The Uppsala Manuscript of Muhammed Heva'i Üskufi Bosnevi's "Makbul-i arif" (1631) from a Turcological Perspective

The object of study in this book is the Uppsala manuscript, O. nova 546, of Muammed Hevai Üskufi Bosnevi's literary work Mabul-i arif from 1631. The manuscript, handwritten in Ottoman script, reached the University Library in Uppsala from Cairo in 1924. Mabul-i arif is frequently referred to as the first known Bosnian-Turkish dictionary, but this label is misleading. First, the work consists of three parts - a long and sophisticated foreword and an afterword in addition to the dictionary part. Besides, the part of the work that is the cause of the unfortunate label is not a 'dictionary' in the modern sense of the word. Among other things, it is versified, dialogue-oriented, and split into chapters according to topic. The versified glossary is the only part where we find Bosnian words; approximately 650. The main motivation behind this book is the fact that Mabul-i arif has received little attention from a turcological perspective. Despite the fact that Mabul-i arif is a Turkish, or Ottoman Turkish literary work of art, the vast majority of researchers concerned with the work examine it from a Bosnian cultural and/or linguistic perspective. It is time Mabul-i arif receives its fair share of attention from a turcological point of view too. The contributions of this book are thus as follows. First, a grapheme-by-grapheme transliteration of the entire Uppsala manuscript is provided. Second, a transcription of the manuscript is given and, third, an English translation of the entire Mabul-i arif is provided. None of these enterprises has so far been undertaken. The English translation may serve as a starting point to make Mabul-i arif available to a wider audience.

Auteur

Silje Susanne Alvestad is a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages at the University of Oslo.