Longest Assamese dictionary in the making
>From A Correspondent
JORHAT, July 8 A new Assamese dictionary the longest in the language
produced so far will be available to users and learners if the grand
project sees the light of the day. A team of lexicographers has been working
with a feverish pitch at the Jorhat-based office of the Asom Jatiya Prakash, a
publication house, with the avowed purpose to compile the most comprehensive,
unilingual and encyclopaedic dictionary in the Assamese language.
The lexicon, with a mammoth stock of more than one lakh entries, is aimed at
fulfilling the needs of users in the 21st century. The first edition of the
dictionary is slated to come out on January 1, 2010. It may run into two
volumes to cut down on the size.
The brainchild of a galaxy of noted intellectuals, the concept of the Asomiya
Jatiya Abhidhan was first developed at a workshop held here under the aegis of
the Asom Jatiya Siksha Samanway Parishad on July 7, 2002. Those who presented
the guidelines as to how the proposed work should be like included Dr Dilip
Kumar Dutta, Dr Kabindra Nath Phukan, Dr Madan Mohan Sharma, Dr Bhimkanta
Barua, Dr Benu Gogoi and Dr Devabrata Sharma, who is now working as the chief
editor of the Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan.
We shall borrow generously from all sources to prepare the lexicon which will
not leave out any major sub-languages spoken and written in the State, Dr
Sharma said. He pointed out that the words spoken in certain areas like
Kamrup, Goalpara, Darrang and Nagaon and by specific groups like tea tribes
and those residing in the char areas, which do not find mention in the
conventional Assamese dictionaries, would be entered in the Asomiya Jatiya
Abhidhan.
In addition to this, words originating from Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages
as well as those derived from different religions and forms of art and culture
will make up the dictionary. We shall leave no stone unturned to chronicle
the progress of the Assamese language during the last 1,000 years, Dr Sharma,
who is the Head of the Department of English of Jorhat College, stressed. He
claimed that the Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan would list all words prevalent during
the times of Madhav Kandali, Ram Saraswati and Sankaradeva and those with
their etymology traced to the ethnic languages spoken in the north-eastern
region and outside.
Words forming part of slang and other common lingo, too, will be adequately
defined in the dictionary. To suit the needs of the techno-savvy user, names
of all modern gadgets of communication, the terms of Information Technology
and various streams of science and technology will be incorporated into the
Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan, the English teacher pointed out. In fact, noted
scientist Dr Dinesh Chandra Goswami is contributing 12,000 entries relating to
the latest terminology in science and technology to the dictionary, he added.
In a word, nothing that has passed into common usage in the Assamese language
will be left out, Dr Sharma quipped.
Assamese once served as the major link language for all peoples in the
North-east. The Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan will hopefully lay the foundation of a
greater and generous Assamese society and reinforce the position of Assamese
as the principal language, which is now sadly spoken by only one-third of the
population in the State itself, Dr Sharma maintained.
The chief editor of the Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan said that a sum of Rs 12 lakh
will be spent till the preparation of the manuscript.
---------------------------------
Get the free Yahoo! toolbar and rest assured with the added security of spyware
protection. _______________________________________________
assam mailing list
[email protected]
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
