Hyderabad :

On international mother tongue day, the script of a tribal language, Gunjala Gondi, was released by the University of Hyderabad in collaboration with the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA). It is the first such adivasi script discovered and printed in the state.

For three years, four linguists from UoH’s Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation worked with the Gondi tribe of Adilabad to dig out their ancient script. The researchers have not only resurrected the dying script, but also released a web font for those who want to use it on the internet of the computer.

The centre has also released a textbook to be taught in 15 schools under ITDA. Interestingly, the new development will not only benefit the people of the tribe in Andhra Pradesh, but also in five other states, including Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh, where the Gondi tribe is thriving.

Tirumala Rao, senior researcher at the centre, said that it was in 2006 that he first found manuscripts of the Gondi language. But the language was written out in Telugu and Marathi scripts. “It was only when I visited Gunjala in Adilabad that I realized that the language had its own script, which only a handful of the elderly pundits in the village knew. I collaborated with other researchers and decided to document the script,” Rao said. Currently, there are only six people from the tribe who know the script of the tribal language. One among them, 76-year-old Kotnak Jangu, said he was worried that the script would get extinct after the elders died as the youngsters had not learnt it. “I have manuscripts which could date back to 150 years. But I thought that these will be of no use as no one would be able to read them,” said Jangu. He expressed happiness that the manuscripts would now be preserved as also the script. The centre is planning to digitally scan and preserve high resolution copies of the manuscripts.

Another researcher, G Manoja from Palamuru University, who is coordinating the Gunjala Gondi Research Centre in Gunjala, said the script is unique as it does not follow the consonant order of other regional languages. “The first consonant in the script is ‘ya’ instead of ‘ka’ as in other languages in the south and north. It should be noted that the tribe not only has a script, but also a rich literature. One of the books, which will soon be translated into Telugu, has a story similar to Milton’s Paradise Lost,” Manoja said.

Vice chancellor Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, who released the book and CD containing the Gondi font, said that big languages often swallow small languages. “But this is a great effort to preserve the small languages,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / February 22nd, 2014