Foreign Language Reference

Anyone studying literary or classical Arabic beyond the elementary or tourist level will need this book. No other English-language grammar of the Arabic language is as thorough as this classic reference. The work was originally published in German in 1844-45 by Karl Paul Caspari, a theologian and orientalist. In 1859 English scholar W. Wright published this masterly translation of Caspari's work, with numerous additions and corrections.
Unlike many more recent grammars, this work contains few inaccuracies or errors. Moreover, although it is a reference grammar, it cites many examples of sentences, phrases, and figures of speech found in classical Arabic prose and poetry. Originally published in two volumes, it has been republished here in one volume; however, the original arrangement has been retained. Thus, Volume One covers orthography and orthoëpy, and parts of speech (including extensive coverage of verbs and nouns, numerals and the particles). Volume Two deals with syntax, including the component parts of a sentence, the sentence in general, and different kinds of sentences. A final section discusses prosody. Three indexes assist students in finding words, constructions, and grammatical categories.
This third edition incorporates a number of helpful revisions, additions and corrections made to the second edition by W. Robertson Smith and M. J. de Goeje. The result is an unmatched resource for English-speaking students wishing to master the intricacies of Arabic.

Han Jiantang provides an accessible, illustrated introduction to the fascinating history and development of the written Chinese language, from pictograms painted on rocks and pottery and ancient inscriptions to the refined art of calligraphy and the characters in use today. Chinese Characters will appeal to readers looking for an introduction to the rich but complex Chinese language and to all those interested in the relationship between language and culture.

Continuously in print since 1983, Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish, has become a classic Spanish reference book, widely used in classrooms across the United States. As a teenager in Albuquerque, esteemed linguist and folkorist Rubén Cobos (1911-2010) was intrigued by and began documenting the regional variations of spoken Spanish. This was to become his work of a lifetime spanning seventy-five years. Dr. Cobos began recording Indo-Hispanic folklore material in the early 1940s. With the co-operation of the villagers, farmers, sheepherders, and other hard-working people in the small towns throughout New Mexico and Southern Colorado he recorded the nuances, slang and the regionally distinctive words of Spanish spoken in the communities of the upper Rio Grande and Southern Colorado.

Ruben Cobos spent a decade working on the revised and expanded edition of the dictionary, published in 2003. The Dictionary of New Mexico and Southern Colorado Spanish has assumed its place as the most authoritative reference on the archaic dialect of Spanish spoken in this region.

Learn the second key Japanese syllabary from every angle: reading, writing, and real-world examples.

A complete handbook for learning to read and write Japanese katakana, the syllabary that is the second of Japan's three writing systems introduced to all beginning students. Using real-world examples, illustrations, quizzes, and practice squares, this book teaches correct stroke order as well as examples of how katakana are used for words borrowed from other languages, for emphasis, and in advertising for its "cool" factor.

This is the first German grammar which has been specifically designed for the adult with limited learning time who wishes to be able to express himself with reasonable accuracy, yet does not wish to be burdened with archaic, highly literary, or seldom used forms. It covers the most important points of German grammar in the clearest possible manner, stressing regularities rather than irregularities and concentrating upon the constructions and expression-modes that you would be most likely to use. It has been created for readers who prefer the phrase-approach, and all grammatical points are illustrated with phrases and sentences that you can use immediately. Hints are included throughout the book on replacing difficult constructions with easier ones.

Teach Yourself takes the pain out of picking up a new language

"Get Started in Hindi" requires no prior experience in the language and gives you the opportunity to study at a reasonable, steady pace. This course makes the process nearly painless--it is written in a friendly and supportive tone, and the structure offers you plenty of opportunities for self-practice. You are in control of your learning experience, so you never feel overwhelmed or rushed.

This practical course introduces the new language without inundating you and includes dialogues and exercises, a helpful pronunciation section, manageable lists of practical vocabulary, a glossary of grammar terms, and more.

The accompanying audio CD features recordings by native speakers and contains dialogues from the book as well as exercises in listening and speaking.

How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context is an introduction to the golden age of Chinese poetry, spanning the earliest times through the Tang dynasty (618-907). It aims to break down barriers--between language and culture, poetry and history--that have stood in the way of teaching and learning Chinese poetry. Not only a primer in early Chinese poetry, the volume demonstrates the unique and central role of poetry in the making of Chinese culture.

Each chapter focuses on a specific theme to show the interplay between poetry and the world. Readers discover the key role that poetry played in Chinese diplomacy, court politics, empire building, and institutionalized learning; as well as how poems shed light on gender and women's status, war and knight-errantry, Daoist and Buddhist traditions, and more. The chapters also show how people of different social classes used poetry as a means of gaining entry into officialdom, creating self-identity, fostering friendship, and airing grievances. The volume includes historical vignettes and anecdotes that contextualize individual poems, investigating how some featured texts subvert and challenge the grand narratives of Chinese history. Presenting poems in Chinese along with English translations and commentary, How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context unites teaching poetry with the social circumstances surrounding its creation, making it a pioneering and versatile text for the study of Chinese language, literature, history, and culture.

