The Marshallese-English Dictionary contains almost 12,000 entries giving information on an estimated 30,000 Marshallese words. Built upon the information collected in earlier dictionaries, its entries are enriched with grammatical information and illustrative sentences. Many words not previously recorded have been added, both older words dealing with the lore of the islands and newer words that reflect the changing circumstances of life today. Following the recommendations made by a committee of Marshallese leaders in 1971, the words in this dictionary are spelled along traditional lines, but spellings have been regularized phonetically by computer.
An English Finder List is provided to enable the user to easily locate terms for navigation, currents, weather, food preparation, games, and other important aspects of Marshallese culture. A special section lists more than 4,000 place names in the Marshall Islands. Scientific identifications are given for the names of plants, marine life, animals, and stars and constellations. Created to fill the need for a comprehensive dictionary in programs of bilingual education in the schools of the Marshall Islands, this work will also be of use to anthropologists and linguists specialising in the Pacific.