KOHIMA, OCTOBER 5 (MExN): On invitation by the Nagaland State Governor, PB Acharya, a delegation from the Central Institute of Indian Language (CIIL) is on a visit to Kohima. The team arrived on October 4 and is scheduled to be here till October 6.
A press release from the Kohima Raj Bhavan informed that the Bharatavani Project, under CIIL, Mysuru has chalked out an action plan for development of the languages of Nagaland including development of dictionaries, learning materials etc. It was decided that an online learning programme for Tenyidie dialect may be commissioned within a year, in collaboration with Nagaland University, Kohima Campus.
During his meeting with CIIL officials and representatives of various knowledge institutions in Nagaland, the Governor advised that the languages and cultural identities of the Naga people have to be promoted. “The language of a person is his first identity. We have to give respect to each. Learning dialect is respecting them,” he said. The institute is concerned with protection and promotion of Indian Languages and development of such languages as a means of promoting better understanding among different communities and to strengthen integration. During the meeting, the Governor suggested bringing in knowledge institutions in Nagaland to develop content materials for Naga languages. He stressed that the Universities should be more active and involved in the development of the younger generation.
Bharatavani Project is a portal (URL: www.bharatavani.in) which has been launched to publish knowledge in and about all the Indian languages including most of the NE languages. It covers Tenyidie, Ao, Chakru/Chokri, Chang, Dimasa, Kabui (Rongmei), Khezha, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Liangmei, Lotha, Nocte, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimchunger, Zemi/Zeme in the first phase.
The Governor called upon linguistic scholars from each tribe to interact with Bharatavani project officers for full-fledged documentation and codification of each dialect. “Our mother tongue is our identity. Let us take care of it and give respect,” he urged.
