World Cup Dictionary in English and Arabic by Qatar Forum for Authors

With the intention of exposing the most significant sports books in Qatar, the Qatari Forum for Authors has launched a new book as part of the "Sports Excerpts" event, which it displays via its YouTube channel and social media platforms.

In a brand-new episode, the forum welcomed writer and linguist Dr. Ahmed Al Janabi to discuss the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Says Dr. Al Janabi "This version is the first of its kind in Arabic at the level of the World Cup and Sports in Qatar. I used it to try and compile words, expressions, phrases, terminology, structures, abbreviations, and numbers that were used at stadiums and fan areas. By including the terms used by athletes, sports analysts, and all other employees, supporters, and others with an interest in sports and football, it also serves as a lexicon of sports tourism in Qatar."

He emphasized that he was eager to have the bilingual dictionary in the most popular form of English used today and its equivalent in Arabic, the language of the host country, in order to send a message to the rest of the world that Arabic keeps up with all events and occasions and can express everything, including sports, football, and the World Cup event, as the Arabic language is one that keeps up with semantic development and is, in a sense, a sports language.

The writer felt it was his linguistic duty to present this version in both English and Arabic to welcome the guests of the World Championship, which is being held for the first time in an Arab country. He did this by virtue of his lexical specialization and the fact that all the countries that hosted the World Cup had provided dictionaries in their respective languages in exchange for a second and a third language. In order for the version to reach the hands of the millions of World Cup visitors in Qatar as well as the millions of other followers from near and far, it was produced as a free electronic copy that was available for publication and distribution.

Dr. Al Janabi stressed in his conclusion that this publication is an invitation to speakers of Arabic and other languages to familiarize themselves with sports expressions, which are eloquent words with evidence from the pre-Islamic era and Arabic literature in general, as well as having a presence in our traditions.

He added, "It is very possible for us to evaluate this global event according to our customs, culture, traditions, and even our language with an imprint of our identity that appears."