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Regular-article-logo Tuesday, 26 August 2025

Offline dictionary of region’s languages

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Staff Reporter Published 21.08.12, 12:00 AM

Aug. 20: Xobdo, a non-profit organisation formed by a group of volunteers, has released the offline version of their dictionary of 25 indigenous languages of the Northeast.

The dictionary can be downloaded free at http://learn.xobdo.org/links and it also features English and Hindi.

Offline dictionaries do not require an Internet connection. This is quite an advantage in the Northeast — a region where connectivity problems abound.

“We are very pleased to launch the offline version of Xobdo. Please download, install and enjoy completely free of cost and without any liability,” said Buljit Buragohain, a member of the organisation.

As of now, the dictionary features a repository of 41,212 Assamese words, 17,651 English words, 3,352 Dimasa words, 2,313 Karbi words and the list goes on. In case your computer does not support Assamese fonts, without which you cannot use the dictionary, then Buragohain has a tip for you: “Download Avro Keyboard from the Internet and install it on your computer. It is free. Then your computer will support Assamese fonts.”

Xobdo means sound or word in Assamese. The organisation has volunteers located in various parts of the globe with the common interest of promoting the languages of the Northeast in the cyber world.

Members of Xobdo are voluntarily collaborating to construct and maintain this website. In March 2006, the Xobdo team began working on the online English and Assamese bi-directional dictionary.

“Anybody who knows these languages can contribute words to the dictionary. To do this he has to register his name, which is free and easy. Once he is registered, he can start adding words from his mother tongue. Moreover, if he speaks any language of the Northeast not covered by Xobdo and wants to build an online dictionary of the language, he can contact the Xobdo team who will be happy to help him,” said a member of Xobdo.

Xobdo’s website describes the nature of the meanings it includes: “Xobdo does not want to follow any specific dictionary or any glossary or wordlist published by any authority or entity; neither does it accept opinions of any expert. Rather, it considers the present-day meaning to be the standard as it is evidenced in ‘contemporary use’, like those that appear in renowned newspapers, magazines or the writings of well known authors and journalists, extensively used (spoken or written) in special fields or areas like judicial courts, government offices, religious institutes and traditional functions.”

The organisation earlier provided an opportunity to children of NRIs from Assam — a chance to learn their mother tongue. They launched a project to teach Northeast languages online as well as through classroom teaching. Children in the age group of six to 10 years will be covered in the 15-week programme.

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