The Historical Dictionary of Arabic: Comparing and Contrasting the Doha Dictionary and the Union of Arab Academies.

Abstract

This study deals with the description and analysis of the two historical lexicons, some of which have recently begun to be completed - and work on them is still ongoing - for the historiography of the Arabic language, with a balance between them in content and method. This research follows - by holding that balance - the descriptive approach, using the rules and foundations of the modern lexical industry. The objectives of this balancing study are summed up in standing on the advantages of the two dictionaries, with reference to the points that can be remedied in the upcoming updates on them, and the new projects in this field. This research consists - after the introduction - of a theoretical preface that deals with the limits of the subject of study, which is the historical dictionary, its definitions, and the most important international and Arab attempts to manufacture such a dictionary, ending with the development of stages of the two lexicons under study. This is followed by the applied side of the research. There is a balance between the two lexicons from various aspects, including: the purpose of developing the dictionary, the sources it relied on in collecting its material, how it chooses its lexical units, the treatment of these units, and finally how it is arranged externally and internally. The research ends with presenting the most important findings of the study .