1868.] Contributions to Persian Lexicography. 31 



necessary Arabic, Persian and Turkish words," especially those 

 which occur in such Persian authors as are read in schools. The 

 dictionary is therefore a very useful book ; it is in fact <c The Student's 

 Dictionary.'''' Hence also its general use among the natives of India. 

 Embodied with the dictionary are several small treatises, as on 

 JULaJ, ^.w^ ^jejj£ } the various eras (vide ^s^ 3 ), on geogra- 

 phy (vide /*jJ-»I v^a&a), and also grammatical notes (vide L; ; U> ) ? a 

 description of Hindustan, &c. The work is accompanied by several 

 astronomical and geometrical designs, axid a few maps, which shew 

 that the compiler was not unacquainted with western science. A 

 large number of scientific terms are also explained. 



No Persian dictionary ought to be in future compiled without the 

 words of the practical Grhias ; but compilers will do well to remember 

 that Grhiasuddin is not a native of Persia. Of all Indian dictionaries 

 it contains the largest amount of those peculiarities which belong to 

 the IsWm&l i Hind. Hence for the pronunciation of words the 

 Grhias is not always the best authority. Even among the meanings 

 of the words, Grhias enters occasionally an Indian meaning, taking it 

 for Persian. In some cases, from a comparison of several dictionaries, 

 his attention is forcibly drawn to the Indian usage of words, as will 

 appear from the following extract : — 



p. — £j\ 0«| iji-Ui &^-\jij uj&Jj*** j o)i>>i->li= *-"■£ jl <M 2(oj*i o^J 



«J (ci*.*J !£)&$+•*> *? 0.-WJ.-AJ /iA&.S:'^ ^j.JwuyJ (iotj io vX h"' * ifH-j}-- (_5 Jt **J 



j ^ij.^ (Jvoii j CJ^-i^j ^$ x *-+t cs*"^ U-^ jo &&%+»* j*"0 * g*!^" 8 jl 



" The word Ui>£*»« means to smell, and belongs to those Arabic 

 roots which the Persians have adopted and altered according to the 

 genius of their language, as U ■>■&♦{■>, c^-v-LL, &c, because the word is 

 derived from the Arabic /♦•& to smell. After writing this, I found on 

 examination that not uj^a*^ has the sense of to smell, but &&x!m> 

 with the nun, and that the form with the mim is wrong. Thus in the 

 Siraj. But cJOJ^i, as an original Persian word, means to be frightened, 

 to be perplexed, to be afraid, as mentioned in the Farhang i Jahangiri 

 and the Muayyid," 



