The Doha Historical Dictionary has launched a new “talking dictionary” service on its electronic portal, as it moves to enhance user experience and help them access and benefit from the lexical content.
The new service allows users to listen to dictionary entries, definitions, and historical examples, including snippets of prose, poetic verses, and verses from the Qur’an. This gives them an additional means of exploring and interacting with the dictionary’s content, making it more easily accessible to a wider range of researchers, scholars, and those interested in the Arabic language, as well as non-Arabic speakers who are studying the language.
According to Mohammed Al-Obaidi, Executive Director of the Doha Historical Dictionary, “The launch of the talking dictionary service comes as part of our development of the dictionary’s electronic portal, with the aim of enabling users to verify the correct reading of lexical entries, their definitions, and the accompanying historical evidence. This launch comes as a result of joint efforts between the Digitization Unit and the Dictionary Team, to ensure the highest levels of quality and efficiency”.
The automated speaker service offers a broader range of ways to benefit from the dictionary’s content, especially among users who prefer audio content or need to listen to texts while browsing and studying, thus enhancing the presence of Arabic in the digital environment and helping users access and draw benefit from the dictionary’s content. Users can activate the service directly from each dictionary entry by clicking on the designated playback icon, then listen to entries with correct, high-quality pronunciation.
The Doha Historical Dictionary continues to develop its electronic portal by employing the latest digital technologies and launching further services that enhance access to lexical content and facilitate interaction with it, thus consolidating the dictionary’s position as a cutting-edge knowledge project that keeps pace with rapid technological transformations.
