Dictionary Amharic-English English-Amharic

Rating:
Summary: Book is written in Fidel or Geez and English script.
Review: If you can read in Fidel or Geez and the English script, this book is for you. The book offers definitions in both scripts.

Rating:
Summary: Useful, but no different than Amsalu Aklilu's dictionary
Review: It must be said at the outset, this dictionary is not different than the fine one produced by Amsalu Aklilu (AA).

For those not acquainted with AA's dictionary, all entries are given in the traditional Ethiopian syllabary, with a phonetic pronunciation. Entries are alphabetized in a way that treats vowels and consonants as equally important, different than Leslau's or Kane's dictionaries, where vowels are taken into account only if there are words that have the same consonants.

The definitions are very brief and include very, very few secondary senses.

The book contains a number of entries not found in Leslau's dictionary. Those who want to work with Amharic will benefit from having a dictionary produced by an Ethiopian, but if they already possess a copy of AA's, they will not want to duplicate their purchase by buying a copy of both this one. If they do not have AA's yet (not readily available outside of Ethiopia), then this is a good choice.