Abu Nasr Isma'il ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (ابو نصرإسماعيل بن حماد الجوهري) also spelled al-Jauhari (died 1002 or 1008) was a medieval Turkic lexicographer and the author of a notable Arabic dictionary al-Ṣiḥāḥ fī al-Lughah (الصحاح في اللغة).

Life

He was born in the city of Farab (Otrar) in Transoxiana (in today's southern Kazakhstan). He began his studies of the Arabic language in Farab, then studied in Baghdad, continuing among the Arabs of the Hejaz, then moving to northern Khurāsān, first to Damghan before settling finally at Nishapur. It was here he met his death in a failed attempt at flight from the roof of a mosque, possibly due to delusions of being a bird.

Works

In 1729 Ibrahim Muteferrika's Arabic-Turkish dictionary, based on Jawhari's, became the first book printed by printing press of Ottoman era.