pages long, but the introduction to Proto-Indo-European itself is quite small, less than a 100 pages really. It's certainly no substitute for a real handbook like Szemerenyi's, Beekes', Fortson's, or (my favourite) Lehmann's. The branches of Indo-European, its phonology and the basics of its morphology, and the debate over the relationship between the disparate languages that are first attested are set out. The authors nicely use Schleier's tale in its progressive versions to show how reconstructions of Proto-Indo-European have been consistently refined. While the view of Proto-Indo-European is generally the same as in introductions from the 1990s, the authors do reconstruct four laryngeals instead of the usual three, and prefer the transcription *h-subscript-x for an unknown laryngeal instead of *H.
The bulk of the book's content concerns the reconstruction of PIE lexicon, with chapters divided along such themes as "Food and Drink", "Speech and Sound", and "Material Culture". This portion is exciting, especially when the authors link reconstruction to archaeological evidence to make even more detailed ventures about the nature of PIE society. Nonetheless, the material can be tiresome to read straight through; it works best in pieces or in consultation for specific topics.
A final chapter discusses the debate over the IE homeland, where the authors remain very non-committal about the whole deal. There are two appendices. The first sets out basic sound correspondences between PIE and the major IE groups in tabular form. The second a PIE-English and English-PIE wordlist, nearly a hundred pages long. The bibliography and general index together are nearly 200 pages long. So, one can understand that the book contains quite a bit that might seem "fluff".
If you are a student of Indo-European linguistics with previous knowledge gained through one of the great handbooks like Lehmann's Theoretical Bases of Indo-European Linguistics, then the reconstruction of the lexicon in this work of Mallory and Adams is sure to offer some entertainment. However, this is the sort of the thing that is best consulted in a university library, and I found the book not worth obtaining for a home collection.
thorough survey of whole field of PIE studies.......2006-11-20
In 26 chapters, each with a helpful "Further Reading" section, Mallory and Adams offer a thorough survey of the current status of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) studies. In their introduction they acknowledge the example of Buck's A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages, asserting that they "have indeed aimed to do for Proto-Indo-European something of what Buck did for the individual Indo-European languages," and they succeed. Therefore, readers looking for detailed analyses of - for instance - the current state of knowledge about the PIE verb, the most complex part of the language, will find themselves disappointed. But then such readers already know which journals to read to follow current debates at the cutting edge, and the ample bibliographies here will also serve them well. Glottalic theory, to pick another favorite sticking point, likewise receives brief treatment, but with a balanced observation typical of the book's treatment of differing theories as a whole: "Fortunately, one can interchange the reconstructed forms between the traditional system and the variety of newly proposed systems in a relatively mechanical fashion. The traditional system is understood by all, and until the weight of scholarly opinion dismisses it for a single new system ... it remains the one most often cited." Nineteen chapters, the heart of the text, focus on the larger PIE world, with word lists, helpful summary charts and detailed discussion of semantic fields for clothing, religion, physical actions, relationships, food and drink, speech and sound, anatomy, and so on. The over 250 pages of appendices and indices, including a lexicon of some 2000 Proto-Indo-European roots (with both English-PIE and PIE-English sections), alone make this volume worth owning. As a challenging text for undergrad linguistics majors, or an excellent and readable survey for grad students in other fields, as well for as the general reader interested in linguistic and cultural reconstruction, this text will serve admirably.
Customer Reviews:
For language students only.......2006-01-28
If you are a linguistics major this is perhaps a nice reference work. If you are looking for an introduction to Indo-European languages for the non-specialist(as I was), you will probably be as disappointed in this book as I am. It is replete with insider jargon, nitnoids for the linguistics student cramming for the finals. It is for study, not for reading.
An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages.......2002-08-06
This is an extremely helpful introduction to Indo-European Languages. If you know nothing about Aryan languages, this is a very layman friendly book. A great overview. The author never tries to drown you with his PHd. This book is pretty Egghead free and that suits me. Not all of us have rich mommies and daddies who can pay our way through Yale. The author gets that. Thank the Gods!
Well-presented, but not exactly a reference work........2001-10-13
While rich with details on the discovery and identification processes for many of the languages and families discussed, this work is somewhat lacking in detailed information on the languages themselves. Where I was expecting paradigms, conjugations and comparisons, organised in a manner that was consistent between each family, I got instead a collection of loosely-related essays, that could easily have been written by different authors, each with a different purpose.
