On December 19, Nazarbayev University hosted the presentation of the inaugural Kazakh-English and English-Kazakh Oxford Qazaq Dictionary, a project developed by the Qazaq Tili international association on behalf of President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, QazMonitor reports.
The Oxford Qazaq Dictionary is instrumental in incorporating the Kazakh language into the Oxford Global Languages platform, recognized as the most extensive and authoritative dictionary network worldwide. This integration offers a distinctive opportunity for the Kazakh language to become an integral part of the global linguistic community.
What will be the future of language in the digital age, and how can we preserve it? Now, we have a vision. Within the framework of the adopted seven-year concept of the ministry, one of the crucial directions is the preservation of the Kazakh language through its systematization in the digital world. Today, the guarantee of language preservation lies in creating a unified language corpus, systematically codified on digital and virtual platforms. This dictionary links the Kazakh language with the global language corpus, uniting the vocabulary of the 100 most important and basic languages worldwide.
The Oxford Qazaq Dictionary reflects contemporary language shifts in Kazakh and English, providing guidelines on grammar, pronunciation, and spelling. It includes practical examples of business and electronic correspondence in Kazakh and incorporates updates from various fields such as culture, technology, medicine, economics, finance, and trade.
Over four years, more than 50 linguists, including specialists from the Institute of Linguistics named after Akhmet Baitursynuly, dedicated their expertise to crafting the content of the dictionary. Developed using the methodology and technology of the Oxford English Dictionary, the inaugural edition encompasses over 60,000 words with a print run of 10,000 copies.
Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, the president of the Qazaq Tili association, highlighted the collaboration with Oxford University Press, renowned for its high standards. He shared that the completed dictionary received official permission from Oxford University Press for publication, affirming its alignment with the renowned Oxford English Dictionary methodology and technology.
