Abulwalid Merwan ibn Janach

Jonah ibn Janah (* around 990 in Córdoba , † before 1050 in Saragossa ) was a in Spain acting Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer and is considered the most important Jewish linguist of the Middle Ages. He wrote in Arabic .

He studied in Lucena , according to his own statements with Isaak ben Levi and Isaak ibn Gikatilla, and then returned to Córdoba, where he learned the profession of doctor and practiced it all his life. Here he studied the works of Yehuda Chajjudsch , whose system of three-letter roots he criticized in detail in his work Kitāb al-Mustalhaq (Hebrew Sefer ha-Hassagah , "Book of Criticism"). The Arab historian Ibn Abi Usaibia mentions in his medical biography ʿUyūn al-Anbāʾ fī ṭabaqāt al-aṭibbāʾ ("Sources of the news of the generations of doctors") Ibn Janach's extensive knowledge of Arabic and Hebrew philology and names him as the author of a medical treatise that is no longer available today. After Córdoba was besieged by the Berbers in 1012 , Ibn Dschanach left the city and after long wanderings settled in Saragossa, where he lived until his death.

His most important work is his last: Kitāb al-Tanqīh ("Book of Exact Investigation"), which was translated by Yehuda ibn Tibbon under the title Sefer ha-Dikduk ("Grammar Book "). This is the first completely extant 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 Lace "). The second part is called Kitāb al-Usul or Sefer ha-Shoraschim ("Book of Roots") and is a complete dictionary of Biblical Hebrew with Arabic translation, sorted alphabetically by roots .

From the 11th century onwards, Ibn Janach became an often-mentioned authority in the field of Hebrew philology. Numerous medieval authors cite him, including Shmuel ha-Nagid with whom he had a written controversy, Moses and Abraham ibn Esra , Joseph Kimchi , Maimonides and others. Rashi and his students, on the other hand, do not seem to have known Ibn Dschanach or his predecessor Yehuda Chajjudsch.

Literature (selection)

• Max Mayer, article DSCHANACH, JONA ibn , in: Jüdisches Lexikon , Berlin 1927, Vol. II
• Angel Sáenz-Badillos; Judit Targarona Borrás: Yonah (Abū-l-Walīd Marwān) ibn Ŷanāḥ. 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.

Web links

• Abulwalid Merwan ibn Dschanach in the Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 18, 2010