Arabic-English Dictionary: The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic Reviews

• The only essential Arabic dictionary for English speakers

  
  By A1LWROL3WOK5B6 on 2004-04-28
  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 most useful way of ordering Arabic dictionaries for someone who's mastered the basics of Arabic 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 much more affordable al-Fara'id) 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 (colloquial Arabic-English dictionaries are usually written in a phonetic transcription 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 (SLS 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 (SLS 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 SLS 4th edition's print much more readable than the SLS 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 8 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 costs 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 (it has larger print than either of the two paperbacks - about 8 pt, the size of the original Brill 3rd edition - and is very clear) for a little less. There's also a hardback reprint of the pocket-sized 3rd edition available in the UK, which has rather unclear script. It's a straight copy of the SLS 3rd edition, and is Indian. It's usable, but is the least satisfactory version yet. But I'd advise students to get the SLS 4th edition if they can afford it. If you've lots of money, perhaps get the Harrassowitz hardback - I've not done so. And if you've money and German, get the 5th Harrassowitz edition (Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart).
  
  [I have now bought the 4th Harassowitz English edition. The text is slightly crisper and half a point to a point larger, about 8 pt. The paper is less over-bleached, which makes it a bit easier on the eyes too. J.L.]
  
  

• This is THE Arabic- English Dictionary - Malik Al-Quamees

  
  By A2R5VKE4YO966D on 2006-10-27
  I am a former Army Arabic linguist, and a graduate of DLI/FLC Monterey. This dictionary is the primary one we used, both at DLI and later on the job. An old Army buddy, I have a deep abiding affection for this thing, it being a true linguistic masterpiece and longtime companion.
  
  Hans Wehr was professor at University of Munster from the fifties thru the seventies. This dictionary was first published in 1952 in German as "Arabisches Worterbuch fur die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart" - a mouthful of a title if there ever was one. We just called it the Hans Wehr. To my knowledge, it is the only dictionary that's organized to properly exploit Arabic morphology, which is to say the consonal root system.
  
  Any other approach makes a hash out of the Arab language. Straightforward alphabetical ordering is ill suited to Arabic. The only traditionally alphabetically organized Arabic dictionary that I've seen (and I've seen quite a few) which is any good at all is the Lebanese Al-Mawrid. But I use it only as an occasional adjunct to Hans. Once you get a hang of Hans, and your vocabulary and sense of Arabic grows, the Mawrid will only be very occasionally useful from Arabic to English. It may not seem possible to a beginner (it certainly didn't to me,) but the Hans Wehr will come to make much more sense, and become much more accessible, than any other Arabic to English dictionary. So if you are new to this game, suck it up and use Hans as much as possible.
  
  One sole caveat: for Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) the Hans Wehr is incomprable & indespensible. MSA is the modern universally written form of Arabic, and the pan-national lingua franca spoken in formal settings- on TV, in courts, etc., by educated Arabs. Note, though, that the local dialectical and classical forms of Arabic are very different balls of wax, and with them this dictionary can be of only limited application. I found it pretty wanting when dealing with Egyptian dialect while in Cairo, for example. For the Gulf, Jordan, Palestine and rest of the Levant it's a little more useful.
  
  A brief grammatical explanation as to why the Hans is the only game in town (sorry if this is redundant or too didactic, but everyone should know what the deal is:)
  
  As others have said here, the majority of the words in Arabic are derived from a three (usually) consonant verbal root. You take the consonants - e.g., KTB which denotes writing, or 'KH'RJ denotes outward movement - and vowel them with fatahs, or short 'a' sounds (which like all short vowel sounds are unrepresented in everyday writing) and you get KaTaBa, which basically means "he wrote" or KHaRaJa which means "he went out" - both the 3rd person masculine past perfect. This is used as the essential base form of the verb, equivalent to the infinitive in an Indo-European language.
  
  By changing the unwritten "short vowels" (re-vowelling) and by adding other written "long vowel" and consonal sounds, you can generate a slew of words related to the verb in question. For example, by adding an M (mim) to the KTB (MaKTaB) you get "office." An A (alif)(AKTuB) gives you "I write." MaKTaBA = library. KiTAB = book. KHaRUJ = exit. KHRAJ = tax. KHiREEJ= graduate MaKHRaJ = place of exit. You get the idea.
  
