al-Maajim al-Arabiya ma a Itina Khas bi Mujam al-Ayn lil-Khalil ibn Ahmad
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Shabab
al-Ma‘ājim al-‘Arabiyya ma‘a I‘tinā’ Khāṣṣ bi-Mu‘jam al-‘Ayn li-l-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad (Arabic Dictionaries with Special Attention to the Dictionary of al-‘Ayn by al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad) is a study of the history, structural methods, and development of Arabic lexicography by the Egyptian scholar Abd Allah Darwish, first published in Cairo in 1375 AH / 1956 CE.
Scope and Classification
The work provides a comprehensive survey of classical and modern Arabic lexicography, centering on Kitāb al-‘Ayn by al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi as the foundational text of the tradition. Darwish divides the historical evolution of Arabic dictionaries into three major methodological systems:
- The Anagrammatical Phonetic Method (ṭarīqat al-taqlībāt): Invented by al-Khalīl, arranging roots according to phonetic points of articulation from the throat to the lips and analyzing all mathematical permutations of root letters.
- The Rhyme System (niẓām al-qāfiya): Organizing entries alphabetically according to the final root radical (the bāb) and then the first radical (the faṣl).
- The Conventional Alphabetical Order (al-tartīb al-abjadī al-‘ādī): Arranging roots in straightforward alphabetical sequence by their first, second, and third letters.
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into four main parts (abwāb) preceded by an introduction and followed by a conclusion:
- Introduction and Part One: Examines the rise of Arabic scholarship in the second century AH, provides a biographical sketch of al-Khalīl ibn Aḥmad, and analyzes his method in Kitāb al-‘Ayn, including his phonetic order, the isolation of non-augmented radical letters, and structural divisions (biliteral doubled roots, triliteral sound and defective roots, quadriliterals, and quinqueliterals). It then examines Eastern lexicographers who followed al-Khalīl's phonetic-anagrammatical model—such as Ibn Durayd in Jamharat al-Lugha and Abu Mansur al-Azhari in Tahdhib al-Lugha—as well as Western and Andalusian scholars who adopted it, including Abu Ali al-Qali in al-Bāri‘, Abu Bakr al-Zubaydi in his abridgment Mukhtaṣar al-‘Ayn, and Ibn Sida in al-Muhkam.
- Part Two: Dedicates an in-depth study to Kitāb al-‘Ayn, reviewing classical and modern debates surrounding its authorship and attribution to al-Khalīl, discussing the contributions of Father Anastas al-Karmali, and describing the surviving manuscript copies in Baghdad and Berlin.
- Part Three: Details the rhyme school, reviewing al-Jawhari's al-Sihah, Ibn Manzur's Lisan al-Arab, al-Fairuzabadi's al-Qamus al-Muhit, and al-Murtada al-Zabidi's Taj al-Arus, along with Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq's critical treatises al-Jāsūs ‘alā al-Qāmūs and Sirr al-Layāl.
- Part Four: Covers alphabetical dictionaries, beginning with Ibn Faris's al-Mujmal and Maqāyīs al-Lugha and al-Zamakhshari's Asās al-Balāgha, before turning to modern Lebanese works such as Butrus al-Bustani's Muḥīṭ al-Muḥīṭ and Sa‘īd al-Shartūnī's Aqrab al-Mawārid. It also surveys Western Orientalist lexicographical works, particularly Edward William Lane's lexicon and August Fischer's principles and historical dictionary project, concluding with the Arabic Language Academy's al-Mu‘jam al-Kabīr.
- Conclusion: Proposes practical guidelines for modern Arabic lexicography, discussing criteria for word selection, structural arrangement, and methods of semantic definition.
Publication History
The treatise was initially printed by Maṭba‘at al-Risāla in Cairo in 1956. It later saw subsequent printings, including editions published by Maktabat al-Shabāb in Cairo and Dār al-Fayṣaliyya in Mecca in 1406 AH.
Answer updated