Tuhfe-i Feday？: A Versified Dictionary Written in Order to Teach Turkish Language to the Arabs

Tuhfe-i Feday？ of Feday？ Mehmed Dede was written in the 17th century in order to teach Turkish language to children who are native in Arabic. It consists of 17 sections. In the prologue the poet gives valuable information about his life. According to the work, it was written for the benefit of Arabs and to show the delicacy of Turkish language. During the study seven manuscript copies of the work located in different libraries. In this study, a brief history of the versified dictionaries in the Turkish literature will be touched and the contributions of the versified dictionaries to the Ottoman education system will be mentioned shortly. In adddition the function of Tuhfe-i Feday？ will be emphasized as well as the evaluations on Tuhfe-i Feday？ will be given. At the end the study will comprise the first and last sections of the text