  Yet it gets crazier, and more beautiful, still.
  
  By voweling this consonal root in different ways, and by adding other consonants as prefixes or suffixes, you place the verb in different measures. Now this is critical: measures are different forms the verb takes to change its meaning. They are one of the main reasons Arabic is such a zany, beautiful (some would say opaquely impenetrable) labyrinth of meaning. There are (I believe) 26 different measures in Classical Arabic. Just thank Allah that the modern Arabs have cut that number down to 10 in Modern Standard. Ten is wild enough. They are explained in the introduction of the Hans Wehr pp. xii - xv. Read these pages. They help explain the signifigance of all the roman numeralled entries in the dictionary.
  
  All of the above means, of course, that an straight, western style alphabetical dictionary is nearly incoherent in Arabic. The fact that verbs all have all the same classes of prefixes, and the same patterns of internal suffixes & suffixes, not to mention complex patterns of conjugation in all the measures & moods, means that you have potentially hundreds of words for each of dozens of prefixes and patterns. And the voweling issue clouds things even further. That's not even to mention further insanity such as irregular nominal plurals, cases (nunation!) & other nominal suffixes (NB: beware verbal nouns.) Our Germanic/Latinate linear methodologies just don't apply very neatly. Better to approach the system as it's organized: radically.
  
  Better to go from the heart from which all the meaning radiates, the root system, and classify words thereby. The roots are all listed alphabetically, but their relatives are all listed under them. Thus nouns like MaKTaB, MaKTaBA, KiTAB, and even more complex permutations such as AKTiTAB (registration) or ASTiKTAB (dictation), etc. will all be found under KTB on pp. 951 & 952 of Hans. Irregular plurals are of course listed under their singular form.
  
  The nouns are just the appetizer, though.
  
  The real piece de resistance are the aforementioned roman numeralled enteries of the main root entery. These give you the meanings of the measures. Not every verb is put into every measure- some are only in practice used in one or two. KTB is used in the I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, & Xth measures. Referring to the introduction pp. xii-xv, you see that PP 3rd masc. sing. measure I is KaTaBa, to write. KAaTBa is measure III, which means to correspond. VI, TaKATBa also means to correspond (get used to redundancy in Arabic, as well as *ahem* apparent contradiction.. You will learn to savour repetition & ambiguity!) Measure X, ASTaKTaBa means to dictate..
  
  And so forth.
  
  Abberations, cognates and foreign words - which ironically will probably throw you for a loop quicker than native Arab ones will - are listed in straight alphabetical fashion among the roots.
  
  You have to begin to learn the morphology, learn to i.d. roots in your sleep, and internalize the patterns. Then pick up the Hans Wehr and let the fun begin!
  
  At DLI one of our profs has created a "Conjugations of the Ten Measures" verb chart which is requisite to fully & easily utilizing this dictionary, especially for beginning and intermediate students. It apparently exists in no other place. I don't know why there isn't one in the Hans, seeing as how all those nutty German positivists have seemingly considered & fully classified nearly everything else. Try googling it, maybe you can dig it up online. Or else try to run a DLI Arabic alum down, and get a copy off him or her. If all else fails, you can perhaps construct a similar chart using the Hans (again, pp. xii - xv) and a good grammar book. I have my chart sealed to the back of my dictionary for easy reference.
  
  This dictionary strips the patterns of the Arab language bare. This incredible semantic superstructure is one even many native speaking Arabs are mostly unaware of. Still, sometimes - okay, maybe often - this dictionary (like scientific things can so often do) kills the puppy, dissects it, and gives you a chart. But the essence of that puppy isn't in the chart. It's a more metaphysical reality. A living, breathing, wriggling thing, one that requires much more intuition than logic to understand.. The Arab language is just such a reality. Another semantic universe, truly exotic to an English speaking mind, a vivid poetic wonder.
  
  You know, studying Arabic is a real pleasure. It's truly sublime.
  
  Anyway, this is the dictionary you must own if you are in any way serious about Arabic. Using it can be a both exhilarating (no joke) yet exasperating and loopy experience, given how it represents the culmination of centuries of Orientalist scholarship.. Which means it is both a huge triumph, yet somehow simultaneously a subtle subterranean disaster. The Teutonic mania for clinical order and classification creasing into the envelopping cyclically anarchic mystery of the Semitic mind... Or something like that.
  
