Product Description

Based on American rather than British English, this is among the first Russian dictionaries revised for the post-Soviet era. Includes new political terminology, new Russian institutions, new countries and republics and new city names. Contains 26,000 entries in the English-Russian section and 40,000 words in the Russian-English section. Irregularities in Russian declensions and conjugations appear at the beginning of each entry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19611 in Books
• Published on: 1994-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1120 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780471017073
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Language Notes
Text: English, Russian

From the Publisher
The magnetic tape version of Katzner's English-Russian, Russian-English Dictionary, the first full-size dictionary of Russian and English to be published in the United States. Emphasizes American usage and spelling. Magnetic tape version is supplied in industry-standard computer format. For information about single-tape or OEM licenses, contact Electronic Publishing Division, John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158. Telephone (212) 850-6331.

Customer Reviews

Top-notch AMERICAN ENGLISH / Russian Dictionary!
One of the residual after-effects of the Cold War is that most Russian/English - English/Russian dictionaries were written using British English. While in many ways I appreciate British English, such dictionaries come up lacking for Russian-speakers that want to learn American English or for American-English-speakers that want to learn Russian. For instance, most Russian-published dictionaries use British English, which can be a trifle annoying for all those Americans who don't know what a pram is!

Kenneth Katzner's wonderful dictionary was the first (or at least one of the first) dictionaries specifically written using American English. As a former Russian teacher in the United States, I found this book a "God-send" for some of the things that my students in the United States wanted me to teach them. While I'm a fluent Russian speaker, I simply don't use some types of vocabulary anymore since I live in the United States and sometimes I have great difficulty recalling certain sorts of words and acronyms in English let alone Russian. This dictionary was wonderful not only for me as a Russian and English literate teacher, but also for my students who often times couldn't find words exclusive to American English in their dictionaries.

Some versions of the dictionary have handy grammar and culture references as well (There have been several editions published over the years and Katzner wonderfully updates this book every few years). I say different editions because I have owned several copies of this book over the years (I bought a few and others were publisher's samples) and usually keep just one, giving any extras away to my students (usually as a prize in class). One of my favorite features of one of the editions was a reference glossary with commonly used abbreviations (such as Dr., Str., etc.). Other additions also have Russian/English glossaries of place names (countries, geographical features, states, etc.). Try to buy the most recent edition of this book if possible since it will have the most updates and helpful features.

I highly recommend this book for either American -English speaker trying to learn Russian or Russian-speakers trying to learn American English. It's the very first dictionary that any American-English-speaker studying Russian should buy.

Solid Dictionary
I've read all the reviews here and I will aprroach mine by commenting on some of the negative remarks.
A few of the negatives were in regard to poor binding of the hardback edition. These are fair remarks, indeed my copy has worn very quickly as well. However, the softcover edition does not have this problem and it is also easier to transport around.
The other negatives seemed to be by advanced students of the Russian language. I would certainly expect a linguist to have some quibbles and also to have other books they would use and recommend (such as one reviewer's endorsement of the, indeed, outstanding Daum/Schenk Russian verb dictionary). But for most users this book will be outstanding. For American English speakers of Russian I would say it is a must.

If you are studying Russian, you need this dictionary
The Katzner dictionary is most helpful for students who want to know the difference between different Russian words which correspond to one English word. Associated with each Russian translation is a brief English explanation of the meaning. This helps avoid misusing a word which is a proper translation for one meaning of a word, but not for another. Look at any entry of an English preposition or common verb and there are often ten or more corresponding Russian words whose differences are carefully explained. Many entries in both the Russian-English and English-Russian sections of the dictionary contain Russian phrases or sentences which are fully accented to aid the beginner or intermediate student to learn proper pronunciation. You can learn more about the dictionary at the wordfind site and even see a sample page there. Even if you are not just beginning your study of Russian, you will find this book to be well-organized and carefully constructed to show iregular forms of verbs and nouns. One of the more interesting sections of the dictionary is its Glossary of Proper Nouns which includes the Russian names of countries, U.S. states, Canadian provinces and cities and geographical features of the world as well as a list of famous names.