Dubai: Ever struggled to find the meanings of some typical Emirati words? Now, you will have help at your fingertips.
Dubai Municipality on Wednesday launched the first electronic application containing a glossary of locally used Arabic words. The smart app called “Ramsatina” has options for searching for the meaning and pronunciation of words in the local dialect.
The e-glossary contains more than 3,900 words from the terminology used in the UAE. The smart dictionary has been launched as a smart phone application so researchers can find the meaning of any word from the local dialect and even find out how to pronounce it.
Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of the municipality who launched the app, said it is the first smart app that has options for written and spoken words in Emirati dialect.
The app also has the provision for adding new local words to it during the updating process.
An initiative of the Knowledge Management Department in the municipality, Ramsatina is unique in offering the new service for all as the knowledge of local names is very important because it is useful to deal with the national identity of the country, Lootah said in a press release.
“It also contributes to the profoundness of the knowledge in Arabic language as the vocabulary of the local dialect in the country is at the heart of the classical Arabic language vocabulary.”
The municipality said the idea of the application came from Khalid Ali Bin Zayed, member of the Federal National Council and a former assistant director-general with the civic boy, who encouraged developing this local lexicon in order to preserve the national identity and strengthen the local Arabic dialect.
The app is available on both App Store and Google Play Store, said Mariam Bin Fahd, the director of Knowledge Management Department which released the app.
