Zapotec-English/English-Zapotec (Isthmus) Concise Dictionary

Zapotec-English/English-Zapotec (Isthmus) Concise Dictionary
Author: A. Scott Britton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2003
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

Isthmus Zapotec, one of at least six known varieties of Zapotec, claims the largest number of speakers in the Zapotecean family. It is spoken in Oaxacam in Mexico's Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and in the state's capital city, Oaxaca de Juarez. This is the first dictionary of Isthmus Zapotec to be published in English. In addition to over 5, 000 entries -- with etymological notes given when entry words derive from Spanish -- the dictionary contains detailed yet concise sections covering spelling and pronunciation, as well as the major points of Isthmus Zapotec grammar.

The Isthmus

The Isthmus
Author: Bruce Stores
Publisher: iUniverse
Total Pages: 360
Release: 2009
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781440174872

Mexican history is as tortured and crooked (in both senses of the word) as an ox cart trail--unexpected turns around every corner, replete with bumps and declivities. The casual reader of general Mexican history will find it difficult keeping up with the list of Mexico s principal characters over the centuries, now expanding, then suddenly contracting due to assassinations, exiles, military defeats, and alliances gone awry. Oaxacan writer Bruce Stores solves that problem by employing a simple technique used for millennia by the local indigenous peoples: storytelling. His take on historical fiction paints a human, everyday face on the historian s cold mask of dates, places, and wars. Structuring his book around key historical events, he asks--and answers--the questions: How did that feel? Who was affected? What happened to the community, the families? The focus of this book, as its title implies, is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the bottom of the scorpion s tail of Mexican geography. At its narrowest point, it s only approximately 125 miles wide, spanning the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific, making the Isthmus an early, much-courted, often-spurned alternative to the Panama Canal. The region s remoteness, heat, and lack of picturesque colonial cities or swank beach resorts have kept tourists far away. And perhaps because of that, and sociological factors as well, the Isthmus has managed to protect its distinct, largely indigenous, culture. Stores explains that culture to us over a 500-year period through the pre-Conquest period with its intertribal warfare to Cortes arrival, the battles for independence from Spain, and the French Intervention. In the modern era, his characters fight political battles from Mexico City s university protests to struggles with the domination of the long-entrenched Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). A common thread for all the stories is the importance of land to the Zapotec people. It defines them. Land ownership in Oaxaca, Gomez told the Judge, has different roots. The system of property rights among the pre-Colombian natives was, without a doubt, antagonistic to the Spaniards sense of private property. Yet to the indigenous peoples, their communal property holdings were as natural to them as night and day. Because their land was the provider of their food, they considered it to be divine. Yes. Their land was to them a god. And, just as the air and the wind belong to everyone, they couldn t come to terms with European notions of private property. '" The Isthmus succeeds in elucidating a little-understood region of Mexico. And its telling of tales brings us closer the fierce human spirit that has withstood and shaped-- its history.

Greek-English Concise Dictionary

Greek-English Concise Dictionary
Author: Michael Kambas
Publisher: Hippocrene Books
Total Pages: 462
Release: 2004
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9780781810029

Because Greek has a radically different alphabet to the Roman one used throughout the English-speaking world, Michael Kambas has used a simple transliteration system for both English to Greek and Greek to English in the dictionary section. Grammar and pronunciation explanations are linked into this useful system.

Explorer's Guide Oaxaca: A Great Destination

Explorer's Guide Oaxaca: A Great Destination
Author: Paige R. Penland
Publisher: The Countryman Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2009-12-07
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1581579055

A complete guide to the Mexican city offers thorough coverage of the region, from the Pacific Beaches to the Northern Sierras and the Oaxaca Valley, and Including detailed road-trip itineraries. Let Oaxaca’s wonders welcome you to this sophisticated Spanish colonial capital. Oaxaca is a kaleidoscope of colors and cultures, a place of pale green cantera stone churches, sweeping plazas with brightly clad dancers, and markets redolent with the scent of freshly ground chocolate. Enjoy impressive museums, fine restaurants, and fantastic galleries, then head up into the pine-forested mountains, cloud forests, and colorful deserts, studded with ancient ruins, indigenous villages, and incredible ecotourism opportunities. There’s so much to see and do, but be sure to save some time to soak up the sun on Oaxaca’s 300 km/186 miles of Pacific beaches and bays. More than 100 photographs and detailed maps round out the package, making this guidebook an indispensable resource. Ándale!

Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook

Maya-English/English-Maya (Yucatec) Dictionary & Phrasebook
Author: John Montgomery
Publisher:
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2004
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

Yucatec Maya, the most widely spoken Maya language, can be heard throughout Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, in Belize, and in parts of Guatemala. This unique guide is the perfect reference for visitors to the rainforests, beaches, and spectacular archaeological sites of the Maya regions. Ideal for travelers, linguists, and anthropologists, it includes: 2,700 total dictionary entries; Spanish equivalents for all entries; phonetic pronunciation for all Maya words and phrases; a basic Maya grammar guide; and practical cultural information.

Nahuatl-English/English-Nahuatl (Aztec)

Nahuatl-English/English-Nahuatl (Aztec)
Author: Fermin Herrera
Publisher: Hippocrene Concise Dictionary
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2004
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

This dictionary reflects usage largely based on classical norms of the Nahuatl literary tradition, but also includes more contemporary vocabulary.

Guaraní Concise Dictionary

Guaraní Concise Dictionary
Author: A. Scott Britton
Publisher: Hippocrene Books
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2005
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 9780781810661

Guarani is an indigenous South American language with over 8 million speakers. It is mostly spoken in Paraguay and Bolivia. With over 7,000 entries, this is a comprehensive bilingual Guarani-English dictionary that provides parts of speech, illustrative examples, etymological notes, and a pronunciation and orthography section.

Dictionary of Languages

Dictionary of Languages
Author: Andrew Dalby
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 754
Release: 2015-10-28
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1408102145

Covering the political, social and historical background of each language, Dictionary of Languages offers a unique insight into human culture and communication. Every language with official status is included, as well as all those that have a written literature and 175 'minor' languages with special historical or anthropological interest. We see how, with the rapidly increasing uniformity of our culture as media's influence spreads, more languages have become extinct or are under threat of extinction. The text is highlighted by maps and charts of scripts, while proverbs, anecdotes and quotations reveal the features that make a language unique.

Curse + Berate in 69+ Languages

Curse + Berate in 69+ Languages
Author: R. V. Branham
Publisher: Catapult
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2009-02-01
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 1593763034

For those times when “you blackguard!” just won’t do, Sinister Wisdom supplies an amazing array of crude, vulgar, offensive, scurrilous, lewd, and otherwise unprintable denunciations. Organized thematically and translated into more than 69 languages, it contains an alphabetical listing of every conceivable (and inconceivable) slur and insult, from comments on mothers' peculiar anatomy and hobbies, to suggestions on where to go and how, to observations on how others spend their solitary moments. Appendices cover blasphemies, bodily functions, sexual deviations, and variations on “yo mama!”