The Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language represents a breakthrough in linguistic research, built on a scale and methodology never before achieved in Arabic lexicography, experts have told Gulf Times.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch ceremony, Moroccan scholar Dr Rachid Belhabib said: “Building a historical dictionary requires significant effort and a well-defined vision to guide the process.”
He said previous projects fail because they lacked a clear, structured plan and a robust digital infrastructure capable of supporting collaborative editing of dictionary entries across regions of the Arab world.
“Therefore, in the initial editing phase, approximately 330 editors worked with us, spanning Mauritania, Iraq, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab countries,” Dr Belhabib said.
“This would not have been possible without a computer system that would allow everyone to work simultaneously, ensuring an open, reviewable, and scientifically validated production line for dictionary entries, and enabling their upload to the platform for the benefit of the Arab reader,” he pointed out.
Dr Mohamed al-Khatib, a contributor to the Doha Historical Dictionary, cited the linguistic specificities of the dictionary.
“The dictionary examines the word, from nearly two thousand years ago to the present, tracing its origins, its initial meaning, and how that meaning evolved across different eras and fields of knowledge,” he said.
“The difference between the Doha Historical Dictionary and previous dictionaries is that the Doha Historical Dictionary chronicles every meaning and traces every derived word,” Dr al-Khatib stated.
“Most other dictionaries lack derivatives, mentioning only the root and two or three words,” he explained. “The Doha Dictionary, however, addresses every word in its entirety, including its Arabic origins and derivations.”
Other linguists and lexicography experts involved in the Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language described its completion as a major milestone in the history of Arabic language scholarship.
The Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported that the project’s rigorous scientific methodology traces Arabic words in their historical and cognitive contexts from the earliest documented sources.
The experts said that the dictionary goes beyond linguistic documentation, reconstructing the historical memory of the Arabic language.
They noted that the project combined collective expertise with modern technology, strengthening Arabic’s role in contemporary research.
The executive director of the Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language, Dr Azeddine Bouchikhi, said that work began in 2013 involving more than 500 experts.
The dictionary divides the history of Arabic into three main periods: up to 200 AH, 201-500 AH, and 501 AH to the present, with smaller sub-periods in between.
The project has produced around 300,000 entries and a digital corpus containing nearly 1bn words.
Dr Bouchikhi highlighted the dictionary’s historical focus, which maps each word and its meanings along a timeline.
He said achieving this required collecting Arabic texts spanning 20 centuries, creating a searchable digital corpus, and recording the evolution of words and roots.
Dr Ramzi Baalbaki, head of the dictionary’s scientific council, said that the project overcame significant challenges, including tracing the origins and developments of multiple word roots and verifying their historical usage.
He praised Qatar’s support for the project, noting that it reflects the country’s ongoing commitment to major scientific and linguistic initiatives.
Dr Ali Ahmed al-Kubaisi, a member of the dictionary’s scientific council, said that the project documents the evolution of Arabic words from their earliest recorded usage to the present day, supported by historical evidence.
He said that this allows readers to trace semantic changes over time and understand how meanings developed within their original contexts.
Dr Moqbel al-Tam al-Ahmadi, head of lexicographic editing, said the richness of the Arabic language posed one of the project’s biggest challenges, given its vast vocabulary.
He said strong institutional support helped overcome these difficulties, resulting in a large digital corpus that reconstructs the historical memory of the language.
Dr al-Ahmadi stressed the importance of continuously updating the dictionary, noting that a historical dictionary is only fully complete when its material continues to reflect linguistic change.
Dr Abdulsalam al-Massadi, also a member of the scientific council, described the dictionary as a unique achievement rooted in advanced research and specialisation, adding that Arabic must remain connected to its historical depth to maintain its global relevance.
Meanwhile, Dr Mohammed Hassan al-Tayyan said the dictionary represents the memory of the nation, and praised the rigorous verification processes applied to its entries and Qatar’s role in supporting the project despite its scale and complexity.