Additionally, Baldi seems to be somewhat outside the "conventional wisdom", in his opinion both of the structure of the Indo-european proto-language and in the relatedness of the languages descended from it. For example, in detailing the proto-language, he reconstructs a series of Voiceless Aspirates (in addition to the Plain, Voiced (or Glottalic) and Aspirated series), along with a series of four Laryngeals (rather than three) and an Eleven-part vocalic system (long and short 'a','e','i','o' and 'u', plus schwa). He seems happy to group together Armenian, Greek, Messapic, Raetic (sic) and Illyrian, but seems unwilling to support a well-established group like Italo-Celtic.
If you are prepared and able to see beyond (largely cosmetic) things like this, the book still makes a very worthwhile addition to any enthusiasts bookshelf. However, I'd caution students not to use this book as your primary source.
Cliff's Notes for Indo-European Languages.......2001-05-26
This is a fantastic book! Baldi provides coverage of each of the subfamilies of Indo-European with a discussion of it's history, importance to Indo-European Linguistics, characteristics (morphology, phonology, syntax), a short sample text, a comparative analysis of important features, and discussion of any features or perspectives that make the individual group interesting or unique. If you're new to the field, this provides a wonderful introduction, if you're not--this is the Cliff's Notes--an overview of the highlight's and details you'd better have down cold if you claim to be an expert.
A very concise introduction to Indo-European languages.......1998-06-15
This is a very concise and well-systematized book. Almost all about the The Indo-European languages were described very briefly and specifically in this small book. The author gives very brief presentation for short phonological and morphological characteristics for each Indo-European language as well as the sample texts, adding the relevant references to every end of the chapter. The vast range of information on Indo-European languages were well summarized in the total 214 pages of the book. I would like to recommend it to the beginners.
Book Description
Now available in paperback, this major new Hindi-English dictionary (the first published for over a century) has been produced to meet the need of a growing number of people now learning and studying Hindi. Reflecting the many-sided development of Hindi during the 20th century, it provides over 36,000 headwords, with generous use of illustrative material showing words in use. Both colloquial and literary vocabulary is covered, together with some modern regional variants. The `Urdu' vocabulary of Hindi is well represented, as well as modern Hindi and English.
Customer Reviews:
Not Appropriate For a Beginning Learner.......2007-09-18
I wish I would have known there was no English to Hindi section in this dictionary before buying it.
I am still baffled as to why it was the only dictionary required for a Hindi 101 class.
BEWARE!!!.......2007-09-08
If you are an English speaker attempting to learn Hindi but do not know Hindi script, do not buy THIS dictionary! All of the words are "alphabetized" by Hindi script, making it nearly impossible to look up a word you may only know the romanization of. for example, I have not learned any sript yet, but I wanted to look up the word "shanti." I still can't find where it is.
I know i ordered the wrong book.
As Advertised.......2007-03-24
The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary is everything I hoped it would be. The Devanagari script is easily readable, the word selection is reasonably comprehensive, and the explanations are good.
I only wish there was a good English-Hindi Dictionary that I could pair with this volume. I looked around quite a bit before getting this dictionary, and I'm still looking for the right English-Hindi edition. Right now I'm using Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary for English-to-Hindi, but it only has a few select words.
Excellent resource.......2006-05-31
I agree with many other reviewers in that this is best suited to intermediate/advanced or serious students of Hindi. Casual users or beginners may find it quite frustrating as all the entries are in Hindi.
I bought it BECAUSE the entries are in Hindi and it forces me to learn Hindi at a much faster pace. It is an excellent resource and I am thoroughly pleased with this purchase!
Very good, but it only goes one way........2006-04-05
This dictionary is very complete however it only goes one way. It is superb for finding the meaning of Hindi words. However, as it only goes one way, this dictionary cannot be used to find the Hindi equivalents of English words. I would recommend the Oxford English-Hindi Dictionary by S. K. Verma for that.
The words are listed in Devanagari, although roman transliteration is placed alongside. This makes this dictionary inappropriate for people who just want to learn some rough phrases. For any English speaker seriously learning Hindi (that is becoming literate in Hindi) this dictionary is a must.
Book Description
Colloquial Latvian is a practical course in everyday written and spoken Latvian requiring no prior knowledge of the language. This book is ideal for study independently or with a teacher. Cassettes recorded by native Latvian speakers are also available.
This paperback in the Colloquial Language Learning Series is available individually here or as part of a cassette pack. To purchase the book
and the cassettes, please refer to the cassette pack listing for this language.
Customer Reviews:
Excellence .......2007-03-10
The book I purchased was delivered to my house in great condition. It was if I had just bought the book at a book store.
Not for the beginner.......2006-09-07
I really do want to learn to speak Latvian but this book is way beyond me. I bought it 4 years ago and ocassionally for a laugh I pull out the tape and listen in confusion to someone chattering along quickly in Latvian in lesson 1. I cannot imagine that anyone would find this helpful, unless they are just brushing up on their Latvian.
