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The Lane's Lexicon: User Comments.

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Liaquat Ali
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Joined: 10 Feb 2006
Posts: 712

Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject: The Lane's Lexicon: User Comments.

Request your FREE copy of E.W. Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon. Shipping included as well.

The Qur'an Institute requires people to to tell us how they are going to use their Free copy of E.W. Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon. Most of them say that they will use it to study the Qur'an better. But we do get other types of responses. I will update this post with some of those responses.

Dr. Shawqi Talia of Department of Semitics and Egyptian Languages and Literarture, The Catholic University of America wrote:

Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon is, perhaps, the most important Lexicon for Classical Arabic available in English, or any other language. The importance is not only in the abundant Arabic words it has, but also the poetry that is given to indicate the usage and history of usage of a word. The many examples given are a great help to any one who works in Classical Arabic and Semitic Comparative Linguistics.

In my teaching of all branches of Islamic Studies, I, and my students have found it to be a GOLD MINE, that permits us to see the most inner core beauty of the Arabic Language. Even for the LAY person, this Lexicon is a a great book of literature. For me, it is not only a LEXICON; it is a book about the history, traditions, culture, and anthropology of the Arab People.

This lexicon is a friend for life, a friend who never tires you, nor bores you. In providing this Lexicon to all, you are doing a great service to humanity. For your effort I am deeply greatful. My students, especially, are exited about the availability of the DVD for them.

A requester from St. Patricks Seminary wrote:

I heard of the offer of Lane's dictionary in DVD form from two sources: a graduate student in Semitic languages at the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), and from a former colleague and Semitist. They directed me to the website and the extraordinary offer.

I will use the lexicon for comparative Semitic studies, for Semitic lexicography and philology. The specific project that I am engaged in is the writing of A commentary on the Hebrew bblical psalms. Up to now, I have relied on Wehr's dictionary, but it is not so helpful with more ancient forms of Arabic. The DVDs will be used for my personal study and research.

A Student from John Hopkins University's Near Eastern Studies Department wrote:

I study Ugaritic texts, which did not include vocalization. Often in trying to reconstruct the vowels of certain words, we have only Arabic cognates. Lane's Lexicon is indispensible for tracking down these cognates. (Hans Wehr is less useful for this purpose.)

Dean of one of the top Ivy Leage Divinity Schools wrote:

I have two copies of Lane already, one in a Beirut reprint of the original eight volumes and one in the later two-volume edition. I use it regularly for my own research and for reference, alongside Arabic dictionaries such as the Muhit al-Muhit and the Lisan al-'Arab and alongside other western classical dictionaries such as Biberstein-Kazimirski and Uhlmann et al, Woerterbuch der klassischen arabischen Sprache. I have no specific project in mind; only the ability to use a DVD copy that would speed up reference checks as I read Arabic materials.

This is a wonderful service to all who work in Classical Arabic/Fushah.

A Student from John Hopkins University's Near Eastern Studies Department wrote:

I am a student at Johns Hopkins in the dept. of Near Eastern Studies. Though we primarily focus on ancient History (e.g. BCE), Arabic is an important component because of the conservative nature of the language (e.g. it still preserves a lot of letters) and is thus very important for studying the history of ancient Near Eastern (Semitic) languages (Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Ugaritic).

A research Fellow in Islamic Art and Architecture, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Oxford, UK wrote:

I am writing to ask for the free DVD copy of Lane's lexicon. I heard about this amazing offer through a group e-mail from my Faculty (Oriental Studies, Oxford), and the Khalili Research Centre for the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East.

Even as a native speaker I find Lane a most wonderful and life-saving
reference. In fact our library copy is almost worn down with use. I am
currently working on a research project that studies the social history
of material culture through a close reading of Fiqh sources. The research
is mainly textual but it also looks at inscriptions on material culture.
Having my own Lane will be a dream come true. It will certainly add value to my research and research time.

I am asking for an individual copy but I am also forwarding your note
to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies main library and to my fellow
colleagues.

An MPhil student of Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University wrote:

I heard about your offer through a student colleague at Amsterdam University. He send me the link of your website.
I am currently an MPhil student Middle Eastern Studies at Leiden University. My specialization is Arabic and Islamic Fiqh. At the moment I often use Lane's Lexicon, but the only way for me to access it is by going to the university library. It is the best dictionary for classical Arabic that I know, therefore I would love to have a copy myself.

