Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)
Mangalore, Jun 9: A preliminary discussion on the proposed Beary dictionary and research was held at the Beary Sahitya Academy office, here on Monday June 9.
B A Mohammed Haneef, president of Beary Sahitya Academy presided over the discussion. B M Haneef, sub-editor, Sudha Weekly, introduced the topic of discussion.
Various writers and professionals from various fields were part of the discussion, including Dr B A Vivek Rai, Dr U P Upadhyaya, professor B M Ichlangodu, professor A V Navada, M B Abdul Rahman, Dr Sara Aboobakar, Abdul Rahiman T K, Dr N Ismail, Dr Vasanth Kumar Perla, Zohra Abbas and others were present.
President of Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy Mohammed Haneef welcomed the gathering and urged the dignitaries to express their views on the new and prominent works carried out by the Academy.
In his talk, B M Haneef said, "Small attempts have been made for the research and development of the Beary literature and language, but a major and a determined effort is needed to take it forward. A deadline of two years has to be set for this work (compilation of Beary dictionary) and we all must take it as a challenge to make it still work."
Expressing his ideas, Dr B A Vivek Rai said, "Language and script have no relation to each other. Software for the translation of the script must be developed in the first place as it will help in compiling the dictionary. A technical committee has to be formed in the beginning. Other than the committee members, two girls and two boys, who are BA or MA graduates, must be selected for sub-editing.
"Regular field work is a must. People who are thorough with Beary and Kannada languages should be made use of for this, especially to collect words from various fields. Better words can be derived from traditional songs as well; books can also serve the purpose. A suggestion committee is needed and regular meetings once in a month will yield better results," he added.
Vasanth Kumar Perla said, "The Beary language is most widely used among the fishermen and traders. Hence we must give more importance to these areas, as we can get more words from them. The setting of deadline is a good plan and we will adhere to it to make it even better."
Dr U P Upadhyaya said, "A training session has to be given for all the people who are working on this project. A sub-script along with a universal script has to be adopted to ensure better use of this dictionary.
"Literature has three faces - language, spoken dialect and folk. All these three sources have to be relied upon for the collection of words. Centres have to be set up in various places where there are Beary speaking people. A sample survey is also a must. An equivalent word related to a particular word also must be focused on and taken into consideration," he concluded.
Others also expressed their views during the discussion.