950804

First Urdu

thesaurus

launched

ISLAMABAD: The launching ceremony of the "Urdu Thesaurus" published by the "National Language Authority" took place yesterday.

Iftikhar Arif, Chairman of the National Language Authority (NLA) on the occasion gave a short review of the work carried out so far by the Muqtadara, as well as a brief account of the various projects under way.

He further stated that at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of "Pakistan Day" in 1997, the NLA will present translations of 50 great books of the world.

Talking about the "Urdu Thesaurus" he expressed the opinion that this work is the first of its kind in Urdu which will prove to be of great importance and advantage for writers and scholars in the years to come. He said that Rafique Khawar had very painstakingly compiled this dictionary which will greatly aid in finding new words for expressing various concepts by providing a wide range of opposites and synonyms.

Expressing their views at the occasion, Dr. Salim Akhtar, Dr. Wahid Qureshi, Prof. Razi Abidi and Zafar Iqbal stated that, for finding the meaning of a particular word in the "thesaurus" a method is used, unlike that of an ordinary dictionary but once you understand this method and attain command over its use, he thesaurus will transform into a treasure of which you cannot benefit enough.

Various speakers present at the occasion, including the chief guest, Hanif Rame, Speaker of Punjab Assembly, stressed the enforcement of Urdu in order to deal with matters in one's own language.

Speaking at the presidential address, the Chairman of National Commission on History and Culture and Pakistan Academy of Letters, Fakhar Zaman, praised the performance of the NLA and expressed the view that we should introduce our national language to new aspects and include in it, words of other regional languages also thus turning it into a better representative of our national integrity and solidarity.

He stated that according to its particular aims and objectives, the National Language Authority is working in the right direction and doing useful ground work for the propagation and enforcement of the National Language and one can hope that it would not be long before this goal is achieved.

An exhibition of the publication of "National Language Authority" was also arranged on the occasion for which great interest was expressed.-APP