A director of Arabic and Translation Division, Center for Adult and Continuing Education, The American University in Cairo wrote:

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you very much for your offer. I heard about the Qura'n Institute
and this offer via the Arabic-L listserv. The lexicon could be used by
our learners in Arabic and Translation Studies Division (ASD), Center
for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE), The American University in
Cairo (AUC). ASD learners enroll in mandatory courses in Lexicography
and Terminology, and Research Tools for Translators.

Such a seminal work will be a positive addition to the tools employed by our learners. The DVD offered will be used on an organizational scale in
at least six classes per term. It will be very much appreciated if we
receive six free copies to be used in computer labs and for office use
by our instructors.

Other educational institutions in Egypt may find the lexicon useful.
You may contact Departments of English and/or Arabic in the Egyptian
universities of Cairo, Alexandria, Ain Shams, Assuit, and Al-Azhar.

Thanking you again for your generous offer.

Requester from Department of Classical Studies, Duke University wrote:

I am currently writing my PhD on the Nessana papyri, whcih contain several documents in Arabic from the Umayyad era. The use of Lane is indispensible for this work. In addition, I believe that the Greek papyri contain Arabicism and Arabic calques; Lane is the priamry tool for examining this issue.

A graduate student, University of Chicago wrote:

I will be using the Lexicon (and also the root index program if it is possible to obtain both) for my dissertation. I am currently writting about the tribes of Quraysh and Thaqif from the Jahiliyyah to the end of the Umayyads. The use of
classical sources (such as Baladhuri, Ibn Sa'd, and Jahshiyari to name
a few) make standard dictonaries such as Hans Wehr problematic. Archaic roots, and older meanings are often omitted from modern dictionaries like Wehr or Mawrid.

An example is the term Siyaarah. It means "automobile" in modern arabic, but the sources I use understand this term to mean "camel caravan". Only in Lane (and to a lesser extent Hava) do we find the correct meaning. However, Hava is far less comprehensive than Lane's magisterial work. It will be solely for my private work, but I am sure that it will be heavily used. Often, volumes in the reading room of the libtary are constantly in use and difficult to find.

The price is also prohibitivly expensive for a young graduate student such as myself. By doing this wonderful thing, you are opening up a major resource for those of use who have been struggeling without for so long. I think that every student of islamic studies will benifit greatly from this worthy project.

A requester from Spain wrote:

I'm working in a project about an edition of the old arabic dictionary of Al-Zubaydi, Mukhtasar al-Ayn, form a Spanich Mss. of the 14th century.

A requester from The University of Southern Mississippi wrote:

I plan to use the lexicon in my own research on classical Arabic literature and
Islamic law. Lane's Lexicon is the best resource on Arabic lexicography
available to English speakers. I would also like to request a copy for
the university library. A growing number of students want to study Arabic
and this would be a great resource for them.

A requester from Temple University wrote:

Lane wrote his dictionary in reaction to Zabidi's Taj al-`Arus. I would like to examine what this meant by comparing comparable entries. Lane criticized Zabidi many times but he also used him. This I want to go into more thoroughly. I think this might shed light on how Egypt was changing between the 1780's and the 1830's. I write on Egyptian cultural history. Thank you for this generous offer.

A Phd candidate at Harvard University wrote:

I will use the lexicon for my dissertation project that is a translation from the Arabic of the Biblioteca Arabo-Sicula, a collection of historiographers on Muslim Sicily.

A requester from McGill University, Canada wrote:

I am Ph.D. candidate at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada and am working on the colonial history of the Mappila Muslims of Kerala, South India. For my thesis work I have to use Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon to read the primary sources in Arabic. Having my own Lane will be a dream come true.

I am also a faculty member at the United Theological College, Bangalore, India where we don't have a copy of Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon. So if you can send me another copy of Lane for my college in India, I can take it back home and it will be useful for a large number of students and teachers.

A Ph.D candidate at University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany wrote:

I am not intending to use the lexicon for any specific project, but as a student studying on middle east, an Arabic dictionary would be useful for me in my readings. Moreover because I am Turkish, in my language there are a huge number of words coming from Arabic roots. This will facilitate my understanding of Turks relations with Arab culture. One more point is I am a muslim but I am not able to understand some words in my holy book.

Last edited by Liaquat Ali on Wed Jun 07, 2006 3:22 pm; edited 18 times in total

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