Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £13.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Robinson's Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £13.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Product Description
T.H. Robinson published "Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar" in 1915 to meet the need for "something of an elementary nature which should be of value to the student who takes up Syriac for the first time". Though the book was recognised as a success, teachers recognised its weaknesses and this fifth edition is a thorough revision. Much of the old explanatory text and many of the exercises have been superseded. Some matters of grammar and pronunciation receive more systematic treatment and there are additional appendices to introduce the Estrangela and East Syriac scripts. In its format and level, however, the book aims to be, as before, an approachable introduction to this language.
About the Author
J. F. Coakley is Senior Lecturer in Syriac at Harvard University
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This little book is a joy to use. It's clear, accurate, thorough, has plenty of exercises, and all vowels are shown in the Syriac script throughout the book, which gives it a big advantage over Thackston's 'Introduction to Syriac' which leaves you battling with vowelless Estrangelo script. The typeface, both in English and in Syriac, is beautiful, and the book is small enough to fit into your pocket so you can read it on the tube! A gem.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent and handy resource for learning Syriac. The book assumes a working knowledge of Hebrew yet it sets out the exercises in short and manageable chapters. It is expensive for such a small paperback but well worth the extra price for the benefits to learning.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Badly-needed review of classic
23 April 2003
Format:Paperback
At last a new edition of Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar! I studied Syriac at university using the previous edition (the 4th) and found it lacking. The new revision does help clarify the language considerably, tho' at heart Robinson remains, as ever, a traditional grammar book (not a bad thing). For a student who's already studied some Hebrew or Arabic, especially one who is going to start by spending time reading a lot of vocalized Biblical Syriac, this short guide will be as effective a guide as Weingreen in Hebrew or Heywood and Nahmad in Arabic.
I think I would rather use Wheeler Thackston if my aim were to read widely in Syriac outside Biblical texts from an early stage, not least because Thackston uses Syriac without vowel marks (with an accompanying transcription) and you are unlikely to find vowelled non-biblical texts. Vowel marks are a crutch that it's not always easy to give up, as most Biblical Hebrew students will know. This is less of a problem for bible students as the more popular biblical texts are vocalized.
Both books are reasonably hard for an absolute beginner without help: Robinson due to concision and Thackston due to highly technical language. John Healey's First Studies in Syriac, now in a new edition (with CD), might make a better first book if you find technical language a big problem.
This book (Robinson) uses Serto script with Western vocalization throughout (like the Bible Society's Syriac New Testament: most older publications use partly-vocalized Serto), while Thackston uses the Estrangolo script (more widely used in current academic publications). Robinson's still in handy pocket size, and one can again get it in hardback too!
I think I would rather use Wheeler Thackston if my aim were to read widely in Syriac outside Biblical texts from an early stage, not least because Thackston uses Syriac without vowel marks (with an accompanying transcription) and you are unlikely to find vowelled non-biblical texts. Vowel marks are a crutch that it's not always easy to give up, as most Biblical Hebrew students will know. This is less of a problem for bible students as the more popular biblical texts are vocalized.
Both books are reasonably hard for an absolute beginner without help: Robinson due to concision and Thackston due to highly technical language. John Healey's First Studies in Syriac, now in a new edition (with CD), might make a better first book if you find technical language a big problem.
This book (Robinson) uses Serto script with Western vocalization throughout (like the Bible Society's Syriac New Testament: most older publications use partly-vocalized Serto), while Thackston uses the Estrangolo script (more widely used in current academic publications). Robinson's still in handy pocket size, and one can again get it in hardback too!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
All the essentials
28 Nov 2003
Format:Paperback
The book carries you from the first steps to far into the language. It is easy to read and has all the essentials. With a proper dictionary like Payne Smith's Compendious Syriac Dictionary there is little else you need for classical Syriac.
Beginning with the script and pronunciation it advances through pronouns, nouns and verbs in a very orderly fashion. A lot of information is presented in tables which is handy for reference. The exercises are very basic. I recommend reading the Gospel in Syriac for further excercise.
The grammar does not assume knowledge of other semitic languages, but given its compactness such knowledge is recommended. You should at least be familiar with the semitic verb system.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Pedagogically antiquated, insanely overpriced
1 May 2008
Format:Paperback
I do not wish to express any disrespect to the memory of Theodore H. Robinson (1881-1964), who did a commendable job for the time at which he wrote this book. However, the style of this book is quite outdated, and the current Oxford edition is insanely overpriced and of poor physical quality. It must be the only textbook still published in "pocket size," that is, the size of cheap paperback novels you find in grocery and drug stores. Also, its glue binding is notoriously weak. Almost everyone I know who has one has a big rubber band around it because after about a month of use, the pages start falling out. As a matter of principle, I refuse to buy this book when far better and more reasonably priced alternatives are available. Oxford, normally a reputable press, should be ashamed of the miniscule size and shoddy quality of this item.
Pedagogically, this book has a 19th-century feel. It is a basic reference grammar with exercises, not a textbook in the proper sense of the word. Each of its 29 lessons deals with one whole area of grammar at once, rather than bringing strands of multiple areas together in each lesson like any good modern teaching grammar. Thus, you can't read any sentences with a verb before lesson 8. Contrast this with Wheeler Thackston's Introduction to Syriac, which introduces nouns and verbs in lesson one--but in a digestible quantity.
A good feature of Robinson is that it has something all too rare in introductory Syriac texts: an English-Syriac vocabulary. This is often a very useful aid for students.
A decided oddity is the choice of the Serto (West Syrian/Jacobite) version of the Syriac alphabet for the text. The vast majority of published editions of Syriac literature and scholarly publications on the language use the older Estrangela alphabet. The only notable exception is popular editions of the Syriac Bible. This choice of the Serto alphabet is shared by John Healey's Leshono Suryoyo: First Studies in Syriac, but Thackston uses Estrangela. All these books have tables that give the other forms of the alphabet, but why not get used to the most common version from the start?
Pedagogically, this book has a 19th-century feel. It is a basic reference grammar with exercises, not a textbook in the proper sense of the word. Each of its 29 lessons deals with one whole area of grammar at once, rather than bringing strands of multiple areas together in each lesson like any good modern teaching grammar. Thus, you can't read any sentences with a verb before lesson 8. Contrast this with Wheeler Thackston's Introduction to Syriac, which introduces nouns and verbs in lesson one--but in a digestible quantity.
A good feature of Robinson is that it has something all too rare in introductory Syriac texts: an English-Syriac vocabulary. This is often a very useful aid for students.
A decided oddity is the choice of the Serto (West Syrian/Jacobite) version of the Syriac alphabet for the text. The vast majority of published editions of Syriac literature and scholarly publications on the language use the older Estrangela alphabet. The only notable exception is popular editions of the Syriac Bible. This choice of the Serto alphabet is shared by John Healey's Leshono Suryoyo: First Studies in Syriac, but Thackston uses Estrangela. All these books have tables that give the other forms of the alphabet, but why not get used to the most common version from the start?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > History > Religious History > Christianity
- Books > Languages > By Language > Arabic > Dictionaries
- Books > Languages > By Language > Other Middle East Languages > Aramaic
- Books > Reference > Language > Grammar, Structure & Syntax
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible > Stories
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Academic Philosophy
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Reference
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
