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Learn Punjabi A Guru Nanak Glossary By Christopher Shackle

Ishna

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May 9, 2006
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Sat Sri Akaal

Has anyone seen this book A Guru Nanak Glossary by Christopher Shackle? Is it any good? I'm thinking of buying it but it's proving a bit tricky. I don't want to go to a lot of effort if it's not worth it.

Many thanks
 
Jan 26, 2012
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I had the same author's book The Sacred Language Of The Sikhs which I found informative and difficult in equal measure. It was very useful in helping me build up my vocab of Gurbani terms.

The guy is a top Asian languages linguist specialist (retired) by the way.

I was after the Guru Nanak Glossary myself but couldn't get hold of it.
 

spnadmin

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I can only say ditto to dalsingh1zero1 ji. And the Sacred Language of the Sikhs was also hard to find. Some vendors had even upped the price to almost 200.00 US.

Ishna ji

Is there a Craig's List or equivalent in Australia? You might post a notice if there is.
 
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spnadmin

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Re: Did Macauliffe convert to Sikhism?

Description from bookadda


Book Summary of A Guru Nanak Glossary
This text contains a complete list of the words, with Gurmukhi spellings, romanized transcriptions, English definitions, frequency counts and etymologies, in the hymns of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Academically, the principal purpose of the glossary is to further the integration of the study of the sacred language of the Sikhs with the mainstream of Indo-Aryan phi lo logy and linguistics. A clearer picture emerges of a complex literary artefact made up of elements from varieties of Old Punjabi and Western Hindi, with loans from Persian, Prakrit and Sanskrit. This edition contains material on the non-Sanskritic vocabulary of the later Sikh gurus.


Very pricey on Amazon at 157.00 US.

A Guru Nanak Glossary: Christopher Shackle: 9780728602434: Amazon.com: Books

http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Gurū_Nānak_Glossary.html?id=opVhIAAACAAJ

Can be purchased at Barnes and Noble

New and used from 157. 00 down to about 96.00 US.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Gu...Guru-Nanak-Glossary/C-Shackle/e/9780728602434


Can be purchased at bookadda for rupees 10,833. I do not know about overseas delivery, or shipping costs. They take credit cards. The price would be about 193.00 Australian.

http://www.bookadda.com/books/guru-nanak-glossary-christopher-shackle-0728602431-9780728602434

The book is available. The price is high.
 
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Ishna

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Yes I've got The Sacred Language of the Sikhs - it was suprisingly easy to get and really cheap - I think I was in the right place at the right time. I got it from alibris.com.

I can get A Guru Nanak Glossary from a local bookseller for, wait for it, $350 AUD!!!

I've seen a couple on Amazon for ~$50 but it's saying it won't ship to Oz. I've messaged one of the sellers to find out if they can make an exception.

Other than that the $100 from Barnes and Nobel is looking pretty good. :)

But since it is so pricey and tricky to get, I don't want to go to the effort if it's not very good. I think it will be pretty good though. Shackle seems to know what he's talking about, but you've still got to be careful of low-flying Christianisms.
 

spnadmin

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But since it is so pricey and tricky to get, I don't want to go to the effort if it's not very good. I think it will be pretty good though. Shackle seems to know what he's talking about, but you've still got to be careful of low-flying Christianisms.

I personally would not spend that much money. The book seems to serve a very small niche of scholars who have narrowed their specialization in northern Indian languages.

Most of the controversy I have seen here at SPN revolves around Sanskrit words/terms and Gurbani vocabulary mix-ups. True there is a lot of Persian that we miss. The focus on non-Sanskrit elements, and they would be classical forms of northern Indic languages, serves highly specialized scholars. I do not think this book is going to make vast stretches of Braj (as found in Dasam Granth) or Farsi (as found in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji) accessible to the non-academic reader of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, or an academic working in a different field. If I could get the book for 50.00 I would have a different take on this.

I am contemplating buying the 56.00 copy and letting you know if it was worth it. Take orders lol

Later comment on low-flying Christians. There is a practical reason for that.
 
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Ishna

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Gah even the $95 copy from Barnes and Noble won't ship to Australia. *flop* Oh well.
 

spnadmin

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HOw essential is it to have this book as a reference? To me it makes sense if you are a student of ancient Indic languages. Would not Dr. Surinder Singh Sohil's Dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib do the trick?

That is why I have not aggressively pursued the purchase even at $56.00 And one cannot look Inside at a table of contents to see what is what. That part irritates me... you are buying sight unseen.
 
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Ishna

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I don't know if Dr Sohil's dictionary will do the trick - I haven't heard of it before. I'll investigate, thanks.

I'm just really hanging out for some kind of Gurbani-English dictionary. The dictionary on srigranth is ok but there are a lot of words where the meaning is written in Punjabi which I don't quite understand yet.
 

spnadmin

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You are welcome. Now I have that book and it is confusing to use at first. Takes practice because the words are entered as romanized transliterations with the gurmukhi font next. But it gives many English alternatives to each work. I use it and it is easier to use with time.

That link is good too!
 

Ishna

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Just placed my order via JSKS Online for the dictionary. Excited!! *bounces* I couldn't find their ad here though, I would have clicked through.

Can't wait to I finish my diploma in June so I can focus on learning Gurbani!!

Many thanks again Adminji. :kudihug:
 

spnadmin

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Remember it will take a while getting used to. I think we are talking about the dictionary by Professor Surinder Singh Sohil, not Shackle.

The alphabetical order is according to the Gurmukhi alphabet, even though the entries are transliterations in romanized font. Therefore, there would be more than one section for "d" or any other English letter with 2 Punjabi equivalent sounds.

You might want to put bookmarks or stickies in place that are labeled with the letter of the alphabet.

The Gurmukhi equivalent follows the transliteration, which is followed by the English translations.

The other matter requiring practice is the use of "... from the 'another word' " It isn't that hard to search backwards for the key word it is from but you should know it does that up front.
 

Ishna

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May 9, 2006
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Yes we're talking about the book by Professor Sohil.

I see what you mean about the way the book orders the alphabet.

The 'from ...' part is a bit frustrating to me because I always want to know why it's different but I think the Forward of the book might help me to understand why it's like that.

Put together with my Sacred Language of the Sikhs by Shackle for the grammar I'm hoping I'll finally be able to get a better understanding of things.

Thanks
 
Sep 21, 2010
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79
Yes we're talking about the book by Professor Sohil.

I see what you mean about the way the book orders the alphabet.

The 'from ...' part is a bit frustrating to me because I always want to know why it's different but I think the Forward of the book might help me to understand why it's like that.

Put together with my Sacred Language of the Sikhs by Shackle for the grammar I'm hoping I'll finally be able to get a better understanding of things.

Thanks


Ishna ji

Are you talking about the book, "Dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib" by Professor Surindar Singh Kohli, or is there some other Professor "Sohil"mentioned in some posts above?

Serjinder Singh
 

spnadmin

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I believe she means "Kohil." I made this error consistently above. Then it was repeated. Thanks for pointing out the error.
 

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