Editing Duncan Forbes (linguist)

{{Short description|Scottish linguist (1798–1868)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
'''Duncan Forbes''' (28 April 1798 – 17 August 1868) was a Scottish [[linguistics|linguist]] and [[Oriental studies|orientalist]].

== Biography ==
Forbes was born in [[Kinnaird, Gowrie|Kinnaird]], [[Perthshire]] and was brought up by his [[grandfather]] from the age of three after his parents and younger brother emigrated to the [[United States]]. Illiterate until 13, he showed no early signs of linguistic ability but despite this late start, at age 17 he was appointed schoolmaster of the village of Stralock.

Shortly after this he attended Kirkmichael school followed by [[Perth Grammar School]] and the [[University of St. Andrews]], gaining a master's degree from the latter.

In 1823 he took a post at [[Calcutta]] Academy, but because of poor health he was forced to return to [[Europe]] in 1826. In 1837 he became professor of Oriental languages at [[King's College London]] and stayed at this post until his retirement in 1861. During his time at [[King's College London]] he also worked at the [[British Museum]], cataloguing the collection of [[Persian language|Persian]] manuscripts.

During his lifetime he wrote a number of books and it is for these that he is most remembered. He had a hand in translating or editing a number of books in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, including a translation of Mir Amman's Urdu ''[[The Tale of the Four Dervishes|Bagh o Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes]]'', (which is itself a translation from the Persian of [[Amir Khusro]]), and of the Persian ''Adventures of [[Hatim al-Tai|Hatim Tai]]''.

==Selected works==

* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddFhAAAAMAAJ|title=A grammar of the Arabic language: intended more especially for the use of young men preparing for the East India Civil Service, and also for the use of self-instructing students in general|author=Duncan Forbes|year=1863|publisher=W.H. Allen|pages=344|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.76958|title=A grammar of the Arabic language|publisher=Allen|author=Duncan Forbes|year=1863|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aDpbAAAAQAAJ|title=A grammar of the Arabic language: intended more especially for the use of young men preparing for the East India civil service; and also for the use of self-instructing students in general|author=Duncan Forbes|year=1874|publisher=W.H. Allen|pages=344|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9hEAAAAYAAJ|title=A grammar of the Arabic language: intended more especially for the use of young men preparing for the East India Civil Service, and also for the use of self-instructing students in general|author=Duncan Forbes|year=1868|publisher=Wm. H. Allen|pages=344|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicreadingle00salegoog|title=Arabic reading lessons: consisting of easy extracts from the best authors, together with a vocabulary of all the words occurring in the text : also some explanatory annotations, etc|author1=Duncan Forbes |author2=Edward Vernon Schalch |author3=George Sale |year=1864|publisher=Wm. H. Allen|pages=231|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/arabicreadingle00salegoog|title=Arabic reading lessons: consisting of easy extracts from the best authors, together with a vocabulary of all the words occurring in the text : also some explanatory annotations, etc|author1=Duncan Forbes |author2=Edward Vernon Schalch |author3=George Sale |year=1864|publisher=Wm. H. Allen|pages=231|access-date=2011-07-06}}
* {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DD5bAAAAQAAJ&q=A|title=A new Persian grammar|author1=Duncan Forbes|author2=S. Arnot Schalch|year=1828|publisher=London Oriental Institute|pages=77|access-date=2022-02-11}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20151102080822/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=08501030&ct=0 ''Adventures of Hatim Tai''] (1830 translation)
* [https://archive.org/stream/hindtmanualpocke00forb#page/n3/mode/2up ''The Hindustani Manual''] (1845)
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/baghobahar/index.html ''Bagh-O-Bahar''] ([[The Tale of the Four Dervishes]]) by [[Mir Amman]]. London: Wm. H. Allen, 1857 - English translation of Mir Amman's Urdu translation of the Persian original
* ''A History of Chess'' (1860)
* ''The Bengali Reader'' (1862)
* ''Arabic Reading Lessons'' (1864)

== See also ==
* [[Cox-Forbes theory]]

== External links ==
{{wikisource author}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=31675| name=Duncan Forbes}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Duncan Forbes |birth=1798 |death=1868}}
* {{Librivox author |id=10800}}
* [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00urdu/baghobahar/index.html ''Bagh-O-Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes''] at Columbia.edu – text of 1857 translation by Forbes, and more
* {{LCAuth|n84122513|Duncan Forbes|23|ue}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Duncan}}
[[Category:Scottish orientalists]]
[[Category:Scottish Indologists]]
[[Category:Chess historians]]
[[Category:1798 births]]
[[Category:1868 deaths]]
[[Category:Academics of King's College London]]
[[Category:Christian Hebraists]]
[[Category:Linguists from Scotland]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Scottish curators]]
[[Category:Translators from Urdu]]
[[Category:Translators from Arabic]]
[[Category:19th-century British linguists]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish translators]]
[[Category:British people in colonial India]]
[[Category:Writers from British India]]
[[Category:Linguists of Hindi]]
[[Category:Linguists of Bengali]]
[[Category:Linguists of Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Linguists from British India]]