Muhit Al-Muhit is an early modern
Arabic dictionary written by the
Lebanese polymath
Butrus al-Bustani
Butrus al-Bustani ( ar, بطرس البستاني, ; 1819–1883) was a writer and scholar from present day Lebanon. He was a major figure in the Nahda, which began in Egypt in the late 19th century and spread to the Middle East.
He is cons ...
(1819–1883), one of the leading figures of the
Nahda
The Nahda ( ar, النهضة, translit=an-nahḍa, meaning "the Awakening"), also referred to as the Arab Awakening or Enlightenment, was a cultural movement that flourished in Arabic-speaking regions of the Ottoman Empire, notably in Egypt, Leb ...
.
Bustani’s vision was to revive and modernize the Arabic language. Mindful of the importance of pedagogy, he created the dictionary to make it easier for teachers and students to attain language proficiency.
The work was also strongly motivated by the writer’s
Syrian nationalist
Syrian nationalism, also known as Pan-Syrian nationalism (or pan-Syrianism), refers to the nationalism of the region of Syria, as a cultural or political entity known as " Greater Syria".
It should not be confused with the Arab nationalism that ...
ideology, leveraging language as a unifying factor for the peoples of the Levant.
Bustani finished the first version of the dictionary in 1869, eleven years after he had begun.
''Muhit Al-Muhit'' is considered by modern lexicographers as a seminal step in the transition from classical to modern Arabic. Bustani introduced new lexical items in ''Muhit Al-Muhit'', expanded the meaning of others, and added brief modern examples of word uses. He also removed or reduced features typical to classical Arabic lexicography such as using
Quranic
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...
and
poetic verses as references to lexicographical use.
The first is the omission or reduction of typical features characterizing classical Arabic lexicography, such as citing Qurʾānic verses and poetic verses as examples. The second involves incorporating briefly imodern meanings. featured new additions to the lexicon, and differed from classical dictionaries by
he was He accomplished this by extending their meaning via historical, psychological, sociological, scientific and religious explanations. This lexical achievement is likely to have required a preparatory stage. We suggest that the project of Muḥīṭ al-Muḥīṭ was one such stage assisting in the transformation from classical to modern Arabic. A close examination of this dictionary suggests that it remains a classical dictionary that imitates classical dictionaries such as Lisān al-ʿArab with two fundamental differences. The first is the omission or reduction of typical features characterizing classical Arabic lexicography, such as citing Qurʾānic verses and poetic verses as examples. The second involves incorporating briefly imodern meanings.
References
Notes
Bibliography
* {{Cite journal , last1=Zachs , first1=Fruma , last2=Dror , first2=Yehudit , date=2020 , title=The Muḥīṭ al-Muḥīṭ Dictionary: The Transition from Classical to Modern Arabic Lexicography , url=https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/download/7853/7084/24870 , journal=Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies , publication-date= , volume=20 , pages=15–32, doi=10.5617/jais.7853 , s2cid=225979755 , doi-access=free
Arabic dictionaries