ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a brief outline of the points which prove that the two works are not merely different, but truly disparate or even conflicting in aim, content, and method. But since a detailed comparison, especially in content, would extend far beyond the scope of this paper and would require extremely lengthy quotations, the authors will content ourselves with a broad outline, the details of which will have to be minimized. The basic points under discussion will include the aim and scope of each lexicon, the organization and coherence, the alphabetical arrangement, the direct references to al-Khalil by Ibn Durayd, and to a lesser extent, the shawadhid and the internal arrangement and exposition of the entries. In the case of Ibn Durayd, and indeed of ail Arabic lexicographers aller Khalil, the discovery stage was over: the System whereby all lexical roots can be calculated without exception had already been established.
