Contributing to Arab-European understanding

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Arabterm headerArabterm.org is constantly progressing. The project, a joint publication of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), was born with the aim to improve the access to technical knowledge by making its terminology available in Arabic. A long process which pursues to avoid the possible isolation of Arabic speakers caused by the language barrier in the field of technical innovations.

The brilliant result of their cooperation is an on-line Technical Dictionary, available and free for all users. Arabterm.org is organised per industry sector, and provides a translation of terms into Modern Standard Arabic, along with a definition or explanation and an illustration. Some entries also display the term in the dialects of different Arab countries to further aid users. Additional volumes will be added successively.

Moreover, users are encouraged to actively contribute to the dictionary. An interactive discussion forum offers users the opportunity to exchange ideas on linguistic problem areas in the various disciplines, as well as suggest new terms or more detailed definitions. These discussions and suggestions will provide the basis for an annual revision of the databank, conducted by the Arab-German expert groups.

By its part, the Arabisation Congress organised by the Arabisation Coordination Bureau (BCA) involves expert committees, which bring together experts in each field on a regular basis to discuss contributions and update the data, with a view to ensuring the quality of the databases.

Interoperability with other major terminology databases is encouraged, for example with the United Nations (UNTERM) and European Union (IATE) databases.

The tool is also available at www.arabterm.org as an online app that runs on most smartphones.
arabterm dictionary


Post prepared by Ana Baudot – Journalist and Social Media manager.
Communication Trainee, DG TRAD – Terminology Coordination Unit

Source:
ARABTERM Technical Dictionary – search. 2017.  [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.arabterm.org/index.php?id=3&L=1. [Accessed 16 January 2017].