Review by Choice Review
Manser's dictionary defines 4,000 terms and expressions from other languages, some completely integrated into English ("casserole," "futon," "parenthesis," "stipendium") while others continue to be perceived as foreign ("ca m'est egal," "lex loci," "schwarmerei," "yeshiva"). The vocabulary covers everyday expressions ("bon viveur," "pro forma"), technical terminology ("camera lucida," "Verfremdungseffekt"), and tags and quotations ("obscurum per obscurius," "pour encourager les autres") drawn from literature, religion, law, politics, philosophy, entertainment, cuisine, music, etc. All entries give part of speech, pronunciation in American English (guide to pronunciation, p. viii-ix), language of origin, meanings in the original language, and examples or literary quotations to illustrate usage. Cross-references point from less similar spellings or abbreviations to commonly used spellings ("oesophagus/esophagus," "int. al./inter alia"). The index arranges words and phrases by language of origin. If some languages have lent only one word to English (Egyptian "ankh," Finnish "sauna," Icelandic "geyser," Javanese "batik," Malagasy "raffia"), others--French, Italian, Greek, Latin--have left a solid imprint (1,200 entries of French origin). A valuable resource for students, writers, and readers that belongs in any library, private or institutional. H. G.B. Anghelescu Wayne State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
As the English language ceaselessly absorbs and assimilates more and more elements of other languages, Manser has reason to quote Emerson's observation that English is indeed "the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven." In this volume he presents more than 4,000 examples, from Abacus to Zombie. Information regarding grammar and usage accompanies each entry, and in many entries examples are included to lessen the possibility of misuse. Etymological information is provided as well. All of the entries are indexed, individually and by language, and variant spellings are cross-referenced. Manser's pronunciation system offers good approximations of foreign sounds. A two-page guide in the introduction is simple and readily understood, for example, Manser's pronunciation of mutatis mutandis: "myootahtas myootandas," with an underline indicating the accented syllable in the second word (that accent being dominant in the phrase) but no accent indicated in the other word, a practice consistent throughout. Many entries include variant pronunciations, but Latin words beginning with vare all represented with a vee sound, as in ad verbum, rendered as "ad verbam," following the ecclesiastical method, without acknowledging the acceptability of the classical pronunciation--which renders the first syllable of "verbum" as "wer." A small matter. Designed to meet the needs and expectations of a general readership, Manser's book should be a strong contender in its class. RBB.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
This dictionary is based on a great concept to explain foreign words and phrases that have found their way into our language but, with only about 4000 entries, it more often frustrates. The vast majority of the words listed here come from French and Latin (not surprisingly, since 40 percent of English is derived from French, often through Latin). And though some 60 languages are represented, it is often with only a handful of words. Do we really have only one or two words from Aramaic, Basque, Czech, Egyptian, Finnish, and Polish and only 15 from all the Scandinavian languages? Why include "blond," "bra," "bulletin," "cot," "dessert," "dollar," "minor," "restaurant," and "sofa" as foreign words when there are thousands of others that would be more useful to define? Can we really accept that "margarine" and "menu" are foreign words when their meanings in the original language are entirely different? That said, Manser (The Hearthside Bible Dictionary) has included many music and food terms that could be useful, especially for readers who stick to French, Italian, Spanish, and Hindi. In addition, the Latin terms (many from jurisprudence) are particularly helpful. Each entry includes information on the original meaning and spelling of the word or phrase and an example of its use in English. Recommended for larger public libraries, at least until a more satisfying edition is published. Kitty Chen Dean, Nassau Coll., Garden City, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-The more than 4500 words and expressions in this update of the 2002 edition are those that are used unchanged, or almost unchanged, from their source language. Notable among the 500 new entries are fresh adoptions such as sudoku and an increased number of prefixes and suffixes. Entries include idioms (the French homme moyen sensual, "the man in the street"); scientific terms (the Latin nucleus, "kernel"); gastronomic terminology (the Italian farfalle, "butterflies"); religious terms (swami, from the Sanskrit for "master" or "lord"); legal and political terms (apparatchik, from the Russian for "political machine"), and many other words and phrases. The short entries include an American-English pronunciation guide; the language of origin; the part of speech; a direct translation; the meaning as used in English; and, in many cases, an illustrative quote. Cross-references guide readers where a word may have alternate spellings. Some entries are obscure but many are words that are heavily used. Though a helpful listing by tongue shows that English has been influenced by many different languages, including some "smaller" ones (Narragansett, Basque), it also serves to illustrate bias, as it is obvious that Latin, French, German, and Italian dominate. Still, this is a captivating title to browse.-Henrietta Thornton-Verma, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by School Library Journal Review
