Saudi Ministry Acquires Kuwaiti Arabic Dictionary

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture has reached an agreement with Kuwait-based Sakhr Software Company to acquire the Sakhr Contemporary Arabic Lexicon (Al-Mu’jam Al-Mu’asir). The agreement includes transfer of intellectual property rights related to the dictionary, which offers source identification, material selection, arrangement, interpretation, explanation, and user-friendly presentation.

Fahad Al-Sharekh, son of the founder of the Sakhr Software Company, told Arab News that the deal is the result of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to protect the Arabic language as part of Vision 2030. “We are very happy and excited,” he added. “We are honored that the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language has acquired the lexicon.” Al-Sharekh said that the lexicon contains words spanning more than 100 years of cultural content, with entries from as far afield as Syria or Lebanon. “We input 100,000 words with new definitions,” he said.

Abdullah Al-Washmi, secretary-general of the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, said the acquisition highlights the academy’s efforts to promote the Arabic language in contemporary applications. He commended the efforts of Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for KSAA, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, in elevating the cultural system through a range of channels and applications to serve both national and Arab cultures. Al-Washmi said that this commitment reaffirms the Kingdom’s pioneering global role in this field.

Founder of Sakhr Software Company, Mohammed Al-Sharekh, said the acquisition will benefit Arabic language users and propel the language toward new horizons. The Sakhr Software Company is known for the creation of the world’s first “Arabized computer” created in collaboration with Japanese giants Hitachi and Yamaha.