  In any case, it is a masterpiece, which is good seeing as how it's apparently nearly all we've got.
  
  

• This is simply indispensable...the best!

  
  By A3VHENWK5MI0PD on 2000-10-02
  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!
  
  

• There's only one Hans Wehr

  
  By on 1999-01-25
  I've been using this dictionary for four years and i've used other dictionaries as well. The Al-Mawrid Arabic-English dictionary may have just as many words in it or more, but the definitions are actually definitions in this dictionary (not just synonyms). I like the compactness of this dictionary, it's easy to carry around and store yet comprehensive enough to find virtually any Arabic word if you know the root. There has never been a word I couldn't find in it after I knew the proper root of an Arabic word.
  
  

• DO NOT BUY THIS VERSION - GET THE BIGGER ONE.

  
  By AERL3MOUIP1OV on 2004-02-09
  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 !!!)
  
  
• Aboo Imraan's review of the Hans Wehr Dictionary
  By AP1H8T5FZL09R on 2003-03-28
  This English-Arabic dictionary is second best to E.W. Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon. For those Muslims who have been studying Arabic for several years then you will benefit from this book only in regards to the Arabic Verb Forms. Hans Wehr did an excellent job of arranging the verb forms but the only offset is that he did so using the Roman letters and not the standard Wazan that the old Arabic Scholars have observed in explaining the different verb forms. I do not recommend the Hans Wehr for study of the classical Arabic or Islamic Studies as it contains modern meanings of words as Arabs use today and not as it was understood in the time of our beloved Prophet(may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). However if you do buy this dictionary buy both the small hardback and the large hardback as they will last longer. The small hardcopy is very hard on the eyes though for you students of knowledge who spend long hours studying. I have found this dictionary helpful when I could not walk around with the Arabic-English Lexicon but it also came in handy when I completed my studies of the 3 Madinah Books commonly used in the Islamic University of Madinah, K.S.A. May Allah make us all to know and understand His Book and the authentic narrations of His Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)in the Arabic Language.
  
  
• The only Arabic-English Dictionary You'll Ever Need
  By A27VSQQV9GLF8A on 2002-10-19
  Anyone half-way serious about the Arabic language is already familiar with the Hans Wehr. For anyone just beginning their study of Arabic, this review is for you.

  Before being able to use this dictionary you have to know a few rudiments of the Arabic language: the alphabet, obviously, but more importantly the verb structure. There are 10-12 measures (awzan in Arabic) of most Arabic verbs, from which nearly all nouns are derived. Once you've learned this, you'll never need to look anywhere but the Hans Wehr for any word ever again.

  The book is arranged by two or three-letter verb root. Under each verb you'll find the applicable measures and all common noun derivations of each.

  As a professional translator, the Hans Wehr is always at my side. It's good to see the 4th edition is finally available in paperback. It's an improvement over the 3rd edition, and the old hardback 4th edition weighs about 15 pounds!

  Buy this book!
  
  

• NOT an English-Arabic dictionary
  By AQS7IA54VBNEU on 2004-09-07
  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.
  
  
• By far the best
  By A15OW0ETT5DNMW on 2005-07-28
  I learned Arabic at the Defense Language Institute where they've used Hans Wehr for some time. At first I must say that it is quite hard to use until you've learned how to derive the root from a word, the alphabet of course, forms of words, and verb measures. Therefore I would definitely advise you to start with a cheap dictionary which is more easily understandable, at least until you learn the basics. Having said that, I have to tell you that anyone who says this is not a good dictionary was most likely just frustrated because they had not learned the basics yet. If you look the reviews, you'll notice that most complaints were from people trying to learn Arabic from the beginning with Hans Wehr. You'll also notice that anyone even remotely familiar with Arabic can't seem to praise it enough. Thats because once you're through learning the root system you are going to realize that the Hans Wehr is by far the most comprehensive and useful dictionary you'll find unless you're studying a very technical or esoteric subject. I guarantee that once you get your foundation in the language and have used this dictionary for a little while, other dictionaries will simply piss you off with how superficial and disconnected they seem. Just give it a little time.
  
