Navajo-English Dictionary

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, Arizonagiinisi -- fifteen centsha'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

I found a much older copy of this dictionary at a library in Provo, Utah. Although the dictionary is only Navajo to English, the definitions are detailed and the authors make it very easy to understand the connotation behind each word. Despite the size, there's a good amount of vocabulary in this $8 dictionary - more than I would find on most free resources, like Duolingo (which only has about 8 lessons' worth) or google translate (which doesn't have anything at all for Navajo). It was good enough for me to want to buy my own copy. I was pleasantly surprised to see the updated edition is in larger print, which makes it easier to read.My only complaint is that this book arrived late (by 13 days), and the USPS tracking number didn't give any information. Objectively, that's really not a big deal, but it was supposed to be 2-day shipping. When it did arrive, it was packaged in new condition like it was supposed to, so I don't see it as a real problem.

Would have loved to have the English-Navajo in the same volume, but that's on me for not reading the description carefully. Shows the nuances of the language. Great book

It is just a Dictionary, English to navajo and navajo to english, i wish the kindle version had a option to just look up the words like any other book or dictionary you have you look though it to find the word but not a problem if you know what the is spelled like

Its a good book and will be very useful when we go to Navajo Country.

I’m a language teacher and this has been an excellent resource for my students. They love it.

This has been invaluable to me in learning Navajo. I am so happy I bought it to go along with my rosetta stone to learn Navajo. It is a little hard to read some of the printing but other than that I find it is just great. It is a must for anyone learning or interested in the Navajo language. I love it!!

I needed this for sure! Great for the story I'm writing

nice to learn from

MERCI !!!!!TOUT ETAIT EN PARFAIT ETAT !!!!CE FUT UN VRAI PLAISIR !!!!

It didn't take me long to decide to return this. The Kindle version was obviously produced from a poor quality pdf image. Although most of it is readable the quality is very low.Buy the printed version - that is much clearer.