Pilipino-English/English-Pilipino Phrasebook and Dictionary
Pilipino (Tagalog), the national language of the Philippines, is the most widely understood of the eight main Philippine languages, with over 10 million speakers. The ability to speak just a few words and phrases will greatly enhance the experience of traveling to the beautiful Philippine islands. A two-way dictionary with 2,500 entries and a phrasebook, with topics ranging from accommodations to colloquial expressions, are complemented by a basic grammar instruction as well as cultural information. Combining the benefits of both a dictionary and a phrasebook, this pocket-size volume provides the traveler or student with the tools for simple conversation.
Tuttle Practical Cambodian Dictionary
This is a compact and travel-friendly Cambodian-English, and English-Cambodian dictionary The Tuttle Practical Cambodian Dictionary answers the need for a dictionary of Cambodian that is handy, current, and useful to those with little or no experience with the Cambodian language. With other Cambodian dictionaries are designed for those who can read Cambodian script, this dictionary provides entries in both script and romanized form. Entries provide clear, precise definitions and sample phrases to illustrate the natural use of the language. Foreigners learning Cambodian and Cambodians learning English will find this dictionary a reliable and effective reference tool for their studies. Useful features include: both English-Cambodian and Combodian-English sections. Approximately 5,500 entries. All entries in both romanized and Cambodian script. Helpful appendixes and sample usages. Handy, compact size.
An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic
W. M. Thackston's AN INTRODUCTION TO KORANIC AND CLASSICAL ARABIC is an elementary-level grammar of standard classical Arabic, the literary norm of the Arabic language that has not changed appreciably in fourteen hundred years. An indispensable tool for all who are interested in Islamic religion, science, and literature, the language presented in this book will enable the learner to study firsthand the primary sources of Islamic civilization and the classics of the Islamic Near East. W. M. Thackston is Professor of the Practice in Persian and Other Near Eastern Languages at Harvard University, where he has taught Persian and Arabic for over twenty years. Author of numerous books and articles on the languages and literatures of the Near East, his works include a new English translation of the Baburnama, A Century of Princes: Sources on Timurid History and Art, and Tales from Luristan: Tales, Fables and Folk Poetry from the Lur of Bala-Gariva.
The Chinese Language for Beginners.
A simple introduction to Chinese writing, pronunciation and intonation using short stories. Appropriate for beginner Chinese students of all ages. Reading basic Chinese becomes simplified in this highly attractive and unique manual designed for readers of all ages. Chinese writing, pronunciation, and vocabulary are described here in an entertaining and interesting manner to help beginners learn Chinese quickly. The author starts with simple characters and then combines these to make sentences and stories. This step-by-step process allows the reader to develop a basic knowledge of the complex Mandarin Chinese language with maximum comprehension. A section dealing with pronunciation and intonation and a vocabulary list of the characters used in the book are included as an aid for the reader. Beautiful, imaginative Chinese characters, hand painted by a professional calligrapher and amusing illustrations by the author supplement the text and make learning to read Chinese fun along with fancy.
Essential Kanji
Essential Kanji is an integrated course for learning to read and write the 2,000 basic Japanese characters. It introduces the kanji that are now in everyday use, a mastery of which makes it possible to read most modern Japanese. Devised for either home or classroom use, the book has been tested and refined by years of use in university classes taught by the author.
Analysis of Chinese Characters
Chinese characters were not formed arbitrarily, despite (to a Western eye) their overall similarity yet bewildering multiplicity in detail. Over several thousands of years, early religious writers, court officials, scholars, poets, and eventually lexicographers created a body of material that shows a remarkable internal system. A few characters were originally pictographic; a few were arbitrary; but more were the result of combining phonetic elements with semantic features.This situation is not simply a historical curiosity, however; it offers a potentially great help to the student who is studying Chinese or Japanese characters, if he is aware of the patterns within the corpus of characters. In China and Japan, for hundreds of years, these derivational principles have been used as a teaching and mnemonic device; unfortunately, they have been greatly neglected in Western teaching.This volume analyzes thoroughly, yet in simple language, some 1,000 Sino-Japanese characters, beginning with simple words like "I," "you," "he," and the plural particle for pronouns, and works through a high-frequency vocabulary of characters. For each character it offers a printed form and, where such exists, a seal form; a transcription of the pronunciation into modern Mandarin, including tonal indications; and a full English translation. A body of text then explains the historical origin of the character, its semantic content, its components, including its radical in the traditional system. All this information is based on both the older compilations like the Shuo Wen and such modern studies as Wieger's monumental work.This is far and away the most useful analysis of characters for the beginner or intermediate student. There is nothing else quite like it on the market. Full, clearly analyzed, faithful, it will make the learning of characters far easier and far more pleasant than brute memory. It should be owned by every student and teacher of Chinese or Japanese.
Essential Japanese Grammar
Although not a member of the Indo-European language family, Japanese is not too difficult grammatically for an English speaker. It is astonishingly regular in its formations -- exceptions and irregularities can usually be numbered on one's fingers -- and once the student masters a few conventions of linguistic classifications of experience, he will find that he can express most of his wants.This is the first Japanese grammar written for the adult with a limited objective in studying Japanese: to express oneself orally with reasonable accuracy; to understand simple material addressed to oneself; and to be able to analyze, understand, and enlarge material in a phrase approach.The author has limited this book to modern colloquial Japanese, and does not overburden the student with literary language, rarely used alternate forms, unnecessary abrupt forms, causatives and direct conditionals, and similar forms that might be required for a full knowledge of the written language. On the other hand, this book is not simplified Japanese, nor baby Japanese, nor kitchen Japanese. It is the full idiomatic language, with thorough treatments of the material you really need: the noun, pronoun, adjective, demonstrative words, adverb, verb, negative forms, Chinese forms, courtesy and honorific forms, idiomatic constructions, word order, relationship of ideas, syntax, etc.Emphasis has been placed upon clarity of exposition, so that the English-speaking reader can understand what is really happening in Japanese, even if he has never studied any foreign language before. For this reason, explanation rather than brute memory work is stressed, examples are given for all constructions, and both word-for-word and free translations are given, to acquaint the reader with thought processes. Hints are given on avoiding difficult constructions. Japanese is presented in the Romaji transliteration, which can be read at sight. Characters are not used.
