الشواهد في المعاجم العربية وتمثيل الثقافة العربية

Abstract:
Dictionaries are regarded as vehicles of cultures and civilisations, based on their preservation of the languages of different tribes and nations across centuries, this is not unconnected to the dialectical relation between languages on one hand, and culture and civilization on the other, cultures and civilisations are manifest most in dictionaries through its citations and examples, which have more sufficient space than other dictionary elements, enabling them to spread out cultures and civilisations with all their diverse material and non-material aspects. Using the descriptive and inductive methodologies, the present article tries to observe the citations of three modern Arabic dictionaries; Al-Munjid, Al-Wasit and Al-Mu’ujam Al’Arabi Al-Asasi, with a view of finding the extent of its representation of Arabic Culture both in its material and non-material aspects, the research questions are summarized as follows: What is the meaning of lexicographical citations and what are their types in modern Arabic dictionaries, what is culture and what are its features, what is Arabic Culture, what is the nature of relation between culture and dictionaries, to which extent did the dictionaries under study have represented the Arabic culture through their citations, what are the types of citations used by the dictionaries under study in representation of Arabic culture.
The paper started with linguistic and technical definition of citation, which generally refers to the highly linguistic or literary texts quoted by a lexicographer from highly reputable sources, for the purpose of establishing the authenticity and existence of a word, meaning or usage of a dictionary entry, the paper then gave a brief introduction to the three dictionaries under study, and defined

defined the term of culture both linguistically and technically, culture refers technically to the general way of life of a particular society, in a particular time, especially as shown in their ordinary behavior, customs, beliefs, attitudes, opinions etc., and that cultures have two aspects: Material and Non-material, the former consists of the type of food, clothing, building structures, tools and implements, technologies, inventions, artifacts and modes of habitation of a society, while the non-material aspect comprises: Beliefs, customs, ethics, modes of thinking, speech acts, arts, norms, ideas, ways of work, language, knowledge, law, values, rituals, religion and traditions.
The paper then, having reiterated the imperativeness of meticulous selection of dictionary citations in such a way that they could efficiently represent the culture and civilization of the native speakers of a language as is advocated by linguists and lexicographers, the paper went ahead to examine the citations of the three dictionaries with the view to unveil the extant of its representation of Arabic culture and finally arrived at the following findings:
(i)-That lexicographic citations are authentic linguistic and literary texts quoted by a lexicographer from variety of highly reputable linguistic sources whether poetry or prose, owing to their content or stylistic value or both, for the purpose of establishing the authenticity and existence of a word, phrase, usage or meaning in an authentic linguistic usage.
(ii)- That the term culture refers to the general way of life of a particular society, both in its material and non-material form, this include their arts, beliefs, norms and inventions, language, technology, customs, knowledge and ethics. Modes of thinking, speech acts, artifacts, modes of habitation, building structures and clothing.
(iii)-That there is intimate relation between culture and language, culture is the mother and source of language and one of its manifestations at the same time, and also considering that dictionary is a vehicle and repository of language, cultures and are manifest most in dictionaries through its citations and examples, which have more sufficient space than other dictionary elements, enabling them to spread out different types and features of culture.
(iv)-The three dictionaries are concerned with the non-material aspect of Arabic culture more than its material aspect, however, Al-Asasi dictionary is generally less concerned with the items of Arabic culture of both aspects.
(v)-It is observed that the features of Arabic culture are more manifest in Al-Asasi and Al-wasit dictionaries than in Al-munjid dictionary, for the formers have exposited them clearly using long phrases, without recourse often to explanation and commentary, while Al-munjid on the other hand always evokes explanations due to the brief nature of his phrases.
(vi)-That the type of citation used most in representing the Arabic culture in the three dictionaries are: Proverbs, wise saying and dicta, in few cases Quranic Verses and Prophetic Traditions are used for the same purpose.