Jonah ibn Janah

Abulwalid Merwan ibn Dschanach (c. 990 in Córdoba, † before 1050 in Zaragoza ) was a acting Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer in Spain and is considered the greatest Jewish linguist of the Middle Ages. He wrote in Arabic.

He studied in Lucena, by its own account in Isaac ben Levi and Isaac ibn Gikatilla, and then returned to Córdoba, where he learned the profession of the doctor and his life exercised. Here he studied the works of Yehuda Chajjudsch whose system of three-letter roots, he criticized in his book Kitaab al - Mustalhaq (Hebrew Sefer ha - Hassagah, " book of criticism" ) in detail. The Arab historian Ibn Abi Usaibia mentioned in his doctors Biography ʿ Uyūn al - Anba ʾ fī Tabaqat al - aṭibbā ʾ ( "Sources of News of the doctors generations " ) Ibn Dschanachs detailed knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew philology and names him as the author of a no longer existing medical treatise. After Cordoba was besieged by the Berbers in 1012, Ibn Dschanach left the city and settled after long walks in Zaragoza, where he lived until his death.

As his most important work is considered to be last: Kitaab al - Tanqīh ( "Book of scrutiny " ), the ibn Tibbon of Judah under the title Sefer ha - Dikduk ( " grammar book" ) was translated. This is the first fully preserved treatise on Hebrew philology. The work is in two parts. The first part is a Hebrew grammar called Kitāb al - Luma ' ( "Book of colorful flower beds " ) or Hebrew Sefer ha - Rikmah ( "Book of the peaks "). The second part is called Kitaab al - Usul or Sefer ha - Schoraschim ( "Book of Roots " ) and is a complete dictionary of Biblical Hebrew with Arabic translation, arranged alphabetically by roots.

From the 11th century Ibn Dschanach became an oft -mentioned authority in the field of Hebrew philology. Many medieval authors quote him, including Shmuel Nagid, with whom he led a written controversy, Moses and Abraham ibn Ezra, Joseph Kimchi, Maimonides and others. Rashi and his students seem to have, however, Ibn Dschanach and his predecessor Jehuda Chajjudsch not known.

Literature (selection )

  • Max Mayer, articles DSCHANACH, JONA ibn, in: Jewish Encyclopedia, Berlin 1927, Vol II
  • Angel Sáenz - Badillos; Judit Targarona Borrás: Yonah ( Abū - l - Waleed Marwan ) ibn Yanah. In: Diccionario de autores judios ( Sefarad. Siglos X - XV). El Almendro, Córdoba 1988 ( Estudios de Cultura Hebrea, Volume 10 ), pp. 178-180. ISBN 84-86077-69-9.
  • David Tenne in: Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd edition 2007, Volume 9, pp. 680-683.
Lexicography Lucena, Córdoba Berber people Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon Semitic root Moses ibn Ezra Joseph Kimhi Integrated Authority File
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