  
• The best Arabic dictionary I've ever used
  By on 1998-12-25
  I'm pretty damn serious. I have found rare words and rare synonyms of good words. If a word can not be found in the Oxford Arabic-English dictionary, or any other dictionary I've used, at least 50% of the time I found it in the Hans Wehr. This is an excellent resource for Arabic speakers and non-indigenous speakers who are learning or learned Arabic. A life-saver in many take-home essay exams.
  
  
• Fantastic! Useful for looking up words, but also assists in language learning
  By A39T7TMQXZ93YL on 2006-08-16
  This is by far the best Arabic-English Dictionary out there. It is based on Arabic's triletter root system, and not based on alphabetic order.
  
  For example: 'to write' is kataba- from the three letters kaf-ta-ba. But desk, which is clearly a related word, is maktab. so, you will find 'desk' under 'kaf' and under 'kaf-ta-ba' but not under 'meem.'
  
  Thus, you can't be a complete beginner to use this dictionary. (Ie, if what I mentioned above sounds like complete gibberish, this dictionary is not for you- yet!)
  
  Sometimes it takes awhile, as for every word, you need to figure out the triletter root- not always easy or straight forward (Ie, what is the root for ishtara? Surprisingly, it is ta-ra-ya!)
  
  However, as others have mentioned, the Arabic language mandates that this is the only real way to organize an Arabic-English Dictionary. Related words are all gathered together: ie, once you figure out the root of a word (say of maktab is kaf-ta-ba) you have some idea of not only what maktab could mean, but related words with the same root (ie, maktaba- library). An alphabetical dictionary does not preserve this aspect of Arabic and makes for much page turning to find meanings of even related words.
  
  Note, such organization is not only useful for looking up words, but also helps one learn the language- ie, after you have been using the dictionary for awhile, you become increasingly familiar with the root system, verbal derivations (ie, the ten verb forms) as well as noun/adjective derivations.
  
  Also useful in learning the language are the verb conjugation aids (ie, ktb u- the 'u' next to ktb means that the verb is conjugated in a certain way) and transliterations (although one wonders why diacritical marks aren't used instead).
  
  Finally, some common phrases related to the triletter root are included which saved me from many headaches- as direct translations sometimes do not work! Ie, 'a-ba-ya' is to refuse. The phrase 'abaya il an yafalu' literally means something like 'he refused except that he does it' which doesn't make much sense, but the dictionary defines it as 'he insisted on doing it.'
  
  Learn to use this great tool, and you'll not only find the meaning of all Arabic words (at least I have so far!) but also learn the intricacies of this great language.
  
  
  
• The ONLY Arabic dictionary for serious students!
  By A21TSE6X09AWUQ on 2000-10-01
  This dictionary was required for the three years of Arabic that I took at the university. It enjoys a unique status as a "famous" dictionary. According to the introduction, it is an updated and expanded English version of Mr. Wehr's 1952 Arabic-German dictionary. And it is not a bad book! Though I wouldn't say that it is intended for travelers, beginners or armchair linguists. (My review refers to the pocket-book sized edition.)

  THE GOOD: 1) It is small and easily transportable. This makes it especially pleasing to the university crowd. 2) It has quite a lot of words. All of these entries mean that I was almost always able to find the word that I was looking for. 3) Useful entries. The entries include all of the stuff that you would usually find in a foreign language dictionary, but they are also incredibly tailored to Arabic learners. For example, the verbs in the dictionary include Roman numerals indicating the meanings of the derived stems - and believe you me - this was very nice! Also, the nouns include the plural forms - also a very helpful feature. 4) While the Arabic words in the dictionary don't have diacritical marks indicating Arabic vowel sounds, it does have phonetic transliterations. This makes it easy to pronounce unfamiliar words, plurals and case endings.

  THE BAD: 1) It is a small paperback dictionary. This makes for two problems - the covers wear out extremely fast, and the book doesn't stay open to any page without some sort of major intervention. 2) This dictionary is for MODERN WRITTEN Arabic only! This is too bad, because you won't find and spoken colloquialisms or dialect expressions. In fact, the first six pages of the book explain the problems and difficulties associated with creating a multi-use Arabic dictionary. 3) There are no example sentences for the entries. This would have been useful for those "ten definitions" type of words. 4) There are no appendices. Also too bad. 5) I said it before, and I'll say it again: this dictionary is not for anyone who does not have at least some Arabic under his or her belt! Users need to know how to read and write in Arabic, as well as how to look up words based on their root. If you can't do these, or have no intention of ever learning how - then you shouldn't get this book.

