TEHRAN – The first volume of an unabridged Azerbaijani dictionary bearing words beginning with the letter “A” was unveiled on Saturday during a ceremony in Ardebil, one of the Iranian cities with Azerbaijani-speaking people.

A number of Ardebil provincial officials attended the ceremony organized at the Shiekh Safieddin Ardebili Complex. In addition, several scholars from the Azerbaijan Republic and Turkey also attended the meeting virtually.

“To compile the first volume a team of Azerbaijani lexicographers traveled to several parts of the country and had meetings with scholars who later joined the team for further collaboration,” the leader of the team, Ahad Boyuteh, said at the ceremony.

He added that the team has been situated at the Religious Scholar Museum of Ardebil, and the project has been carried out both in the library research section, and outdoor research works.

“A number of elderly people from the villages and from among the regional nomads were interviewed for further information on words, and in the library research sections, the published books were studied,” he explained.

He added that he expects the scholars would help find the probable mistakes in order to present books with fewer mistakes.

The dean of the University of Mohaqeq Ardebili, Aziz Habibi, hoped that the culture of religion would be preserved and cultural relations with Iranian expatriates would be developed.

Researcher Mehdi Mirza Rasulzadeh also expressed thanks to the scholars who contributed to the dictionary, and said that a good point about the dictionary is that it also carries the words Azerbaijani nomads use in their daily conversations.

In his online speech, the director of Azerbaijan Republic’s Institute of Linguistics, Mohsun Nagisoylu, called language an everlasting treasure, and said that preparing the dictionary is a great task that will forever remain in history. 

The project has been commissioned by the Public Culture Council, affiliated with the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Photo: Scholars unveil the first volume of an unabridged Azerbaijani dictionary at the Shiekh Safieddin Ardebili Complex in Ardebil on February 20, 2021.

RM/MMS/YAW