This book offers a guided introduction to Chinese nonfictional prose and its literary and cultural significance. It features more than one hundred major texts from antiquity through the Qing dynasty that exemplify major genres, styles, and forms of traditional Chinese prose. For each work, the book presents an English translation, the Chinese original, and accessible critical commentary by leading scholars.

How to Read Chinese Prose teaches readers to appreciate the literary merits, stylistic devices, rhetorical choices, and argumentative techniques of a wide range of nonfictional writing. It emphasizes the interconnections among individual texts and across eras, helping readers understand the development of the literary tradition and what makes particular texts formative or distinctive within it. Organized by dynastic period and genre, the book identifies and examines four broad categories of prose--narrative, expository, descriptive, and communicative.

How to Read Chinese Prose is suitable for a range of courses in Chinese literature, history, religion, and philosophy, as well as for scholars and interested readers seeking to deepen their knowledge of the Chinese prose tradition. A companion book, How to Read Chinese Prose in Chinese, is designed for Chinese-language learners and features many of the same texts.

Kanji come to life with over 250 graphically illustrated mnemonics for learning essential Japanese characters. Colorful pages are filled with horses and tigers, palaces and pulpits, kings and lunatics, samurai and wizards. A world of soldiers, swords, spies, demons, fire, smoke, gushing blood, and dragons with claws and fangs.

While the format looks and feels more like a colorful story book than a textbook, KanjiPictoGraphix Dragon Book taps powerful learning methods derived from Rowley's career as an educational therapist and professor of information design.

The book begins with an 'Elements' chart of the building blocks of Japanese written language. Pages are organized into clusters of characters with common elements and meanings. The result is a semantic, meaningful narrative that makes learning the complex written forms easy to understand and remember. The hundreds of visual mnemonics draw upon a combination of visuals with genuine etymological roots along with contemporary visual interpretations to help you learn to read Japanese kanji quickly and joyfully.

Kanji are over 2,000 years old, so you will see some non-PC imagery that reflects ancient ideas about religion, women, men, children, animals, and old people. Rather than whitewash this, the book illustrates the meanings and ideas of an ancient, beautiful, and, at times, provocative language.

Michael Rowley is the founder and creative director at VizCab.com, a family-run print and mobile media design and branding business in Silicon Valley, California. He is the author of KanjiPictoGraphix for iPhone and iPad. His Twitter feed @KanjPicto distills and dissects the meanings of Japanese kanji vocabulary words. Early in his career Michael worked as an educational therapist at the Dannen School at La Cañada, taught English at Chaminade University Tokyo, digital imaging at The American Film Institute in Hollywood, and information design at Art Center Pasadena. He lives with his sweetheart, Kiki, and their four dogs and is a volunteer at ProjectRescueMe.com, an organization to rescue animals and end petlessness.

Learn to Read Latin helps students acquire an ability to read and appreciate the great works of Latin literature as quickly as possible. It not only presents basic Latin morphology and syntax with clear explanations and examples but also offers direct access to unabridged passages drawn from a wide variety of Latin texts. As beginning students learn basic forms and grammar, they also gain familiarity with patterns of Latin word order and other features of style.

Learn to Read Latin

is designed to be comprehensive and requires no supplementary materials

explains English grammar points and provides drills especially for today's students

offers sections on Latin metrics

includes numerous unaltered examples of ancient Latin prose and poetry

incorporates selections by authors such as Caesar, Cicero, Sallust, Catullus, Vergil, and Ovid, presented chronologically with introductions to each author and work

offers a comprehensive workbook that provides drills and homework assignments.

This enlarged second edition improves upon an already strong foundation by streamlining grammatical explanations, increasing the number of syntax and morphology drills, and offering additional short and longer readings in Latin prose and poetry.

A comprehensive introduction to modern Israeli Hebrew, Lessons in Modern Hebrew: Level I and Level II provide English-speaking students and well-motivated individuals with all the basic classroom tools necessary for mastery of the language. The lessons introduce the student to the core vocabulary which is then included in reading passages, conversational text, and written communication. All grammatical features of modern Hebrew are thoroughly explained and reinforced by drills and exercises. The books have been classroom-tested at the University of Michigan. Both audio-lingual and cognitive approaches are used.

Cassettes are available from the University of Michigan Language Resource Center: Phone: (734) 764-0424; Email: lrc.contact@umich.edu.

Designed to deliver language essentials without compromising ease of use. Definitions, syllabification, pronunciation, noun and verb forms, are presented in a large, easy-to-read typeface with clear symbols, plus subject and usage labels. A wealth of information, carefully structured, makes this a valuable tool for students, corporations, and reference libraries.

From the familiar to the highly specialized, Oxford-Duden Pictorial Dictionaries offer comprehensive coverage of thousands of objects. They are widely known and valued throughout the world for their clear and simple presentation of complex and detailed items in the technical, scientific, and natural world. This new title in the series has a comprehensive Arabic-English index, which translates over 28,000 vocabulary items.