  Even though I have written more bad things than good things, I just want to make it clear that this is an incredibly useful dictionary for serious Arabic learners. In fact, as far as I could tell, it was THE ONLY DICTIONARY among my colleagues. Worth every dinar!
  
  

• For the beginner and the expert
  By A3Q77CS1DEQLMG on 2004-01-24
  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
  
  
• Major strengths of the book
  By A9QX3ULS94JAV on 2006-07-25
  If you have the money and want to buy an Arabic-English dictionary, this one is the best there is.
  
  There are numerous dictionaries that you may encounter in your battle with the language. There is the Oxford Dictionary, there is Al-Mawrid and Hans-Wehr. These are probably the major three.
  
  Al-Mawrid is geared more towards beginners while Hans-Wehr is better for intermediate users. Hans-Wehr requires the user to have the root word, while Al-Mawrid does not. The major strengths of this book are:
  
  (1) It will force you to think about the root of the word, and try to work it out. This in itself is excellent practice for coming to grips with verb/noun patterns and begining to recognise the different patterns and their corresponding plural patterns.
  
  (2) It contains many more meanings of a word than the Mawrid
  
  (3) All the different forms of a verb are grouped together in one section, so you may compare the meanings of each form and find links, enabling you to appreciate the beauty of the language.
  
  (4) It indicates to you which words are diptotes (mamnoo' min al-sarf), which words are transitive and intransitive (ie whether they can take an object directly or whether they need the use of a preposition), whether the word is masculine or feminine, and the plural of the word, all in one section.
  
  (5) It includes idiomatic expressions in which a word is used, the meaning of which often may not be clear when trying to do a literal translation.
  
  (6) All the words - whether nouns or verbs - are arranged by their roots, in groups. So it has the benefit of also possibly serving as an english-arabic dictionary. For eg. If you want to know the word for 'author' but only know the word for 'book' (kitaab) you may refer to the root kaaf-taa'-baa' with a hunch that the words may be related, and then scan through the different words under the root until you find one you are looking for (ie kaatib).
  
  (7) A a nicer introduction.
  
  
  
• The Last Word in Arabic-English Dictionaries
  By AJ5EFKYJUZ67M on 1998-10-21
  Once you have learned the basics of Arabic grammar, this reference will become indispensible. If anything, it may be TOO comprehensive, listing definitions that may only be equivalents to the Arabic entries in the most poetic sense. But don't read Al-Hayat without it!
  
  
• The best and only Arabic Dictionary.
  By A1PWQRQY0K6GWP on 2001-08-06
  This is the ONLY dictionary of Arabic-English that is worth the paper it's printed on...fortunatly the Hans Wehr is worth so much more!

  The dictionary is concise and exact and has words listed by their Arabic root (as all proper Arabic dictionaries should be).

  This dictionary is very well sought...if it's in stock, order it now as it's likely to be backordered again soon.
  
  

• Complete but advanced
  By AKQXCDOF5HQ2Q on 2007-03-08
  You must have an intermediate level of Arabic to utilize this dictionary. All words are listed by root and verbs are included by the 10 forms. More useful for translation than general vocabulary questions.
  
  
• An Excelent Dictionary
  By A3EGFDPE0315CG on 1998-10-21
  If you are looking for an Arabic - English Dictionary, this is the one. You have to be somehow proficient in Arabic to find the root of the word, once you have found it, this dictionary will give you a myriad of examples of the specific term.
  
  
• excellent dictionary.......
  By A16YJGES64F1IT on 2005-10-27
  Being a lower level Arabic Student I find the Dictionary excellent, a great help. I find myself just "reading the dictionary" for the fun of it. Jon Addis
  
  
• THE Essential Arabic Dictionary
  By A2G1D3V4OXVPLX on 2002-11-20
  The is the definitive Arabic-English dictionary. It is essential for any serious study or translation of Arabic into English. Well printed and constructed. It contains both standard and vernacular words. Organized by root-words, it provides an easy method of finding closely similar concepts and words sharing common roots, an essential thing in a language such as arabic that is so heavily root dependent. If you are a serious student or user of Arabic, you must have this book.
  