Another Great Latvian Book.......2005-09-30
very easy to understand! I love how easy books are made in these days for people to learn Latvian language!
Amazing pack.......2004-07-24
COLLOQUIAL LATVIAN is a nice resource for those who want to learn Latvian. The writer uses an inovative way to teach the language that makes you feel confident to speak and understand. Recommended for those who want to improve spoken knowledge. Buy this pack and feel like you were in a Latvian family. "Tas ir ljoti labi!"
Not useful for beginners.......2004-07-20
This book was confusing for me, a beginner, and within ten days I returned it for a refund. It may be fine for a more advanced student, but beginners should avoid it and the frustration that it causes. I recommend instead the "Easy Way to Latvian" book and tapes set for beginners, which is a much more accessible course. Veiksmi!
Book Description
In this book Colin Renfrew directs remarkable new light on the links between archaeology and language, looking specifically at the puzzling similarities that are apparent across the Indo-European family of ancient languages, from Anatolia and Ancient Persia, across Europe and the Indian subcontinent, to regions as remote as Sinkiang in China. Professor Renfrew initiates an original synthesis between modern historical linguistics and the new archaeology of cultural process, boldly proclaiming that it is time to reconsider questions of language origins and what they imply about ethnic affiliation--issues seriously discredited by the racial theorists of the 1920s and 1930s and, as a result, largely neglected since. Challenging many familiar beliefs, he comes to a new and persuasive conclusion: that primitive forms of the Indo-European language were spoken across Europe some thousands of years earlier than has previously been assumed.
Customer Reviews:
Reason vs. Dogma.......2007-01-15
This is an excellent iconoclastic overview of an often maligned people who were to provide the basis for western civilization. Although Mr. Renfrew comes across as a reasonable scholar - often noting the tenuousness of his own conclusions and fairly articulating opposing views - he is vilified by the old guard - the Gimbutas gang of western-bashing renown.
Another reviewer cites Mallory's work, In Search of the Indo-Europeans, as a more scholarly and correct work. I do encourage others to read it. Note how many paranoid attacks are made specifically of Mr. Renfrew (by name). It is almost as though he believes Mr. Renfrew has the intellectual high ground and he must resort to ad hominem tirades instead of reason to bolster his tottering old viewpoint.
Mr. Renfrew's detractors have certainly missed the forest for the trees. All of archeology and historical linguistics is glued together with speculation - so, rather than arguing over arcane details it is sometimes good to resort to reason.
Mr. Renfrew's reasoning, void of political correctness, is refreshing and enlightening.
Archaeologist with little linguistic training tries to tacke it all.......2005-08-31
ARCHAEOLOGY AND LANGUAGE is Colin Refrew's presentation for laymen of the problem of the linguistic affinity of most of the peoples of Europe and ancient Western Asia. Written by a scholar influenced by Britain's current disbelief against historical migrations, Renfrew argues that common linguistic elements spread through the ancient world not through the sudden invasion of a single people, but through the peaceful spread of agriculture out of Anatolia.
On one hand, it is nice to see a challenge to Marija Gimbutas theory, which got increasingly weird the longer she articulated it, that the Indo-Europeans were bloodthirsty patriarchal invaders who swept into matiarchal and peaceful old Europe introducing war. Renfrew, however, goes to far in the opposite direction and the work has serious problems, many of which are common to the works of Renfrew's school. The author has no problem speaking of the occupation of the Carpathian basin by the Magyars, and presumably he believes in recent Turkic migrations, but he refuses to accept migrations in pre-historical times. One of his three points against an South Russian origin is simply "It is a migrationist view." The Indo-Europeans are a people uniquely identified with horsemanship--look at the popularity horses in Greek and Germanic onomastics, and the words for "axle", "yoke", and "horse" itself are common to nearly all branches, so moving over long distances would certainly be within their reach. Yet, Renfrew asserts that there is no evidence that horsemanship was important to ancient speakers of IE languages.
Renfrew is also not a very committed historical linguist. His presentation of family trees is overly simplistic, with flat-out inaccuracies such as saying that German is descended from Gothic and all of the Slavonic languages from Old Church Slavonic. He seems to be quoting mostly from introductory handbooks of comparative IE linguistics instead of speaking from deep personal familiarity. The only authorities I would really trust to present this material are either amazing polymaths who are simultaneously excellent archaeologists and linguists, or archaeologist-linguist collaborations.
If you are interested in the fascinating question of IE origins and the various solutions which have been proposed, I'd recommend J.P. Mallory's IN SEARCH OF THE INDO-EUROPEANS, which is not perfect but does a good job of showing many viewpoints.
