How can the configuration file (config.php) be utilized effectively to store language-specific settings for a multilingual website in PHP?

To store language-specific settings for a multilingual website in PHP, the configuration file (config.php) can be utilized effectively by defining an array that contains key-value pairs for each language setting. This array can then be included in the main PHP files of the website to access the language settings based on the selected language.

```php
// config.php

$languageSettings = array(
    'en' => array(
        'welcome_message' => 'Welcome to our website!',
        'about_us' => 'About Us',
        'contact_us' => 'Contact Us'
    ),
    'fr' => array(
        'welcome_message' => 'Bienvenue sur notre site web!',
        'about_us' => 'À propos de nous',
        'contact_us' => 'Contactez-nous'
    )
);
```

This code snippet defines an array `$languageSettings` that contains language-specific settings for English and French. These settings can be accessed in the main PHP files by including this configuration file and using the appropriate language key to retrieve the desired language setting.