Ali Al-Kasimi: the Arabic Dictionary for Speakers of other Languages

 

Ali Al-Kasimi: the Arabic Dictionary for Speakers of other Languages

د. علي القاسمي: المعجم العربي للناطقين باللغات الأخرى

The present contribution is the final article in this book, except for the concluding speech of Altoma.

In his first sentence Al-Kasimi states that the dictionary is a necessary tool for understanding the language or to express oneself in it. So the possibility of an active Arabic dictionary, or dictionary for production of Arabic is finally presented here, in the last contribution in the book.

How is it possible that so many distinguished authors have not mentioned this possibility even once?

In one of the other contributions it was mentioned  that far more speakers of Arabic have learned English than speakers of English have learned Arabic (the contribution of Sa'ad).

But even if the learners of Arabic are outnumbered by the number of Arabs learning English, we may still expect that the learners of Arabic will not only want to understand Arabic, but also to express themselves in Arabic.

In the paragraph about the differences between monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, Al-Kasimi argues that the bilingual dictionary presents equivalents and explanations in the target language as the main tool for conveying semantic information.

So here we see that descriptions (explanations according to the author) can be part of the dictionary.

In the paragraph about the differences between dictionaries for speakers of Arabic and for non-arabophones, Al-Kasimi argues that we may not neglect any type of information if the aim of the dictionary is to assist the (non-arabophone) user to express himself in Arabic.

The author continues to argue that the vocabulary used in the entries of the dictionary for non-arabophones (i.e. the meta language for explanations etc.) should be limited to the basic vocabulary.

On the other hand the compiler of a dictionary for non-arabophones can make use of different kinds of supporting tools, such as auditive information like recordings, or visual information like drawings, or verbal information like quotations (شواهد) and illustrative examples.

Here again it is shown that Al-Kasimi is the only author who is fully aware of the need among non-arabophones for a dictionary for production.

Idioms are mentioned by Al-Kasimi as a separate type of entries.

Idioms are multi-word expressions the meaning of which cannot be deducted from the meanings of their constituents.

The example he presents is tuffAHa AdAm (تفاحة آدام ), the meaning of which cannot be simply deducted from the meanings of both constituents.

In principle this argument is correct, however both in English and in Dutch 

the translation of this concept would be easily understood:  Adam's 

  Verbal tools: illustrative examples

The various supporting tools as mentioned above are treated in separate paragraphs, and because of my special interest for examples and expressions, I hereby present a summary of the paragraph on this topic.

Examples in 'living sentences' serve the purpose of clarifying the meaning of a word or to illustrate its conjugational or derivational or graphic behaviour.

Illustrative examples in a dictionary for non-arabophones should be in simplified language and within the boundaries of the basic vocabulary of the dictionary. These examples do not necessarily have to be originally taken from literary texts, neither do they have to belong to a certain period in the development of the language. References to authors or locations are not necessary either.

Of course a usefull illustrative example from a literary source can be used and preferred to an example being conceived by the dictonary maker himself.

The aim of illustrative examples is to demonstrate the phonetic, conjugational or semantic behaviour of a word, with a demonstration of the cultural aspects of the Arabic language. If we do so, we add vitality to the words, as well as fascination.

As an example Dr. Al-Kasimi lists a number of illustrative examples to the word أخ (brother).

أين أخوك الكبير؟

رأيت أخاك الصغير في المدرسة

ذهبت إلى أخيك أمس

إن أخاك من ساعدك

رب أخ لم تلده أمك

These examples are aimed at illustrating the meanings of the word, its conjugational, derivational and graphic behaviour, and some cultural aspects.

To conclude the author mentions four principles that should be followed in gathering examples in an Arabic dictionary for non-arabophones:

examples should be included systematically, i.e. every meaning of a word should be illustrated with at least one example

the examples should be formulated in simplified language using basic vocabulary only

the examples shoud reflect certain aspects of the arab islamic culture

examples should be concise and usefull with regards to illustration of the meaning of a word and its usage.

Al-Kasimi concludes with expressing his hope that one day the monolingual Arabic dictionary for non-arabophones will appear.

The dictionary Al-Kasimi meant was the "Basic Dictionary" (المعجم الأساسي) which was published in 1989.

 

apple in English, and Adamsappel in Dutch.