Interesting but overzealous.......2004-12-03
Colin Renfrew's hypothesis that the spread and development of Indo European languages had more to do with static, less-migratory population groups than military conquest is one that has been tossed about for some time now in linguistic and anthropological circles. I found Renfrew's theories interesting, but I wonder how much of it is reactionary? Anthro-linguistic theory up until the 1940's was dominated by varying degrees of both racism and xenophobia - hence the preoccupation with locating a linguistic Urheimat or wellspring from which Indo-European language developed. Scholars from recent generations have undoubtedly found themselves in the uncomfortable position of sorting through volumes of past linguistic research peppered with references to "Aryans" and "High/Low cultures." Quite simply, past anthropological theory up until the time of Franz Boas held that culture was a byproduct of race. This theory was pushed to its logical extreme in National Socialist Germany. The knee-jerk reaction of post WW2 anthropologists and linguists seems to have been to run in the absolute opposite direction. While this shift in theory holds a great deal of validity, it would seem that a tremendous amount of research has been disregarded. Colin Renfrew in this work passionately and consistently attacks and seeks to refute the findings of many past scholars. In the abstract some of his criticisms are well founded, but after completing the book I felt the ease with which he junks past research clouded his overall thesis. That said, the book is still well written and interesting and belongs on the reading list of anyone interested in the embryonic formation of Indo-European languages
A fun read, nevertheless.......2004-11-10
Yes, the Anatolian origin for Indo-European is questionable at best, and most scholars don't believe it; neither is it supported by any independent data based on physiology, such as blood grouping studies, that I know of. Unfortunately, it is necessary for Professor Renfrew's time line that the point of origin be west of the areas usually recognized.
However, there is something compelling about his picture of the spread of language through expansion more than through migration and invasion. The idea of large numbers of fairly primitive tribes leapfrogging hither and thither almost at random through Europe displacing, defeating, and/or giving language lessons to any indigenous populations they encounter is neither attractive nor elegant.
In either case, this book is engagingly written and can be understood and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the subject. Even if the theory is not valid, there is much food for thought here; reading it is time well spent.
reasonable if not compelling.......2003-12-22
Judging from the reviews posted so far, this appears to be a topic over which there is heated disagreement. Notwithstanding the assertions that Professor Renfew's rejection of mass migrations is nothing more than a political agenda, however, there really do seem to be reasons to doubt whether the spread of Indo-European into Europe was the result of a late immigration.
The latest genetic evidence of which I am aware includes studies both of the Y chromosome and of mitochondrial DNA, and both seem to agree in the broad picture that they paint: that modern Europeans are in the main a combination of three groups:
(1) an early paleolithic population that separated into a eastern and a western branch during the last ice age
(2) a later paleolithic group that settled in central Europe
(3) neolithic farmers, late mimmigrants from the Middle East, who spread out along the Mediterranean coast
Archaeologically, there seems to have been only one movement of importance that could plausibly be associated with the spread of Indo-European: the movement of the Danubian farmers that seems to correspond to the genetic population (2) plus smaller elements of population (3) from whom they presumably learned agriculture. Indo-European words seem to indicate a level of culture that would be appropriate for the Danubian farmers: the knowledge of grain and grape crops, livestock, metal, wheeled vehicles, and forts, but not cities, weights and measures, irrigation, or an advanced mathematical system. The Indo-European number seven, for example, is apparently borrowed from Semitic, which argues against mathematical sophistication. Judging from the apparent lack of words for them, the early Indo-Europeans do not seem to have been aware of any non-European animals except leopards, which were abundant in neighboring Anatolia. Claims have been made that they had words for monkey, elephant, and even snow leopard, buth they seem to be doubtful: the claimed words for monkey, for example, are almost certainly borrowed from Semitic.
Profressor Renfew of course advocates an Anatolian rather than a European origin for Indo-European, and it is harder to comment on specifically that aspect of his thesis. Indo-European apparently did not, as he notes, have a word for olive, nor, one might add, for fig, pomegranate, or antelope, as one might expect from a group originating in Anatolia, but it seems impossible to rule it out. Perhaps the Danubian farmers got not merely their knowledge of farming, but their language as well, from immigrants.
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Old Hittite Sentence Structure (Croom Helm Linguistics Series)
Silvia Luraghi
Manufacturer: Routledge
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Cryptically technical but with some flashes of good insight.......1998-07-16
I was looking for more connections and illuminations to be made about this interesting language evolution. The author luxuriates in techno-babble which limits the reading to scholars at Harvard and Oxford. There are interesting passages, some sentances some paragraphs, which deal with insights into how Latin became so grammatically complex. Grammaticalization is the term used to describe how for example the complex verb and noun endings were formerly prepositions or nouns or verbs that fused to the root word to make a new word richer in meaning or nuance.
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