|
Egyptian Grammar (Egyptology: Griffith Institute) | 
| Author: Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner
Publisher: Griffith Institute
Category: Book
List Price: $70.00
Buy New: $63.00
You Save: $7.00 (10%)
Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 287619
Media: Hardcover
Edition: REP
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 682
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.8
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.5 x 1.7
ISBN: 0900416351
Dewey Decimal Number: 493.15
EAN: 9780900416354
Publication Date: January 1957
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Although the first edition of the study appeared over seventy years ago, Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar remains the most comprehensive presentation of Middle Egyptian available, and is still an essential reference tool for all advanced work in the language. The latest, third, edition, appeared in 1957 and is now in its tenth reprinting. After each new element of grammar the learner is given a set of exercises, and the book also contains useful resources such as a list of hieroglyphic signs and information about the development of the language.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 If you have the will, this is the way... September 5, 2001
39 out of 43 found this review helpful
As the student (or aspiring sesh-per-ankh) may have judged by the price, this is meant to be a college textbook. On the bright side, don't worry about backorders-- a fourth edition is on its way for next semester to provide the necessary kickbacks for the professors.
Where was I? Ah-- I own quite a few books on hieroglyphics, but this is truly the only one I would recommend to a fellow aspiring scholar. Other books are either impossible to understand or treat the student like a complete idiot while providing little useful information. This covers everything from sentence structure, to developing a proper handwriting style (they are sacred symbols, afterall), to (most importantly) exercises which emerse the student into the language gradually. And, thankfully, this book has the most complete sign lists, glossaries, and indexes I have seen.
Learning to read hieroglyphics is, of course, no easy task (I myself have just scratched the surface). With variations in the language starting from near-antedeluvian times, I would imagine it is much like a foreigner trying to learn all the idiosyncrasies of English merely by reading a book-- only with an alphabet consisting of more than 6,000 characters!
This is the book that the serious student should purchase. It is also the only one you will need.
A seminal text on an intriguing subject December 30, 2000
38 out of 42 found this review helpful
When I was a little girl I wanted to learn Egyptian hieroglyphics in the worst way. In 1970 I had that opportunity, and I've always treasured the experience. Gardiner's grammar was the book we used, and it's still one of the most seminal texts on the subject. It includes gradually more complex grammar and exercises that train the student to transliterate and translate from the Egyptian to English and from English into Egyptian. For the professional, or the amateur enthusiast, sidebars give additional information on unusual word forms and make textual references to epigraphic data/research to be found in journal sources, most particularly the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. The appendicies include extensive sign lists in catagorical form that are easy to use. They also include a fairly extensive vocabulary which, along with Faulkner's Dictionary, makes a useful resource for translating the more common texts. This is no small amount of work, however, the volume is several hundred pages long and gets into some very arcane phrases and usages. The person more intrigued than enthused by heiroglyps should probably look for a book called Egyptian Hieroglyphics by Patrick F. O'Mara. For the person who really gets into it, I'd suggest the book Middle Egyptian Stories by Aylward M. Blackman, a truely delightful book of short stories in hieroglyphic form.
A book any scholar knows and any interested one should know November 17, 1999
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
Sir Alan's work is "the book" for any interestedperson. It's a milestone not only in the study of Egyptian language,but in modern philology. Maybe the style is old looking, but good language is understandable, no matter when it was written. Its "antiquate style", makes it even more interesting to be read. To me, it was easy to read even when, as a hi school student, I've seen a copy in Venice's State library. Thanks to Gardiner's book I've started my egyptological studies. It was in 1974 and I was 16 years old. It's an expensive book, but each page is worth its price. A necessary complement to the Grammar is "Egypt of the Pharaohs - an introduction", where Sir Alan guides us through ancient egyptian history, always under some linguistical and philological point of view. I don't exaggerate if I say that who owns this book owns a little bibliographical and cultural monument.
Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar - A Must Have September 14, 2005
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
If you're truly interested in learning how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs and have already bought and read one of the many "How To" beginners books currently being published, you've no doubt realized how limited the scope of your purchase is. You've been taken to the precipice, shown the wisdom of the ages, only to find out that, just when things were getting interesting, the story ends.
