Lisan al-Arab

History

Ibn Manzur's objective in this project was to reindex and reproduce the contents of previous works to facilitate readers' use of and access to them. In his introduction to the book, he writes:

Occupying 20 printed book volumes (in the most frequently cited edition), it was the best known dictionary of the Arabic language for hundreds of years, 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 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. 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 - 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, thus fairly early for the Islamic world.

Published editions

• Bullag Misr al-Matb'ah al-Kubra al-'Amiriyah Egypt; 1883, vol.,1
• Al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kubra al-Amirīya, Bulaq; 1883 - 1890, vols.,20
• Dar Sader, Beirut; 1955 - 1956, vols.,15.
• Ādāb al-Ḥawza, Iran; 1984, vols.,18

References

References

1. "ابن منظور صاحب "لسان العرب"".
2. [[Kees Versteegh]], ''The Arabic Language'', pg. 63. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2001. Paperback edition. {{ISBN. 9780748614363
3. [[iarchive:lisan.al.arab/page/n4/mode/1up. ''Lisān al-ʿArab'', (Ādāb al-Ḥawza, Iran; 1984, vol.1 p.4)]]
4. Cf. for the arrangement of Arabic lexicographical works J. Kraemer: ''Studien zur altarabischen Lexikographie'', in: ''Oriens'' 6 (1953), p.201-238.
5. Cf. C. Brockelmann: ''Geschichte der arabischen Literatur.'' Volume II, p. 21 u. Georg Jacob: ''Altarabisches Beduinenleben: Nach den Quellen geschildert.'' Mayer, Berlin ²1887, p. XXXV, who both refer to I. d'Ohsson: ''Allgemeine Schilderung des Othomanischen Reichs''. Volume I, p. 573.
6. Raid Naim. "الباحث العربي: قاموس عربي عربي". Baheth.info.
7. "downloadable".