YEMEN UPDATE
YEMEN
REVIEWS
- A
Yemeni Thesaurus
-
- Reviewed by Daniel Martin
Varisco
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- Yemen Update
25(1989):15-16
-
- [Note: printing errors from the
printed version have been corrected. Transliteration does not
includes dots under letters.]
-
- al-Himyarî, 'Îsâ
ibn Ibrâhîm al-Rab'î al-Wuhâzî
,Nizâm al-gharîb fî al-lugha,
Damascus, 1980.
- The Arabic language is far more
expansive and expressive than any single lexicon can communicate,
despite the massive length of classical dictionaries such as
Lisân al-‘Arab of Ibn Manzûr or Tâj
al-‘Arûs of the Yemeni al-Zabîdî. One
of the more interesting lexicographical genres is a type of
thesaurus where groups of closely related terms are discussed in
sequence. The inestimable value of a work of this sort is that it
places at your fingertips a wide variety of terminology on the
same subject or of a particular type.
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- The grandest thesaurus in Arabic is no
doubt the encyclopedic effort of Ibn Sîda, whose early 11th
century A.D. text, al-Mukhkhassas is virtually exhaustive.
Another Roget of the Arabs was Ibn Qutayba, who put together a
shorter collection of words a learned man should know; it is a
sort of Barnes and Noble guide to adab. This early work of
Ibn Qutayba (9th century A.D.) had a profound impact on
generations of later scholars. To this genre may now be added
another medieval Arabic thesaurus written by a Yemeni scholar
named ‘Îsâ ibn Ibrâhîm al-Rab'î
al-Wuhâzî al-Himyarî (died A.H. 480/A.D.
1086-7)
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- Al Himyari's text is called The
Arrangement of the Uncommon in Language (Nizâm
al-gharîb fî al-lugha) and comprises 102 chapters
on a wide variety of subjects. There is literally something for
everyone, as will be noted in the contents described below. A
first edition was published in a nicely printed, footnoted text
from Damascus in 1980; this was edited by the indomitable Yemeni
bibliophile Muhammad ‘Alî al-Akwa‘. Al-Akwa‘
provides a brief introduction to the text and author in his
rambling style. The edition is based on a ms. which is said to
date from the 7th century A.H. A second edition has mysteriously
appeared in 1987 and is published by the Mu'assasa al-Kutub
al-Thaqâfiyya (Beirut?). It is noted as a second edition,
but the editor is not indicated nor is there any reference to
al-Akwa‘. The text is virtually identical to the first, but
there are a number of unexplained modifications. Unfortunately
there are no footnotes, although the terms are mercifully voweled
and well-indexed. One can only assume that this second edition
has been lifted from the first. Both, however, have been
available recently in Yemeni bookstores.
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- The best description of the text is to
summarize the chapter headings as they appear: ® Parts of the
Human Body, ® Blows to the Body, ® Reason and
Intelligence, ® Eloquence, ® Stupidity and Feebleness,
® Beauty, ® Ugliness, ® Height, ® Shortness, ®
Excellent Character, ® Bad Character, ® Love, ® Hatred
and Enmity, ® Pride, ® Generosity and Kindness, ®
Names of the Indwelling Spirit, ® Youth, ® Old Age, ®
Strength and Intensity, ® Weakness, ® Stock, ® Purity,
® Character, ® Nearness, ® Farness®, ®
Prosperity and Misery, ® Wealth and Poverty, ® Surfeit and
Hunger, ® Quenched Thirst and Thirst, ® Wine, ® Honey,
® Milk, ® Meat, ® Names of Women and their
Description, ® What is Disgusting about Women's Bodies and
their Characteristics, ® Women's Vulva, ® Jewelry, ®
Gold and Silver, ® Clothing, ® Pleasant Scents, ®
Residences, ® Buildings, ® Tents, ® Courage, ®
Cowardice, ® Swords, ® Lances, ® Armor, ® Bows and
Arrows, ® War, ® Military, ® Groups, ® Sounds,
® Sounds of Animals, ® Colors, ® Horses&emdash;their
Description and Characteristics, ® Donkeys, ® Revenge,
® Invalid Revenge, ® Camels, ® Characteristics of
Camels, ® Saddles and Harnesses, ® Mange, ® Travel by
Camel, ® Sleep, ® Roads, ® Eating, ® Ibex, ®
Ostrich, ® Wild Donkey, ® Birds of Prey, ® Sheep and
Goat, ® Lions, ® Wolves, ® Hyenas, ® Young of
Animals, ® Breasts of Animals, ® Snakes, ® Locusts,
® Sun, ® Moon, ® Darkness, ® Shadow, ® Clouds
and Rain, ® Winds, ® Fertility and Sterility, ® Sea,
® Wells and Buckets, ® Date Palms, ® Plants and
Pasture, ® Aromatic Plants, ® Deserts, ® Mountains,
® Soil, ® Time Periods, ® Death and Graves, ®
Great Matters, ® Collections, ® Things the Arabs refer to
in the Dual.
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- If you are looking for something
abstruse, then you will not be disappointed in this highly
eclectic work. For instance, al-Himyari lets you know which term
to use for describing sexual activity for various kinds of
animals. What the male camel does to the female is jafara
(verb); the ram does it as rabada; wild animals of prey
do it as safada; the bull does qara‘a and the
stallion does ka'ma. The camel, of course, is known for
his taraqa and the donkey for bakâ. So much
for mounting tension in medieval literature. By the way, a woman
with a very fat midriff is known as ‘arakaka.
Al-Himyarî is not the most liberated writer and offers few
insulting terms that could be directed at men. Indeed his best
interests can be summed up by one of the duals discussed at the
end of the book. In case you did not know, food and procreation
are called atyabân.
