Lisan al-Arab
1290 dictionary of Arabic by Ibn Manzur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lisān al-ʿArab (Arabic: لسان العرب, lit. 'The Tongue of the Arabs') is a dictionary of Arabic completed by Ibn Manzur in 1290.
| |
| Author | Ibn Manzur |
|---|---|
| Original title | لسان العرب |
| Language | Arabic |
| Genre | Dictionary |
History
Summarize
Perspective
Ibn Manzur's objective in this project was to reïndex and reproduce the contents of previous works to facilitate readers' use of and access to them.[1] In his introduction to the book, he writes:
In this book there is nothing unprecedented, nor is there a particular methodology I hold other than that I gathered what had been dispersed in those academic books... I did not include any other text, so let anyone who cites my book understand that he is citing these five original sources.[1]
Occupying 20 printed book volumes (in the most frequently cited edition), it is the best known dictionary of the Arabic language,[2] as well as one of the most comprehensive. Ibn Manzur compiled it from other sources to a large degree. The most important sources for it were the Tahdhīb al-Lugha of Azharī, Al-Muḥkam of Ibn Sidah, Al-Nihāya of Ibn Athīr and Jauhari's Ṣiḥāḥ, as well as the ḥawāshī (glosses) of the latter (Kitāb at-Tanbīh wa-l-Īḍāḥ) by Ibn Barrī.[3] It follows the Ṣiḥāḥ in the arrangement of the roots: The headwords are not arranged by the alphabetical order of the radicals as usually done today in the study of Semitic languages, but according to the last radical [4] - which makes finding rhyming endings significantly easier. Furthermore, the Lisān al-Arab notes its direct sources, but not or seldom their sources, making it hard to trace the linguistic history of certain words. Murtaḍá al-Zabīdī corrected this in his Tāj al-ʿArūs, that itself goes back to the Lisān. The Lisān, according to Ignatius d'Ohsson, was already printed in the 18th century in Istanbul,[5] thus fairly early for the Islamic world.
Published editions
- Bullag Misr al-Matb'ah al-Kubra al-'Amiriyah Egypt; 1883, vol.,1[6]
- Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kubra al-Amirīya, Bulaq; 1883 - 1890, vols.,20[7]
- Dar Sader, Beirut; 1955 - 1956, vols.,15.
- Ādāb al-Ḥawza, Iran; 1984, vols.,18
References
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