[Assam] Asomiya Jatiya Abhidhan

[xourov pathok]

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/details.asp?id=jul0907/at08

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.


       
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