# محقق كتاب - تحقيق كتاب



## Amyn

Hello everybody,

I found that the common translation of محقق is inspector or investigator. It seems wrong in محقق كتاب and I found nothing convincing enough in the wordreference list. What could be a more accurate meaning ? Reviewer ? Corrector ?

Thanks


----------



## cherine

Welcome to the forum, Amyn.

I had a problem with this word before. I think I ended up using "editor".

If it's any help, the French translation of نسخة مُحقَّقة is "édition critique".


----------



## Amyn

Many thanks, I think your suggestion is appropriate. I will make sure that it's what is intended in the context (of an islamic book) because i don't really know the concepts related to book edition (especially for islamic books). Though it seems it cannot be otherwise.

The hint in french was of help as you guessed


----------



## cherine

You're welcome.  I'm glad I could be of some help.


----------



## Awlaadberry

Amyn said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> I found that the common translation of محقق is inspector or investigator. It seems wrong in محقق كتاب and I found nothing convincing enough in the wordreference list. What could be a more accurate meaning ? Reviewer ? Corrector ?
> 
> Thanks



The correct translation is annotator.


----------



## Amyn

Awlaadberry said:


> The correct translation is annotator.



Oh ok,thank you !
So, the محقق  only adds annotations to the book ?


----------



## Awlaadberry

Amyn said:


> Oh ok,thank you !
> So, the محقق  only adds annotations to the book ?



Yes, that's right. The محقق just adds annotations to the book. You're welcome, Amyn.


----------



## cherine

I have to disagree. A mu7aqqiq doesn't just add notes/annotations to a book, he's supposed to also compare copies (of the manuscripts) مقابلة النسخ and write a study (short or long) about the book and its manuscript copies.
If he only adds annotations, then I agree we can only call him annotator. But if his work is more than that, then it would be inaccurate -and unfair- to limit his effort to just that.


----------



## Awlaadberry

cherine said:


> I have to disagree. A mu7aqqiq doesn't just add notes/annotations to a book, he's supposed to also compare copies (of the manuscripts) مقابلة النسخ and write a study (short or long) about the book and its manuscript copies.
> If he only adds annotations, then I agree we can only call him annotator. But if his work is more than that, then it would be inaccurate -and unfair- to limit his effort to just that.


----------



## Awlaadberry

cherine said:


> I have to disagree. A mu7aqqiq doesn't just add notes/annotations to a book, he's supposed to also compare copies (of the manuscripts) مقابلة النسخ and write a study (short or long) about the book and its manuscript copies.
> If he only adds annotations, then I agree we can only call him annotator. But if his work is more than that, then it would be inaccurate -and unfair- to limit his effort to just that.



An annotator, too, can do more than just add notes. Take a look at this:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Annotated_Alice


----------



## majuk

hello,

I'm not sure if it's right term in English, but if نسخة محققة is critical edition, so maybe محقق  is scientific editor? (I'm trying to translate to English the term from my native language).


----------



## musul-man

Amyn said:


> Hello everybody,
> 
> I found that the common translation of محقق is inspector or investigator. It seems wrong in محقق كتاب and I found nothing convincing enough in the wordreference list. What could be a more accurate meaning ? Reviewer ? Corrector ?
> 
> Thanks



Le travail de تحقيق regroupe plusieurs opérations : recension des manuscrits, authentification, révision, comparaison, commentaire, critique, etc

Un terme français scientifique me semble être "recension" mais il n'est pas très parlant alors il vaut mieux utiliser un truc comme "revu et annoté par..." "établi et commenté par.." etc


----------



## Awlaadberry

majuk said:


> hello,
> 
> I'm not sure if it's right term in English, but if نسخة محققة is critical edition, so maybe محقق  is scientific editor? (I'm trying to translate to English the term from my native language).



What word are you translating as editor? In نسخة محققة the word edition is the translation of نسخة not محققة. There is no relation between edition and editor.


----------



## majuk

Awlaadberry said:


> What word are you translating as editor? In نسخة محققة the word edition is the translation of نسخة not محققة. There is no relation between edition and editor.



I don't understand what you mean by "there is no relation between editor and edition"... I thought that editor is a person responsible for edition, what makes quite close relation between those terms... Even if in some languages the relation is also etymologic, in others (for instance, the mine) - they are derived from other roots. I'm not sure if I found right term in English for a person responsible for scientific editon, but I guess that if نسخة محققة is "critical edition" so maybe محقق is a person responsible of it.


----------



## Awlaadberry

majuk said:


> I don't understand what you mean by "there is no relation between editor and edition"... I thought that editor is a person responsible for edition, what makes quite close relation between those terms... Even if in some languages the relation is also etymologic, in others (for instance, the mine) - they are derived from other roots. I'm not sure if I found right term in English for a person responsible for scientific editon, but I guess that if نسخة محققة is "critical edition" so maybe محقق is a person responsible of it.



No Majuk. The editor is the person responsible for editing. Edition means version and نسخة محققة means annotated version.


----------



## cherine

Hi,

Here's a paragraph taken from p.74 of: Vocabulaire codicologique du manuscrit arabe, or:

أحمد شوقي بنبين، مصطفى طوبي، معجم مصطلحات المخطوط العربي (قاموس كوديكولوجي)، الخزانة الحسنية، الرباط، الطبعة الثالثة مزيدة ومنقَّحة، 2005،


التحقيق: إخرج نص معين في شكل أقرب ما يكون إلى الصورة التي تركها مؤلفه، اعتمادًا على المقارنة بين كل النسخ التي بقيت من الكتاب. وهو مصطلح حديث، وأول مَن استعمله أحمد زكي باشا الذي حقق كتابَي "الأنساب والأصنام لابن الكلبي" وكتاب "التاج" المنسوب للجاحظ عام 1914م، وهذه الكتب هي الكتب الأولى التي كُتب في صدورها كلمة "بتحقيق".

L'écdotique des textes anciens, critique des textes.


----------



## suma

It's a specialized term in editing.
Kind of like a fact checker, in a broad sense a book reviewer who checks the veracity of reference sources cited throughout the book in question.


----------



## Abu Talha

cherine said:


> التحقيق: إخرج نص معين في شكل أقرب ما يكون إلى الصورة التي تركها مؤلفه، اعتمادًا على المقارنة بين كل النسخ التي بقيت من الكتاب.


Just adding my 2 cents to this definition. This is how I've seen it used for new publications of old books. the mu7aqqiq compares the different old manuscripts and will often note in the footnotes, for instance, that a certain word is actually a different word in one of the available manuscripts. I think, many times, the discrepancy is the addition or deletion in the dots of one of the letters.


----------



## basel-shishani

'_Editor_' can be used as a generic term, but the more technical term is '_recensionist_' or '_recensor_', from '_recension_' ~ the practice of editing or revising a text based on critical analysis.

RECENSIONIST | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico.com
RECENSOR | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico.com
Recension - Wikipedia

You can also check usage examples on Google Books.


----------

