Amir launches Doha Historical Arabic Dictionary
Dictionary to be useful for advancing science in the language of the nation Adding ‘Doha’ to the name was meant to show that the dictionary is a gift from Qatar to the Arab world
is Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani launched the web portal of the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic yesterday at a ceremony organised by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
The ceremony was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE Speaker of the Shura Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud and a number of ministers, senior officials, academics and intellectuals, experts and linguists from Arab countries.
A number of films featuring the importance of the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic, the stages of its development, the characteristics of the first stage and information about the portal were screened on the occasion.
Dr Azmi Bishara, Director-General of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies and members of the Scientific Council of the dictionary spoke, highlighting the historical and linguistic value of the dictionary.
Arabic language experts stressed that Qatar’s adoption of the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic provides a great service for the advancement of science in the language of the nation.
A number of those who worked on the dictionary stressed that completing the project marked an unprecedented linguistic renaissance. With the dictionary, the Arabic language and its texts will be compiled into an electronic language code that will be the largest ever.
Dr Bishara, who is also directorgeneral of the project, said the dictionary would never have been completed if it were not for the faith in joint Arab work, solid management, and the Arab experts who worked on it. He highlighted that other similar projects in the past had to be abandoned before reaching its desired goal.
He also discussed the successes of the past, beginning with the establishment of the Arabic language complex in Egypt in 1932 and elsewhere in the Arab world, all of which were certainly remarkable efforts but have not yet reached the milestone of establishing a historical dictionary of the Arabic language.
Bishara stressed that two of the major achievements of the project were establishing a methodology and creating a database. “In three years, 100,000 dictionary entries covering 700 years were completed until the year 200 Hijri. This was despite the special nature of the Arab language.”
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday launched the web portal of the Doha Historical Dictionary of Arabic during a ceremony organised by the Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The ceremony was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud and a number of ministers, senior officials, academics and intellectuals. On the occasion, Arabic experts discussed the role of Doha Historical Dictionary in advancing the language.