Textbooks

This work is the first reference grammar of its kind and describes the contemporary Slovene language in a concise and easily comprehensible way. It is intended for speakers of English who are studying Slovene at the elementary through the intermediate levels, but it will also serve as a handy source of quick reference for others wishing to review basic questions of Slovene grammar and syntax. Potential users may include university students, researchers in a diverse number of fields, persons of Slovene descent as well as scholars of Slavic linguistics. Knowledge of another Slavic language is not a prerequisite, although some comparative data from Serbo-Croatian and Russian appear when deemed helpful. After a brief description of Slovene, its dialects and its place among the Slavic and Indo-European languages, the student is introduced to the alphabet, sounds and spelling rules. This is followed by separate chapters on each major grammatical category, accompanied by copious examples of contemporary usage: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, numerals, prepositions, with case governance explained for the two latter categories. By far the longest part of the work is devoted to verbs, and there are sub-sections which are devoted to topics such as their organization and classification, irregular conjugations (e.g. the verbs `to be,' `to have,' `to want') and verbs of motion. Throughout the reference grammar the author supplies information on stress patterns, especially useful for nouns and verbs. Unique in this book are the extensive notes on special problems such as the use of the dual, special uses of the genitive case, including examples of the "orphan" genitive, modal expressions (e.g. `may,' `prefer,' `should') and time expressions. A separate chapter treats word order, the placing of clitics, and the relation between theme and rheme in deciding word order. Particularly valuable is the chapter providing hints on enriching the learner's vocabulary through an understanding of prefixes, suffixes and the derivational process. An additional attractive feature of Derbyshire's book is the inclusion of word and subject indices which enable the reader to locate individual vocabulary items discussed throughout the text, as well as specific points of grammar and syntax. This work may easily be used with existing grammars of Slovene (a bibliography of textbooks and dictionaries is provided), most of which are monolingual in Slovene and do not present grammar in a systematic way. To that end Derbyshire's reference grammar provides a list of grammatical terminology in Slovene as well as easy to read charts presenting declensions and conjugations, each followed by lists of commonly encountered exceptions. Anyone interested in Slovene will want to own this indispensible volume. "Overall, however, this is an excellent book that fills a real need." (SEEJ) "...an indispensable help to students and teachers alike." (SR) "...the most comprehensive treatment in English of Slovene grammar that has appeared to date." (MLJ) "...a book in which the material of Slovene grammar is clearly set out, free of cant and obfuscation, and well indexed to boot." (Word) "...a clear and well organised, indexed and structured account of most of what the beginner and intermediate learner needs." (ASEES) "... most welcome ... it has a clear layout ... Explanations and comments are lucid ..." (SEER)

Ukrainian language study changed dramatically when Ukraine became an independent state in 1991. Rozmovljajmo! (Let's Talk!) is the first textbook to fully embrace the new realities of the Ukrainian landscape and to incorporate the latest advances of the communication-focused classroom. Mainly geared toward college-level work, Rozmovljajmo! can also be used for advanced high-school learners. At the core of the book are twenty-two lessons, each beginning with situational conversations or "polylogs" and communicative exercises, and followed by grammatical explanations with further exercises for practice. These lessons allow for a variety of classroom pedagogical approaches and provide a wealth of material for structured and open-ended conversational exercises, as well as providing a clear reference grammar that will aid more traditional learners. The lessons are supplemented by a detailed "Ukrainian for Russian Speakers" section that specifically aids students who have studied Russian by giving them, for example, lists of false cognates, explanations of correspondences, and historical divergences. The book also includes fourteen topical conversation lessons above and beyond the polylogs to further diversify the book's utility, as well as tabular appendices, a glossary, and a detailed index. For those who wish to learn or teach the Ukrainian that is now spoken in Ukraine, Rozmovljajmo! will be an indispensable tool. The authors have carefully keyed the text to the dominant conversational standard in post-Soviet Ukraine. Authentic texts and numerous illustrations incorporated into the book will provide students with a good sense of today's Ukraine. Rozmovljajmo! sets a new standard for Ukrainian-language instruction for the decade to come.

