President of Arabic Language Academy of Jordan suggests unified Arabic academy in Makkah

There should be one unified Arabic language academy, instead of the 12 academies currently existing in the Arab world, and its headquarters should be Makkah City, said Khalid Al Karaki, President of the Arabic Language Academy of Jordan, the institution that won the King Faisal International Prize 2017 for Arabic Language and Literature.

Al Karaki made this observation while delivering a lecture titled, ‘The Arabic Language Academy of Jordan’s experience in preserving the Arabic language’, organised by the General Secretariat of the King Faisal International Prize last month at the King Faisal Foundation auditorium. The lecture was attended by Arabic language professors and specialists as well as several foreign ambassadors and members of the general public.

Stressing the importance of Arabic language for the advancement of the Arab civilization, he said the Arabic language has accommodated sciences of all civilizations and is a living language that can create new words and translate others.

Al Karaki also spoke on the Arabic Language Protection Law in Jordan, which was endorsed and approved by the Arabic Language Academy around two years ago. The law aims to protect Arabic against slang and foreign terms, and requires ministries, government agencies and businesses to use Arabic in all documents and advertisements.

“The law gave us more power to stand up against violators. It protects and preserves the language and calls for keeping up with scientific terms and developing arts dictionaries,” he pointed out.

The King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Language and Literature was awarded to the Arabic Language Academy of Jordan in recognition of its remarkable efforts in the transfer of science and technology through translation, Arabization of technical terms, and publication of specialised glossaries and its relentless efforts to make Arabic the language of instruction. The Academy entrusted the task of translation to highly qualified specialists known for their mastery of both English and Arabic to ensure the highest quality for its project.

The Arabic Language Academy was established in 1976 by order of a Royal decree. The primary objectives of the Academy are to sustain the integrity of the Arabic language, ensure that it keeps pace with modern literary, scientific and artistic requirements, fulfills the needs of knowledge community and revives Arabic and Islamic heritage.

It is also the Academy's objective to publish unified glossaries of terms in literature, science and arts in collaboration with educational, scientific, linguistic and cultural institutions in Jordan and abroad. The Academy comprises 30 active members, in different fields of science and literature, in addition to a number of honorary and supporting members.