Plurals in Al-Munawwir dictionary: Presentation and Critique

The "Al-Munawwir Dictionary" is one of the most prominent bilingual dictionaries (Arabic-Indonesian) widely used among Indonesian students, researchers, and in Islamic boarding schools. Despite its widespread usage and esteemed reputation among Indonesians learning Arabic as a foreign language, there is an urgent need to reassess its treatment of linguistic topics, particularly in regard to the handling of plural forms. This study aims to analyze the dictionary's approach to plural forms, critically evaluate them, and refinement to address its shortcomings. The study employed a comprehensive analytical and statistical approach, examining the entire dictionary and extracting entries that include specified plural forms. The statistical analysis revealed that the number of entries containing plural forms amounted to 3,164 words distributed across 1,354 pages. Furthermore, the total number of plural forms reached 4,055, with an increase of 891 plural forms due to the occurrence of multiple plural forms for certain words. Despite the positive aspects of the dictionary, the study found several morphological, Orthographical, typographical, and pluralization-related errors that could negatively affect the process of learning Arabic as a foreign language for Indonesian speakers. The study concludes that the dictionary requires a thorough revision and update to enhance its effectiveness in teaching Arabic to non-native speakers. This would contribute to more efficient and sustainable language learning, promote linguistic diversity, and encourage multilingualism, aligning with the goals of sustainable development (DSGs).