HOW TO USE A DICTIONARY

1.1 INTRODUCTION We will be learning how to use three Arabic-English dictionaries, each serving a unique purpose. They

are:

1) Hans Wehr

2) Lane’s Lexicon

3) Brill

All three of these dictionaries are searchable by root letters.

HA NS WE H R Hans Wehr is a dictionary of modern written Arabic complied by the German orientalist Hans Wehr in

the mid 1900’s. Though it is a modern dictionary, many Quranic words a searchable in Hans Wehr. Be

aware, however, that there are sometimes variations in modern and classical definitions of the same

word.

LA NE ’S LE X I CO N Lane’s Lexicon is a compilation of classical Arabic-Arabic dictionary entries translated into English. It was

compiled by the British orientalist, Edward William Lane in the mid 1800’s. Lane passed away when he

reached ق. The dictionary was completed by his great-nephew. The quality of the entries after ق are

lower.

BRILL Brill is a contextualized dictionary of Quranic usage. It was compiled by Dr. Muhammad AbdelHaleem

and Dr. Elsaid Badawi.

1.2 NAVIGATING HANS WEHR Hans Wehr is searchable by root. Once the root letters are entered, the dictionary entry will appear. The

entry is sorted by family, starting with the جمرد family, then moving in order from families II-X. The entry

will only include the families that take the root letters that have been searched.

Let us take a look at an example.

STE P 1: SE A RC H I NG The root letters can be entered either in English or Arabic.

STE P 2: UND E RS TA N D I N G TH E جمرد EN TRY

The past-tense جمرد form is written out in a Romanized form.

The حركة that goes on the مضارع form (the second root letter) is represented by a single letter

that comes after the past-tense word. A “u” represents a ضمة. An “a” represents a فتحة. A “i”

represents a كرسة. Together, the past and present tell you what clan a word belongs to.

The مصدر is written in parentheses following the past and present tense.

The definitions of the word follow

ماض

u represents ـ on second root

letter ( َم مصدر (َكر

STE P 3: UND E RS TA N D I N G TH E فيه مزيد ENT RIE S

A roman numeral indicates the start of the entry for a particular family

حروف that are associated with the فعل are included

s.o means “someone” and s.t. means “something”

The letter ه represents a direct مفعول به

start of family 2 entry

start of family 3 entry

start of family 4 entry

start of family 5 entry

STE P 4: أسماء AS S O C IA T E D W IT H TH E RO O T

Entries for أسماء and expressions that contain that root come after the مزيد فيه entries.

expression with same root

1.3 NAVIGATING LANE’S LEXICON

STE P 1: SE A RC H I NG Same as Hans Wehr.

STE P 2: UND E RS TA N D I N G TH E جمرد EN TRY

The past-tense جمرد form is written out in Arabic.

The حركة that goes on the مضارع is preceded by the abbreviation “aor.” This is short for “aortive,”

which means مضارع.

The مصدر is preceded by the abbreviation “inf. n.” This is short for “infinitive noun,” which

means مصدر. Ignore everything else in parentheses. These are just citations.

STE P 3: UND E RS TA N D I N G TH E فيه مزيد ENT RIE S

A number indicates the start of the entry for a particular family

مصدر مضارع ماض

STE P 4: أسماء AS S O C IA T E D W IT H TH E RO O T

Entries for أسماء and expressions that contain that root come after the مزيد فيه entries.

1.4 NAVIGATING BRILL Brill is formatted differently than Hans Wehr and Lanes Lexicon. The method for searching the root

letters, however, is the same.

Take a look at an example of an entry from Brill. Read the captions below each image.

The initial entry gives all definitions from all families. It also provides the frequency of each derivative of the

word in the Quran.

The following entries give the definitions family by family. Each entry has an example from the Quran.

The اسم entries come last. Each includes examples from the Quran.