About
The adventures, observations, and struggles of an expat in Moscow, Russia...
RSS Syndication
Recently Flickred
Currently Reading
The New Russian Business Leaders by Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries, Stanislav Shekshnia, Konstantin Korotov, and Elizabeth Florent-Treacy.
Previous Entry
Next Entry
One of the things that’s been on my wishlist for some time now is the three volume Russian Etymological Dictionary by Max Vasmer. Unfortunately, it’s out of print and I haven’t been able to track down any used copies on the internet.
Anybody know where I can find it? It seems to be the authoritative Russian etymology. Is there anything else out there that compares (in Russian or English) which might be easier to find?
Responses to “Searching for Vasmer”
December 15th, 2004 at 10:25 pm
The Wikipedia article links to two online versions, though I haven’t been able to access them — maybe you’ll have better luck. What a life he had, too — I had no idea all his work was destroyed by a bomb in ‘44 and he had to start over!
December 17th, 2004 at 2:15 pm
Great! Thanks for the links. I wouldn’t have thought to look up Vasmer in the Russian Wikipedia. I downloaded the zipped version of the dictionary to my laptop, but I’m the type of guy who would still love to get his hands on a hard copy someday. . .
December 13th, 2004 at 9:19 pm
No substitute for Vasmer.
You can buy any book from street vendors on Novyi Arbat. They can charge outrageous price for really rare books, but generally their prices are reasonable enough.