“The Arabic language is a marvelous tool for the expression of ideas; its unique letters cannot be found in other languages. As for its vocabulary, it is distinguished by its substance, breadth, and multiplicity, as well as the precision with which it conveys connotations and meanings, and the brevity it allows for.” This is a quote by Italian orientalist Ignazio Guidi, who loved the Arabic language, learned it and taught it. It sums up the Arabic language’s sublimity and the uniqueness of its sounds, the richness of its lexicon, the beauty of its aesthetics. The quote also reflects the world’s esteem for our language, one of the oldest and most widespread in the world, which has an ancient civilization and scientific heritage and is deeply respected globally.
The UAE has always done its part to preserve the Arabic language, launching initiatives, programs, and prizes to promote the Arabic language. It has also introduced legislation and policies to enhance Arabic’s presence educationally and socially, as well as establishing linguistic institutions, centers and academies that supplement our language with scientific research and periodical reports monitoring the Arabic language across all levels.
That reflects the wise leadership of the UAE’s absolute conviction that Arabic is an important language of culture, science and civilization, as well as being a treasure of knowledge and human thought and a tool for communication and interaction. And most importantly comes the deep ties it has with our national identity and its civilizational and historical heritage. That is the conviction that led to the formation of the Arabic Language Advisory Council, the Ministry of Culture and Youth’s issuance of the Report on the Status and Future of the Arabic Language, the first academic report monitoring Arabic language’s status in several axes, which 18 universities around the world, 65 institutions and 10 language academies contributed to. The aim is for the Report to be an expansive study that serves as a basis for approaching the Arabic language’s challenges in an informed manner that helps develop how it is used, taught and strengthened as a means for communication and knowledge acquisition.
The Arabic Language Summit, the first official governmental event of this scale anywhere in the world, will be held within this framework on December 19 and 20 as part of Expo 2020 Dubai and in conjunction with the Conference of Arab Culture Ministers. The Summit is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Youths in partnership with Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center and with the generous support of Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
The Summit celebrates the rich history of our language’s culture and seeks to lay solid foundations on which future efforts to strengthen the Arabic language’s status and highlight its human dimensions, virtuous principles and distinguished cultural heritage, especially in new worlds where the Report on the Status and Future of the Arabic Language found an immense demand for learning our language.
The Summit focuses on the Arabic language as our nation’s jewel, the primary element for building its culture and civilization, which our nation has always held high. It looks to the future of the Arabic language and avenues for teaching it and integrating it into the digital world, as well as its contributions to the Arab cultural scene, sciences and technology.
Those are some of the challenges that the Summit seeks to find suitable solutions for to restore the Arabic language’s place in the hearts and minds of its people and create more opportunities for Arab cultural innovation in the region and around the world. It also seeks to celebrate the innovative nature of the Arabic language and strives to enhance the UAE's status as a hub for excellence in this regard.
The Arabic Language Summit will be the most modern platform for achieving strategic objectives related to supporting the Arabic language and developing it… The Arabic Language Summit is an open call to join forces and work together to enhance its presence in our daily lives, schools, universities and institutions. The Summit is a call to plan for the future so that our language receives its due in the digital space, to introduce the world to our language, and to galvanize new generations from across the globe hoping to learn and study our language.
We will work on identifying avenues for future development that can be adopted to enhance the Arabic language’s utilization in various fields so that it becomes the language of our time, and the Summit embodies the serious efforts made by the UAE and its commitment to supporting all Arabic language efforts as it strives to restore its global civilizational position.
