A useful vocabulary list
This book contains a glossary of the words contained in vol. I of the set, a selection of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian texts. The definitions are merely glosses, one or a few words, but they are helpful, as they get right to the point.
The glossary uses a Roman-alphabet transliteration exclusively. The words are arranged in an alphabetical order which follows the Roman order as closely as possible. Each entry consists of four elements: (1) the transliteration; (2) a transcription, which includes vowels; where the Persian and Parthian phonemic values differ, the correct form for each language is clearly indicated; (3) an abbreviation to show whether the word is "Pe." (Persian), "Pth." (Parthian), or "c." (common); (4) the gloss(es), which include, as applicable, past participles of verbs, or idiomatic phrases involving any kind of word. The list also includes some spelling variants, which have cross-references to the main entries.
The first part of each entry, the transliteration, is set off in a column of its own, occupying the left third of the page. This makes for a very user-friendly format in which it is easy to pick out specific words of interest.
A helpful appendix is a reverse index of all the entries, prepared by Ronald Zwanziger. This proved particularly useful to me, as a non-specialist in Iranian languages. (I am doing research on Persian loanwords in Syriac, as part of my doctoral studies in the latter language).
Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Middle Persian or Parthian. It has a well organized, well formatted collection of a useful selection of vocabulary items.
