LEXICOGRAPHY is the art and science of writing dictionaries. According to R.R.K. Hart­mann, one of the world-reno­wned authorities on lexicology and lexicography, specialised lexicography is “a complex of the activities concerned with the design, compilation, use and evaluation of specialised dictionaries”.

What is a specialised dictionary? As opposed to a general dictionary, a specialised dictionary covers the vocabulary of a particular subject or field, such as the technical terms of an academic discipline or idioms used by a poet. A specialised dictionary’s entries are comparatively restricted, both in numbers and scope, as it lists and explains specialised vocabulary. For example, a dictionary of philosophical terms or a glossary of idioms used by Ghalib would be called a specialised dictionary.

Dictionaries of terminologies too are a kind of specialised dictionaries. The making of dictionaries of technical terms is called terminological lexicography. Another term used for terminological lexicography is terminography. In fact, the term ‘terminography’ has almost replaced the term ‘terminological lexicography’ in recent times, as put by Hartmann.

When it comes to Urdu, there has been a steady flow of specialised dictionaries. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there are scores of dictionaries of technical and scientific terms in Urdu. In addition to works published in pre-independence era, some literary bodies, such as Urdu Science Board, Muqtadira Qaumi Zaban (National Language Authority), Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu and Karachi University, have published a large number of specialised dictionaries. Some of them, and some others, are:

An Anglo-Indian dictionary

First published in 1842 and compiled by George Clifford Whitworth, the dictionary is, as says the title, “a glossary of Indian terms used in English”. An interesting entry in the dictionary reads: “Gujar, the name of a tribe supposed to have come from Tartary and to have settled about Peshawar about 100 BC” [sic]. The book was reprinted from Lahore in 1981.

Hobson-Jobson

Interestingly, the title has been derived from the popular Urdu catchphrase ‘Ya Hasan, Ya Hussain’ and it indicates the type of vocabulary that the dictionary explains: the Anglo-Indian words and phrases that came into use during the British Raj. Compiled by Henry Yule and Arthur Coke Burnell, the dictionary first appeared in 1886 and has been reprinted umpteen times, with one edition published from India in 1984. But the dictionary lists the words of local languages, including Urdu and Hindi, in Roman script and explains them in English. One such entry explains the word “Ooplah” as “cow dung patted into cakes and dried and stacked for fuel”. A remarkably well-researched work, it also gives the etymology of the local words and examples of English usage along with the author, page number and the year of publication referred to.

Majma’-ul-alfaaz

An Urdu dictionary of synonyms compiled by Rajeshwar Rao Asgher, it was published in 1923.

Kaleed-i-mu’amma

This is perhaps the only Urdu dictionary that can be called ‘crossword puzzle dictionary’. Compiled by Saeed Ajmeri and published from Karachi in 1956, the dictionary gives words in a specific order for the lovers of word puzzles. Such puzzles were very popular in those days and Urdu newspapers and magazines regularly ran puzzle columns and readers were given some prizes too.

Qadeem Urdu ki lughat

Compiled by Jameel Jalibi and published by Lahore’s Urdu Science Board in 1973, it explains Urdu’s ‘archaic’ words. Most of these words were used by the writers of classical period.

A reverse dictionary of Urdu

Donald A. Becker compiled and published from Delhi in 1980 a dictionary that is truly unique. It lists Urdu words in reverse alphabetical order. It begins with the words that end at the letter ‘alif’ (regardless of the initial letter/s) and the last entries are the ones ending at the letter ‘ye’ (even if they begin with ‘alif’).

Urdu thesaurus

Compiled on the lines of Roget’s thesaurus by Rafiq Khawer, it was published by National Language Authority in 1994.

Farhang-i-talaffuz

Compiled by Shanul Haq Haqqee and published by National Language Authority in 1995, this dictionary of pronunciation has been reprinted recently.

Mustalahaat-i-thugy

Thugs had been a menace in the subcontinent, but during the British Raj they were caught and executed. Thugs had developed their own language and used it to communicate among themselves, exchanging information about potential victims. Their jargons and slangs were compiled and published by William Solomon in 1839. Rasheed Hasan Khan compiled and published it from Delhi in 2004.

Matrookaat ki lughat

Published in 2004 in three volumes by Karachi University, it was compiled by Khalid Hasan Qadri and it lists the “obsolete” words of Urdu. But Shamsur Rahman Farooqi is of the view that the dictionary should have been named as the dictionary of “rare” or “archaic” words of Urdu as many of the entries are still very much in use.

Ishtiqaaqi lughat

It is a dictionary of Urdu etymologies compiled by Suhail Bukhari and published by Karachi University in 2005.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2018