Commonly known as Lane’s Lexicon, this is the most meticulous and thorough Arabic-English dictionary ever produced. Because of its clarity and logical structure, it is even used extensively by serious modern Arab linguists.
The English scholar Edward Lane spent decades collating, translating and summarising material from […]
Using Arabic-English dictionaries correctly is a finely honed art. Or science. Or… well the point is it takes some practice!
I’m sure you know the basics. Words are listed by their roots rather than the strict alphabetical order which we are accustomed to in English dictionaries.
So if you don’t know how the Arabic language is […]
Unlike the more popular Hans Wehr, Hava is a classical Arabic dictionary. Although it does have occasional mistakes, it generally sticks to and gives the correct classical meaning and usage of Arabic words. Where non-classical words are included, they are clearly […]
Hans Wehr is undoubtedly the best know Arabic-English dictionary.
Now in its fourth edition, this is a comprehensive dictionary of modern Arabic, up to date and very well laid out. Any student, whatever his or her level, will find it sufficient if […]
The Arabic Dictionary Al-Qāmūs al-Muḥīṭ was compiled by Muḥammad b. Ya’qūb al-Fayrūzābādī (d. 817 AH).
Al-Fayrūzābādī relied primarily on Al-Muḥkam of Ibn Sīdah (d. 458 AH) and Al-Ubāb of Al-Ṣāghānī (d. 660 AH). He arranged his dictionary by order of the final letters in the roots, rather […]
Imām Muḥammad b. Abi Bakr al-Rāzī (d. 666 AH) compiled his Arabic dictionary Mukhtār al-Ṣiḥāḥ as an abridgement of Al-Ṣiḥāḥ by Al-Jawharī (d. 393 AH).
Al-Jawharī was one of the last of the classical lexicographers who spent time with Bedouin Arabs, checking the accuracy of what he […]
Al-Mu’jam al-Wasīṭ is an official Arabic dictionary of Arabic Language Academy (Majma’ al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyyah) in Egypt.
When the Academy was founded in Egypt in 1932, to revive and preserve classical Arabic, part of its mission statement was to produce the first Arabic dictionary which would employ the […]
Although it can be tempting to avoid using Arabic-Arabic dictionaries altogether, as there are so many Arabic-English dictionaries, many of them of very high quality, there are definite advantages to developing a habit of using them.
Most obviously, as you look up the new words you come across when reading […]
This Teach Yourself Arabic book was first published in 1943 by English Universities Press, and should not be confused with the modern Teach Yourself series.
As with Thatcher’s Arabic Grammar, this book was written for an audience better versed in English grammatical […]
Fischer’s A Grammar of Classical Arabic is a reference work which may, in some respects, be considered a modernised Wright’s Grammar.
Fischer uses modern grammatical terminology, and the examples he uses are also more “practical” or day-to-day, as opposed to the emphasis […]
Thatcher’s Arabic Grammar has largely been made redundant by the improvements and additions made to it by Haywood and Nahmad.
Thatcher may still be of some use to anyone who wants additional translation practice, particularly if you are keen […]
W. Wright’s A Grammar of the Arabic Language, commonly known simply as Wright’s Arabic Grammar or Wright’s Grammar, has been the most advanced reference work of Arabic grammar generally available in English since its publication in the mid 19th century.
This work gives English-speaking students of […]
Haywood and Nahmad’s Arabic grammar textbook is an absolute must for anyone who accepts the proposition that the best way to learn or teach Arabic to an English-speaking student is through an Arabic textbook presented in […]
Most of the best-known Arabic Textbooks assume that you already know the Arabic script, or else they deal with the basics of the Arabic alphabet very briefly, before moving on to Arabic grammar. Therefore, if you are a complete beginner, we highly recommend that you go to the section Online […]
Ḥabīb ‘Alī is from the renowned ulama of Yemen, from the Ḥabā`ib family, which has produced great Muslim Scholars for centuries. The Durūs wa Khuṭab section of his website has hundreds of hours of Arabic audio lectures. His website can also be viewed in […]
Arabic Media serves an important role in modern Arabic: it sets a common standard of educated or ‘correct’ Arabic across the Arab world. As such, it is important to be familiar and comfortable with it.
This can take some time, as Media Arabic, in common with the media of any language, […]
