Article - Review and Critique of Al-Mukhasas Dictionary by Ibn Sidah (d. 458 AH)

Abstract

Linguistic dictionaries constitute the repositories and treasures of the Arabic language. They have preserved the language from loss, explained its vocabulary, clarified its orthography, and facilitated the documentation of its linguistic evidence. Consequently, they have provided an immense lexical wealth of words and precise meanings. Moreover, they have enriched our understanding of the multiple meanings of a single lexical item, in addition to their close relationship with other branches of linguistic study, including phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Ibn Sīdah’s al-Mukhaṣṣaṣ represents the culmination of the development achieved by thematic dictionaries in the history of the Arabic lexicographical tradition. It is regarded as the largest of its kind in scope, the richest in meanings, and the most extensive in lexical content. In this work, Ibn Sīdah systematically compiled the linguistic material previously collected by transmitters and scholars in their treatises and books, then organized it with remarkable precision. He further supplemented it with phonetic, morphological, syntactic, and semantic observations and analyses, tracing the origins, sources, and methods of analysis of the material in a manner closely connected with the craft of Arabic lexicography. Al-Mukhaṣṣaṣ is distinguished as the most comprehensive thematic dictionary both in semantic coverage and lexical richness. Its organization is based on semantic relationships among the principal categories, each of which Ibn Sīdah designates as a *Kitāb* (“Book”), such as *Kitāb Khalq al-Insān* (“The Book of the Creation of Man”) and *Kitāb al-Gharāʾiz (“The Book of Innate Dispositions”), together with the semantic links connecting these and other categories. At the same time, the work adheres to a rigorous classificatory methodology that reflects a gradual organization of subordinate meanings within each major category. For example, *Kitāb al-Gharāʾiz includes such topics as beauty and ugliness, praiseworthy and blameworthy traits, good character, leadership, loftiness of aspiration, and other related concepts.