  
• The Arabic-English dictionary to invest in
  By A3RM2OHNB08BFV on 2004-01-05
  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.
  
  
• Great for Arabic to English translation.
  By A19LQH1OHUA1JO on 2007-01-16
  This book is arranged by three letter stem and not according to the first letter, which is both its strength and weakness. If you are completely new to Arabic, and have no idea what stems or roots are, this book is going to be confusing, and if you are trying to translate from English to Arabic, this book is going to be worthless. Those two potential problems aside, it is much better organized and presented than the Wortabet-Porter dictionary.
  
  
• HANS WEHR IS A PROPHET AND MILTON COWAN HIS MESSAGER
  By A25NF51XM86A7Y on 2001-08-17
  UP TO NOW I HAVE USED THE 3RD EDITION AND I FOUND IT GENIOUS. THE ONLY INCONVENIENCE (AND NOT A SMALL ONE) IS THE MINUSCULE SIZE OF THE FONTS-ABOUT 1 mm in height (about 1/25 inch, I believe). I HOPE THIS POINT WAS IMPROVED IN THE 4TH EDITION, THOUGH THE AMAZON SITE GIVES NO INFO ON THIS. IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT IT- WELLCOME.
  
  
• Hands down best arabic to english dictionary
  By on 2002-10-03
  This is, by far, the best arabic to english dictionary. Rather than just giving 1 word "translations," the book will give you a real definition in terms of all the possibilities of the meaning of the word. It also gives definitions for words that apply in certain contexts, phrases, or with certain prepositions.
  
  
• A one-way dictionary
  By A1HHDE5JMTL5RR on 2005-07-21
  I found this dictionary to be totally useless because it only goes one way, Arabic to English. Which is OK unless you don't know alphabetical order in Arabic. And for the price, you would expect it should be a two-way dictionary but it's not. I found the Hippocrene Practical Dictionary to be much better, much cheaper, and it goes both ways (English to Arabic and Arabic to English).
  
  
• An Outstanding Dictionary
  By A1EW4TYN676FDN on 2005-12-28
  Hans Wehr's 'Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic' is the best resource of its kind in the English language. Despite the fact that this dictionary is a translation from the original German, it is still the best. Its format is even well thought out by arranging the dictionary in the proper Arab way: by the root system. This dictionary is the only dictionary for learning Arabic I use. It is suitable for Arabic students of all levels.
  
  
• Best dictionary I'VE found yet...
  By A1A76ANSH9D750 on 2006-02-26
  Now, this dictionary should ONLY be for those who are schooled in how to use it; you must know the Arabic root and measure system to know what you are doing.
  If you DO have the know-how, this dictionary is tops. It has been my security blanket when working with Arabic. I had one a few years back, thought I would never use it again when I stopped translating for a time, and so I threw it away. A few months ago, upon returning to the Arabic language, I was express-ordering ANOTHER one and counting the seconds for its arrival.
  
  
• poor quality of print
  By A32ZAV2JZD1ZFY on 2006-07-02
  The book is very small, which should have been an indication. Printed in India, most of the pages are blurred or faint printing. Not readable. A huge price for something unusable.
  
  
• A friend in need is a friend indeed
  By AJ0RRY2KO49YQ on 2001-10-30
  I've been working as an English-Arabic translator for three years.Therefore it is very important for me to find the best dictionaries and Hans wehrs is one of the best.It shows you words which even a mother tongue Arabs would not know.It is truly a friend in need.
  Note:Once I found a very small size of this dictionary in a puplic library so I wonder if I can find a similar pocket size at ... ?
  
  
• Great Dictionary
  By A3NQ2M0DF0SXBD on 2003-04-02
  Probably the best available arabic english dictionary to date. I highly recommend it to both new learners of Arabic and to scholars too.
  
  

• Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya with DVDs: A Textbook for Beginning Arabic, Part One Second Edition
• Alif Baa: Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds
• Answer Key To Al-Kitaab Fii Ta'allum Al-'Arabiyya with DVDs: Part 1, 2nd Edition
• The Concise Oxford English-Arabic Dictionary of Current Usage (Dictionary) (Dictionary)
• Answer Key To Alif Baa: Introduction To Arabic Letters and Sounds