Another new Karen dictionary with phonetic spelling

[Duane]

I wanted to let you know that I came upon another Karen/English
Dictionary (actually, Karen, English, Thai, French....) in Thailand
recently. It was produced by the local Jesuits, and printed through a
textbook company in Bangkok. I don't know how easy it would be to find
in the states, but it has a few benefits and drawbacks:


The dictionary has the following benefits:

1) No other Romanized Karen dictionary seems to exist- Karen written
with our letter system is popular in Northern Thailand, though not so
commonly known among the Burmese-Karen.
2) Many entries include Karen phrases, as well as single words.
3) Each Karen word or phrase is translated into English, French and
Thai.
4) The introduction includes a brief discussion on the history of
written Karen, simple word and sentence structure, and an explanation
of the romanization scheme and of Karen tones.
5) The book seems very thorough.
6) The book is inexpensive, especially for its size- ~$18 in Thailand.

Drawbacks:

1) The transliteration is a little weird (the "R" sound is written as
"Hga", for example). I have not yet looked at the Drum Transliteration
Help Sheet, so I don't know if the two systems are similar.
2) there is no English to Karen section, it is all laid out by the
Karen word- the dictionary either needs to be studied randomly, or
words need to be looked up in the presence of a Karen speaker, going
from Karen to English.

I am thinking of contacting the original authors (the Jesuits, not the
publisher) and seeing if they are willing to pass along the electronic
version of the book, so that someone could "find" an English work, and
then see what the Karen translation is.

Here is the information. The website is in Thai, and unfortunately, my
language skills are not good enough to translate it, but I think that
with the ISBN number, you may be able to get a local library-
especially an university library- to have it sent to your branch
through "Inter-Library Loan". The book itself is in English. It may be
possible to email the publisher, or make contact with the Jesuits
directly or through a state-side Jesuit priest.

Title: Pgaz K'Nyau Dictionary/Dictionnaire (Pgaz K'Nyau is Karen for
"Karen"...)
Author: Joseph Seguinotte, SCJ
Edition: First, 2007

Here is the information for the publisher:

Windows on the World/ DKToday
23/55-56 Block F, Royal City Avenue
Rama 9 Rd- Soi Soonvijai, Huay Kwang
Bangkok 10320

ph: (+66) 2641-4808
email: w...@loxinfo.co.th
website: http://www.dktoday.net
direct:
http://www.dktoday.net/onlineshop/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,93/category_id,20/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,26/


I know that's a lot of information, but maybe someone will find it
helpful. I'm happy you are all working with the Karen in the states.
It's this sort of assistance which will greatly improve the chance of
success for both them and their future generations.

I found the dictionary at DK Books in Chiang Mai. It's right along the
outside of the moat near a couple of the other University-related book
stores (I want to say between Tah Pae and Chiang Mai gates).