Perhaps, if you've followed my misguided steps while surfing your new-found wave of enthusiasm, you further indulged your need for immediate gratification by purchasing the hefty, two-volume Egyptian dictionary set by Budge. After you've lovingly brushed off the dust and handed over your discretionary income for the next month, you realize that you're acting on impulse but rationalize your post-purchase cognitive dissonance by assuring yourself that "they wouldn't still be publishing this work after all these years if it wasn't any good, right?" Of course, a week later while cruising the net, your bubble bursts as you realize that everybody who's anybody in the world of Egyptology is warning you to "Beware of Budge".
If this in any way resembles you and your desire to learn this enigmatic language from the past still burns bright, do yourself a tremendous favor and buy this book! Yes, relative to what you've purchased so far, Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar is expensive and, unless you want to give up your next paycheck for shipping charges, it will take a week or two to arrive. I promise you, hand-on-heart, that it will be worth every pfennig of your investment and well worth the wait. After only the first couple hours (which will pass like minutes) you'll realize how very limited everything else you've read really is. After a couple weeks, you will be able to figure out for yourself why our more learned colleagues encourage us to take anything from Budge with a grain of salt.
At the time of writing this endorsement (while factual, I make no pretense of being objective), I've owned Egyptian Grammar for three months. Applying myself moderately (I have a wife, child, four cats and a day job - none of which tolerate being ignored), I've already achieved a surprising level of competence at transliteration (converting hieroglyphs into phonetic Egyptian) without need of a reference. While happy with my progress to date, I've not yet succumbed to delusions of adequacy. I still have a long path to walk and must rely heavily upon Mr. Gardiner for translating all but the simplest of passages.
As I'm sure you've already guessed, I am giving this book a five-star rating. Is Egyptian Grammar perfect? No. The wonderful thing about Egyptology is that with every passing year, we learn more about this fascinating culture. As with any material in print, there's a level of currency missing from its pages. Perhaps a more relevant question to pose would be, "Is there anything out there that I can buy that's better than this book by Gardiner?" I don't think so. If there is, it's either not currently being published or not available in English. Either way, I've yet to discover it.
The standard bearer June 9, 2003
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
I actually learned hieroglyphs beginning with a different text, but then the course quickly graduated to Gardiner's text for those pursing historical studies in earnest, at the University of London in the 1980s. I have assembled a collection of more accessible books on how to learn hieroglyphs as refreshers (four such other texts, each of which has merits) but `Egyptian Grammar' by Gardiner remains the standard bearer of hieroglyph study.If you are truly interested in learning Egyptian hieroglyphs for an upcoming trip to Egypt or to visit a museum with a collection (I amazed a friend once by being able to read an inscription at the museum; I confessed that of the hundreds of 'paragraphs' of hieroglyphs in the collection, that that was one of only two I could decipher without my notebook), this text might not be the first choice. However, if you are serious about studying hieroglyphs and think it might become a lifelong avocation or even professional study, this is the text to get. Now in its third edition, the Gardiner text has been continually updated since its first publication in 1927 (the printing I have is from 1978). It consists of 33 lessons, each of which covers a particular facet of grammar, followed by a section on vocabulary and exercises. There are also several additional pieces, Excursus A, B and C, which cover historical information such as calendrical studies, funerary rites, and royal speech and address. The appendices cover vocalisation (Middle Egyptian), proper names, extensive lists of hieroglyph symbols and meanings (nearly 100 pages of such), and vocabulary arranged in both Egyptian/English and English/Egyptian formats. All that is needed for the language is covered in this text. The vocabulary follows interesting patterns, as does grammar and sentence structure, whichh can vary in ways similar to the direction of the writing. The pattern of hieroglyphs is variable. Generally, you always want to 'read into the face', i.e., the picto-glyphs will be facing the direction from which to start -- more often right to left than left to right, and columns go top to bottom. There are no punctuation marks and no word breaks -- this can make meanings hard to decipher. Consider the example: IAMNOWHERE
which could be broken into
I AM NOW HERE
or
I AM NOWHERE
and in this case, context might not help provide which meaning is the true one. Or perhaps the author is poetical and sees the trouble of distinction and means that trouble to be present. No wonder hieroglyphs are hard! This is a heavy, academic text. It is not always user-friendly. The book assumes a high level of comfort with grammar and linguistic construction not only of English but of other languages as well. The student is introduced to transliteration early in the text, but the lessons continue using both picto-characters and transliterations throughout the entire volume. Of course, the Gardiner (3rd edition) text is by far the best academic and research tome (600+ pages), but hardly meant for the popular press. Look for this when beginning a doctorate or M.Phil. in Egyptology or Linguistics of the ancient world.
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2008 BetterEditor.net
| |
