TEHRAN – A five-volume English-Persian dictionary compiled by scholar Bahaeddin Khorramshahi has recently been published by the three Iranian publishers Moin, Negah and Shabahang.

The dictionary named “Kara” containing over 15,000 words was introduced during a ceremony held at the Arasbaran Cultural Center on Monday, the Persian service of IRNA reported.

Speaking at the ceremony, Khorramshahi stated that dictionaries are recognized as the first modern phenomenon in the literary and cultural categories.

“The basis of compiling a dictionary is methodology and then collecting sources and later compiling,” Khorramshahi added.

He said that compiling a dictionary is not merely the translation of foreign dictionaries, it requires constant research.

“You need to carry out research to find and compare the meaning of words from a number of sources, it is not simply a matter of picking a foreign dictionary and translating it into another language,” he explained.

Kara is considered to be the most comprehensive dictionary published over the past 200 years.

Scholar Nasrollah Purjavadi, also attending the ceremony, said that one of the best activities established after the Islamic Revolution was to compile reference books.

“The Persian language is a huge treasure and we have not yet achieved what we anticipated,” he added.

Photo: Lexicographer Bahaeddin Khorramshahi (4th from left) and a number of literati attend the unveiling ceremony of Kara English-Persian Dictionary at Tehran’s Arasbaran Cultural Center on May 25, 2015.(Honaronline/Arezu Bayat)

RM/YAW
END