Jamshedpur, Dec. 26: Tribal languages, which are considered “endangered”, are finding their way on the literary map and soon there will be a thesaurus on them for those who have always been interested in expressing themselves in Santhali or Mundari.
Former vice-chancellor Ram Dayal Munda and senior faculty member of Ranchi University (RU) Ganesh Murmu have been chosen to compile the first thesaurus in Santhali and Mundari.
Involved in extensive research at present, the linguists are hopeful of finishing the work in two years.
A project of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), an autonomous institution functioning under the Union department of culture, the combined thesaurus would contribute in the development of the two “almost extinct” tribal languages.
Earlier, both the linguists had worked together on the first dictionary in Munda dialect.
An ambitious project of the IGNCA, the 500-page book would focus on groups of synonyms and other related concepts. It would also contain root words in both Hindi and English, along with a small note on the origin of the word and its equivalent in Santhali and Mundari. There would be a detailed explanation of the popular beliefs associated with these words as well.
Munda and Murmu are the co-ordinators for the project. Both have a brilliant academic record and are known for their contribution in the development of tribal languages.
A renowned linguist, Munda is credited with the formation of RU’s Department of Tribal and Regional Languages (DTRL) in 1980. In 2003, tribal languages appeared in RU’s syllabi and in the same year the government also approved these languages as optional subjects in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission examinations.
“It is a great honour to work on this project. It is for the first time that any group is compiling a thesaurus in these languages. People today are taking an interest in learning about cultures and languages,” said Murmu, while discussing the objective behind the innovative project.
The efforts of the linguists have helped the endangered languages to gain an identity of their own. “The non-tribal population is showing a lot of interest in learning about the origin of words that are native to our languages,” said Murmu.