Winner, 2007 AATSEEL Award for Best Contribution to Language Pedagogy (American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages)

This is a concise dictionary of Russian affixes, classified into Prefixes (total 60) and Suffixes (Nouns -- 219, Adjectives -- 100, Verbs -- 20) -- a grand total of some 390 affixes, which is a virtually exhaustive list of all Russian affixes. It is a much fuller list than is found in either Townsend's Russian Word Formation or Gribble's Russian Root List (both also from Slavica). Affixes are subdivided by morphological category (noun, verb, adjective, and other). The following data are given for each affix: 1) one or more descriptive names or English meanings; 2) its formal derivation (what sort of base is used), including foreign vs. native status, and -- for the suffixes -- comments on the foreign origin; 3) morphonological information (sound/letter alternations); 4) associated stress rules; 5) usually two examples with English translation; 6) for suffixes: references to the relevant section of the 1980 Academy Grammar for further examples and information (several of the affixes included in Cubberley's book do not in fact occur in the Academy Grammar). There is a general introduction on Russian word-formation, and specific introductions explaining the format of each section. There are two cross-referencing sections: one classifies all affixes according to the morphological category to which they can be attached, and the second does the same for suffixes in relation to eleven high-frequency semantic categories. There is an index allowing all affix entries to be traced easily. Finally, there is a section of exercises for either private use or in a classroom, and a Bibliography. The Handbook is aimed mainly at the intermediate Russian learner, who needs to increase vocabulary as quickly and as efficiently as possible. The principle is that formal word-formation in the form of affix study is one of the best ways of doing this.

"Therefore, this Handbook surely belongs on the bookshelf of every serious student of the Russian language... (SEEJ).

"...well-organized and well-documented ... a major contribution to the field of language teaching and applied linguistics." (MLJ)

"...mozhet stat' nastol'noi knigoi dlia kazhdogo, kto uglubleno izuchaet russkii iazyk..." (SE)

"As a reference took Cubberley's book represents a notable achievement,..." (SEER)

"...a thoroughly professional job..." (MLR)

Think of life as a constructor from which you can create anything. Decompose your life into its many parts and aspects-spiritual, material and otherwise. Then make a portrait of your ideal life and also break it down into its parts. Analyze what you lack in order to live the life of your dreams. How do you attract this into your life, what is worth learning? Answering these questions is just the right way to start moving in the right direction.

Written to accompany Charles E. Gribble's Russian Root List, this workbook is intended as a study and teaching aid to facilitate the effective learning of roots, prefixes, and suffixes. "V posobii sobran obshirnyi i raznoobraznyi slovarnyi material, kotoryi mozhet byt' ispol'zovan prepodavatelem dlia sostavleniia vsevozmozhnykh uprazhnenii v slovoobrazovanii." (SE)

Students learning Russian require more time for grammar than students of most other languages. Developing an adequate vocabulary presents an even greater challenge. But in vocabulary acquisition, students of Russian have an impressive potential advantage. With training, students can build a large vocabulary based on a relatively few very productive word elements – roots, prefixes, and suffixes. In Russian the 228 most common roots produce upwards of 20,000 words, an average of about 90 words per root! But English-speaking students are not accustomed to analyzing word elements as a way of discovering meaning and nuance. The English language does not condition the average speaker to think in terms of word elements. How many Americans could correctly answer the question "What does the root clude mean (include, exclude, conclude)?" But Russians do feel that kliuch- means something like "connect to."Through combining this root with prefixes and suffixes, Russian forms 66 words!

Leveraging Your Russian with Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes focuses on root, prefix, and suffix study. The goal is to sensitize Russian learners to the vast potential of word element combinations in creating the large vocabulary generally lacking in students as they complete a liberal arts study of the language. Utilizing Leveraging, students will benefit as early as the latter part of first-year Russian, although most of the roots will be covered in the second and third years of Russian study. The authors of this text have divided the 550 most productive Russian roots into five groups according to difficulty. The core meaning of each root is identified and each root is illustrated, typically through from five to ten full, authentic Russian sentences, each of which is also translated into English. It is intended that the study of word elements mainly occur outside of class and take only a few minutes of class time for emphasis and review. Students at the upper levels, third-year through graduate study, may utilize Leveraging to study word elements on their own.

In addition to the largest section of the text illustrating roots, prefixes, and suffixes, this book also includes an introduction to the assumptions, methodology, and content of the text. Another section compares nuances among semantically related roots, such as bereg (protect), shchim (shield), nas (provide security), smereg (on guard), khoron (preserve), and grad (block off). A further section outlines the etymological development of all the 550 roots from Indo-European into Russian and English. The final section of the text is a comprehensive root dictionary, useful for students reading authentic Russian materials and desiring to verify or expand their mastery of word element.

Fifteen chapters covering a variety of topics. Many illustrations and much cultural information. Romanian-English glossary at the end.

"...this excellent manual ... is eminently suited to those seeking material in Rumanian that may be used for listening comprehension, oral work, and reading and writing exercises." (SEER)

A solid review grammar with many examples, lots of exercises, and done in a systematic way. Chapters on each of the cases, nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, numerals, relative clauses, time expressions; appendices and selected Russian-English and English-Russian vocabularies. For second, third, and fourth-year classes.

"...this book contains an enormous amount of well organized information" (CSP) "It fills a long-felt need and will be welcomed by both teacher and student." (SEEJ)