The only essential Arabic dictionary for English speakers, April 28, 2004

First, I must say this is the only Modern Written Arabic (MWA) - English dictionary that the student of Arabic has to have. Others, Al-Mawrid, for example, are useful as supplements, and contain new vocabulary, and there is a more recent German edition (5th edition) of Wehr published by Harrassowitz, but this book has a standard of scholarship unrivalled by any other MWA-English dictionary. Middle Eastern published MWA-English dictionaries like Mawrid, for example, don't give the grammatical information learners of Arabic need, such as broken plurals, verbal vowelling, verbal nouns (masdars), let alone how verbs are used with prepositions, all of which Wehr tells the user.

Words are in root order, so maktaba (desk) <mktbh> and kaatib (writer) <k'tb> both are found under the verb kataba (to write) <ktb>. This really is the easiest way of ordering Arabic dictionaries once you've mastered grammar, though an alphabetic order dictionary is a help when you're starting and occasionally even when you're expert.

This dictionary is NOT a dictionary of Classical Arabic (although Beeston in his anthology of Bassar bin Burd reckoned that Wehr covered the vast majority of the vocabulary of this poet of the 8th Century AD). For Classical Arabic, Lane (perhaps supplemented by Hava's Faraid) is essential. But Lane is useless for modern Arabic. And if you're reading mediaeval Arabic, you will find Wehr fills in some of the gaps in Lane.

This dictionary is NOT a dialect dictionary, though it contains many dialect words that have found their way into the written Arabic of Egypt, Iraq, etc. Arabs don't write colloquial Arabic (at least not in formal contexts) and dialect dictionaries are specialized (dialect-English dictionaries are often written in transliteration rather than in the Arabic script). If you need a dialect dictionary, get one. This isn't one.

Other reviewers have rightly commented on the size of this dictionary, but some have confused editions. The 3rd (paperback) edition was 114 x 162 x 45mm (4.5" x 6.4" x 1.75") in size, weighed 0.65 kg and had tiny 5.5 pt print. The 4th (paperback) edition is larger: 216 x 130 x 40mm (5.2" x 8.5" x 1.5"), weighs 0.8 kg and has 7.5 pt print. This makes the 4th edition's print much more readable than the 3rd edition's.

The 4th edition which is sewn-bound is also more robust than the 3rd edition which was perfect-bound - I'm on my 3rd copy of the 3rd edition while my 4th edition soldiers on after 7 years. However, the book is not really pocket sized any more (I still keep using my last copy of the 3rd edition as a pocket copy).

The 4th edition isn't cheap (it's much more in England than in the US, though). If you're in the Middle East, you can pick up Librarie du Liban hardback copies of the 3rd edition (they have larger print than either of the two paperbacks - about 8 pt) for a little less. But I'd advise students to get the 4th if they can afford it. If they've lots of money, perhaps get the Harrassowitz hardback - I've not done so. And if they have money and German, get the 5th edition (Arabisches W?terbuch f? die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart).

This is simply indispensable...the best!, October 2, 2000

The Hans Wehr Arabic-English dictionary is simply the best...and totally indispensable. I don't know how you cold get by learning Arabic without it! I studied Arabic for several years, and got more use out of this dictionary than out of any other reference source BY FAR. If you don't believe me, I wish I could show you a picture of my dictionary now -- it's been used so much it's in pieces (obviously, I need to go out and buy a new one!). The most difficult thing (which can get frustrating, but like a puzzle, once you unlock the secret, everything starts clicking into place) is you've got to know the root of a word in order to find it in here. But that's the challenge -- and beauty -- of Arabic, possibly the world's richest, most poetic, amazing language; once you know the root a whole world of rich variations on the basic root meaning (i.e. DRS=study; mudarris=teacher, or one who MAKES you study!) starts to open up. No matter what level of Arabic you're at, you need this dictionary!

NOT an English-Arabic dictionary, September 7, 2004

An impressive dictionary, but... one of the reviews calls this an English-Arabic dictionary. It is really Arabic to English only. When I bought it, I thought it would have both Arabic-English and English-Arabic.

DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION - GET THE BIGGER ONE., February 9, 2004

I had to buy this book twice, the second time I bought the normal sized version (which is about 6" x 9"). This particular version being reviewed here is just TOO small and you will need to invest in a magnifying glass just to attempt to read the script - and then you'll not be able to anyway because the ink is too thick. You are better off not getting this version in the first place and buying the larger version - believe me you will not regret that decision. BTW, I have totally normal vision, no glasses, no sight problems (in case you are wondering !!!)

For the beginner and the expert, January 24, 2004

I've used many Arabic - English dictionaries and none were ever able to match the quality of the Hans Wehr, which was my first. My searches for other dictionaries were prompted by laziness, I wanted less and not more definitions, which can complicate matetrs when you're just staring to learn a language as complicated as Arabic. Moreover, the dictionary is arranged according to root, so it requires a good understanding of how to derive roots form words - Muhammad, for instance, is under H not M as the root is HMD.Once you have grasped this concept, so target your early lessons to that end you will enjoy the Hans Wehr and use it anytime you want to trasnalte written text from Arabic to English. I stress the 'written' part, as this dictionary is not very useful in conversations and does not intend to be. So if communicating in the Suq of Amman or the bazaar in Damascus is what you want, I would recommend anything but Hans Wehr. If you want to read "Al-AHram" on ther other hand, this is the dictionary for you

The Arabic-English dictionary to invest in, January 5, 2004

This is the Arabic-English dictionary that every student of the Arabic language should invest in. It is exceptionally useful for even the beginning student, though it is necessary to have some basic grammatical knowledge of Arabic to facilitate its usage. Used in conjunction with 201 Arabic Verbs (ISBN: 0812005473) you should be able to find virtually any word in Modern Standard Arabic that you are looking for. In fact, I highly recommend both books for students of the language.