This third edition of the Hutterian-English Dictionary has become necessary for several reasons. First of all, approximately 2500 new words have come to light from a variety of sources both from within the Hutterite Colonies and the Prairie People who came into possession of the earlier editions. As a result this new edition has 6474 vocabulary entries plus a greatly increased number of inflected forms for adjectives, and considerably more examples of usage in the context of phrases and sentences. As well, the number of cross references to related words has been multiplied many times over.

        Besides vastly increasing the vocabulary, the flood of additional words brought about the perceived need for a modification of the spelling of some words which sound almost the same. Examples are: los [let] and loss [chance]; shlus [conclusion] and shluss [a lock]. In both of these words the doubling of the consonant indicates that the vowel is considerably longer than in the word with a single final consonant.

        Beyond the matter of spelling, the readers of the previous editions have also helped to clarify and sharpen many definitions. When the first edition was being compiled, some people encouraged the project by repeating that "there was a word for everything." But as soon as an ever increasing number of Hutterites saw the first dictionary, it became apparent that there were in fact two words for many concepts in the Hutterian language. Some of these verbal pairs are: eisn - freisn, shtearbm - frecchn, sitsn - hucchn, pasn - vartn, shraldn - shraian. As much as is possible in a dictionary, these apparent synonyms have been defined so as to differentiate their nuanced meanings. Woe betide the careless speaker who uses one of these words when he ought to use the other, for although they have fairly similar meanings, they are not all interchangeable in the context of conversation as determined by the cultural parameters and linguistic habits of the people who speak the language. Like other ancient languages, our language has an almost limitless gradation of subtle nuances and shades of meaning.

        Thirdly, the translation of the New Testament into the Hutterian language made a new and more inclusive dictionary advisable. The present edition includes the complete vocabulary of the Laller House Version (1998) of Dos Guota Vuot [The Glad Tidings]. This comprises almost fifty words that are not commonly a part of Hutterian speech, although most of them are quite familiar to readers of the English King James Version. These include a few words derived from Hebrew, such as pascha [passover] and torah [pentateuch], both of which words were known to the prairie Hutterites from their contact with Jewish merchants in the towns with whom they could converse in Yiddish. Included also are such Greek derivatives as apostl [apostle] and sinagog [synagogue, assembly hall], for which there are no single home-grown Hutterite words, although the first could well be rendered as: ander vos cshiccht voadn is; and the second as: firsomblungs plots fir leisn unt beitn.

        Most of the technical words are derived from Latin. Many of them are transliterations of terms that have passed into many European languages (as Diverse as French and Russian) from earlier translations of the New Testament into those languages. Examples are caiser [emperor] and centurion [captain of a hundred men in the Roman army]. Of the almost forty Latin derivatives, many are now internationally known as the names of precious gems, such as those named in Revelation as pertaining to the New Jerusalem. Among these are amethist and chalcedon. These precious stones (and in most cases the colors pertaining to them) are described for the benefit of the reader, so that he will have some idea of the appearance of the beautiful city, and not just stumble over a bunch of strange foreign words that have no sense or meaning for the average reader. Every other European language has been enriched by these Latinic terms, and the already rich and unique Hutterite language deserves this embellishment as well.

        One significant feature of the Second Edition has been dropped, mostly because a proper font was unavailable, and hand-lettering the words was deemed inadequate. In that edition the derivatives of words adopted by the Hutterites were rendered in modern Russian orthography. But while this feature aroused considerable interest among many people who had not even seen words spelled in Russian heretofore, the number of people who could actually read those words was so small, that it was deemed not worth the effort to include this feature.

        On the other hand, most Greek derivatives are in the present edition given using modern Greek orthography. (Word 97 comes with the appropriate symbols!) Although few Hutterites can read Greek today, some can do so (and are teaching Greek in seminaries). No doubt a few readers will think that this exchange was an unhappy trade. The memories of the century spent in Russia still attract many Hutterites to whatever purports to be Russian. This interest (it must be unhappily noted) does not seem to extend as far as actually learning to read the Russian language, or reading the history or literature of that country.

        This new edition contains a number of historical notes (with exact dates) for the further information of the reader to enable him to envision the larger historical context in which this remarkable language and the people who still speak it survived the vicissitudes of many centuries. Also included are occasional humorous vignettes (like the story behind sepama) mostly for the entertainment of the reader.

        Finally, this present edition was composed in standard "dictionary format," so that it was possible to include a vastly expanded text in only fifteen additional pages. Not only did this keep the cost down, but we hope that all readers will find this format aesthetically more pleasing. All the work that went into this Third Edition will be amply repaid if this book provides many hours of enjoyment for many people.