Abaev V.I., Paper Herbert H. A grammatical sketch of Ossetic

Indiana University. Research Center in Anthropology, Folklore, and Linguistics, 1964. — 133 p.The present Sketch represents a revised and expanded version of the grammatical sketch of Ossetic appended to my Russian-Ossetic Dictionary (1950) and then to the Ossetic-Russian Dictionary edited by A. M. Kasaev (1952).
The structure of the sketch remains as before. Contrastive elements with Russian are also retained. Such contrasts, if one takes into account the wide-spread bilingualism in Ossetia, have definite methodological significance.
Grammatical norms are best revealed and assimilated when they are presented "in action" — i. e., in speech, in context, and not when they are given in the form of abstract definitions and rules. Taking account of this, the compiler, in the revision and expansion of the sketch, allotted special attention to increasing the number of examples which illustrate the meaning and use of one or another grammatical form.
For this purpose a selection of appropriate citations from works of Ossetic literature and folklore was made. The compiler most gladly gleaned examples from the linguistically-unsurpassed works of the national poet, Kosta Xetagurov.
There is appended a list of sources used in this sketch.