Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary
by David Ayalon and Pessah Shinar
About the Dictionary
The Arabic-Hebrew Dictionary of Modern Arabic, by Professor David Ayalon and Professor Pessah Shinar, was first published in 1947 by the Hebrew University Press, later renamed Magnes Press. The authors were then known by their former names: David Neustadt and Pessah Schusser. Since its first publication, the dictionary has been reprinted in 22 editions.
The dictionary is one of the best existing works of Arabic lexicography, and in particular of Arabic-Hebrew lexicography - the fruit of painstaking work by two young scholars who, only a few years later, were considered among the most prominent scholars in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies.
The entries in the dictionary were collected from Classical and Modern Arabic texts spanning the fields of literature, journalism, history, culture and Islamic religion. The definitions are distinguished by clarity and precision, and the dictionary is noted for its unique qualities which derive from the authors' outstanding linguistic acumen as well as their comprehensive knowledge - both in general matters and in the field of Islamic studies.
The dictionary has had a significant impact on the teaching of the Arabic language in Israel, from the initial high-school levels to the highest university levels. Scholars and experienced researchers in the fields of Arabic and Islamic studies likewise find it indispensable and make extensive use of it.
The dictionary is also highly useful for Arabic speakers in Israel: many students and intellectuals have used it to master Hebrew, and have found it valuable in their pursuit of various academic fields.
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The expansion and updating of the dictionary, and the launching of the online edition
A few years ago, the authors decided to expand and update the dictionary; and, at their request, Professor Aryeh Levine and Professor Menahem Milson were appointed editors of the expanded edition. A special program was created in order to install the dictionary on a website. Today, a fully interactive online version of the Ayalon-Shinar dictionary is available to the general public free of charge. Thanks to the computer technologies available today, it was also possible to provide a Hebrew-Arabic index that can, to some extent, fulfill the function of an Arabic-Hebrew dictionary.
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Acknowledgements
The expansion and updating the dictionary, and the creation and maintenance of the online version, are handled by a team from the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University headed by Profs. Aryeh Levin and Menahem Milson. The team coordinator was Haim Nissim and its additional members were Yosef Abuhav, Ilana Orad, Eleanor Bachar, Na'aman Yassaf, Limor Lavi and Amikam Raz. Moshe Shaked, director of the Mount Scopus branch of the University's Computation Unit, and Shmuel Vered from the Computation Unit assisted the team in outlining the required program.
A larger team was responsible for uploading of the original dictionary entries into the computerized system. Most of the uploading was handled by Ilana Orad, Limor Lavi and Kays Yusef Nasser. Others who took part in this effort were Naomi Avivi-Weisblatt, Shira Asulin, Yael Ashi, Kfir Biton, Shay Zohar, Na'aman Yassaf, Guy Levy, Gayl Levine, Eran Marcus, Adi Amar, Yaniv Ktaribas, Amikam Raz, Irit Rapoport, Dror Shahak, Tamar Shtempeper and Ma'ayan Shamir.
The website was created by Snunit Association for the Promotion of Computer Education. The team in charge of its construction included Ran Zaira, who outlined and directed the project; Ofer Amit, who outlined and programmed the website systems and Chen Frankel, who built the web pages. The graphic interface was designed by Dorit Nir.
Professor Reuven Amitai, head of the Institute of Asian and African Studies when the expansion project was launched, and Professor Meir Bar-Asher, who succeeded him, spared no efforts in facilitating and assisting the project.
The project has been able to operate thanks to funding by the Hebrew University, the National Science Foundation, the Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, and the Unit for Supervision of Arabic Studies in the Ministry of Education and Culture.
The secretary of the editorial board is Ms. Na'ama Bartov who succeeded Mr. Na'aman Yassaf.
Our thanks go to all the individuals and bodies who contributed to the creation and maintenance of the project.
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About the authors
David Ayalon was born in Haifa in 1914 and raised in Rosh Pinah. He originally learned Arabic from his Arab nanny, who came from the nearby village of Ja'uni. When he was 12, his family moved to Haifa, where he studied at the Hebrew Reali School and began to learn Classical Arabic. In 1933, Ayalon began to study Arabic Language and Literature, Islamic Culture, and Jewish History in the recently founded Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was awarded his doctorate in 1946. During WWII, he served in the Palestinian units of Jewish volunteers in the British Army. In the years prior to the establishment of the State of Israel he worked in the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, and after the founding of the state, was one of the first to serve in the Foreign Ministry. In 1950 he was appointed lecturer in the Hebrew University and established the Department of Modern Middle Eastern History (now called the Department of Islamic and Middle East Studies). In 1972 he was awarded the Israel Prize for Humanities and in 1975 he received the Rothschild Prize. He passed away in 1998.
Professor Ayalon was known as one of the most eminent researchers of the history of the Islamic peoples in the Middle Ages, and was especially renowned for his pioneering studies of Mamluk society.
Pessah Shinar was born in the Latvian capital of Riga in 1914. His parents spoke Russian and Yiddish, but the language of study in the school he attended was German. At the age of 21, he came to Israel and worked in the orchards around Nes Ziona. There, he befriended the Bedouin workers and learned the Arabic dialect they spoke. In 1937 he began to study Arabic, Islamic Studies and Classical Studies at the Hebrew University, and was awarded his doctorate in 1957. Between 1945 and 1948 he worked in the Political Department of the Jewish Agency, and after the establishment of the state, he began to work in the Foreign Ministry Research Department. In 1960 he joined the faculty of the Hebrew University.
Professor Shinar is one of the most prominent researchers of contemporary Islam in the Maghreb.
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Authors' Preface to the First Edition of the Dictionary
