The Road to the Quran Keyword Database

My work on the lexicon of the Quran stems from my interest in contact between Aramaic and Arabic. A question to ask is: ‘What has the Quran contributed to the lexicon of Arabic? And what are its sources?’ Using the Tanzil.net digital Uthmani text of the Quran, I set up a relational database, using FileMaker Pro, in order to conduct a comprehensive analysis of keywords in context of the lexicon of the Quran contrasted to the lexicon of Ibn Hisham’s Sira. The data from the Quran nevertheless offered much more information than anticipated, and in more fields than were intended. In the talk, I will present some aspects of my approach and methods.

Inaugural talk of the Author's Voice. Hosted by Sabine Schmidtke, School of Historical Studies, IAS and George A. Kiraz, School of Historical Studies, IAS and Editor-in-Chief, Gorgias Press.