Syed Ahmad Dehlvi

Syed Ahmad Dehlvi was an Indian Muslim scholar, linguist, lexicographer, philologist, educationist and an author of the Urdu language. He compiled the Asifiya dictionary.

Biography

Syed Ahmad Dehlvi was born on 8 January 1846 in Delhi, Mughal India. He was the son of Hafiz Abd al-Rahman Mongheri, a descendant of Abdul Qadir Jilani.
Dehlvi assisted S W Fallon in dictionary projects between 1873 and 1879. He taught at Shahi Madrasa, located in the Arab Sarai, in Delhi. He was later appointed as a teacher of Urdu and Persian in the Municipal Board High School, in Himachal Pradesh. He was a fellow and examiner at University of the Punjab and served as the vice-manager of Government Book Depot in Lahore.
In 1914, Dehlvi was honored with the title of Khan Sahib by the Government of British India. He died on 11 May 1918.

Literary works

Dehlvi's works include:Farhang e AsifiyaHādi-un-NisaLughāt-un-NisāʻIlmullisān : yaʻnī, insān kī ibtidāʼī, darmiyānī aur ak̲h̲īr zabānRusūm-i DihlīQiṣṣah-yi Mihr AfrozMunāẓirah-yi taqdīr-o-tadbīr, maʻrūf bih kunzulfavāʼid.Muhakama-e-Markaz-e-Urdu

''Muraqqa-e-Zuban-o-Bayan-e-Dehli''

Opinions on Urdu vocabulary

Syed Ahmed Dehlavi estimated in the Farhang-e-Asifiya Urdu dictionary, that 75% of Urdu words have their etymological roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit, and approximately 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit. Urdu has borrowed words from Persian and to a lesser extent, Arabic through Persian, to the extent of about 25% to 30% of Urdu's vocabulary.

Legacy

Zahrah Jafri wrote Sayyid Aḥmad Dihlavī: ḥayāt aur kārnāme.