Navajo-English Dictionary (Hippocrene Dictionary)

The largest of all the Native American tribes, the Navajo number about 125,000 and live mostly on reservations in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah.

Over 9,000 entries
A detailed section on Navajo pronunciation
A comprehensive, modern vocabulary
Useful, everyday expressions

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 Talkersy   May 13, 2001
 46 out of 51 found this review helpful

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, Arizona

giinisi -- fifteen cents

ha'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


Good but could be better.   February 4, 2001
 6 out of 11 found this review helpful

When looking for Native American word lists, this was the first dictionary I came across. I bought it because it was the only one I could find. If I had spent a little more time with it before I checked out I might not have, because this dictionary is not realy just words but entire thoughts and terms. This maybe just a function of the Navajo language or it may be just the way it was edited. If you are looking for a word list this is not the book for you.