Abstract:

Urdu lexicography is as old as the language itself. The long journey that began with Emir Hüsrev Dehlevi’s rhymed dictionary, continues with monolingual dictionaries being compiled today reflecting the changes and developments in the language. Rhymed dictionaries are in the form of textbooks intended to ensure memorization of vocabulary. One cannot see any standards of lexicography in the dictionaries prepared during the period of rhymed dictionaries. In the second period of Urdu lexicography, which we divided into three periods in our study, bilingual dictionaries began to be compiled by Westerners to meet their own needs and interests. Of these dictionaries, especially those prepared by Platts and Forbes are important in that they served as examples for the dictionaries after them. Monolingual dictionaries in the Urdu language, which began with Imam Bahsh Sohbai and reached a culmination with Varis Serhindi’s İlmi Urdu Lugat in the 19th century in the third period, still continue their journey today. The fundamental reason of why monolingual dictionaries, which mirror the changes that a language has undergone, began at a later period than rhymed and bilingual dictionaries is related to the political and social conditions. The topic of Urdu lexicography covers a very extensive area and in this study we have dealt with works that have a significant place in Urdu lexicography. The purpose of this study is to provide brief and concise information about lexicography in the Urdu language, which is a Turkic heritage in the Indian sub-continent.

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