Koya
Multilingual Dictionary with Semantic Category Section
and
Indexes for Telugu, English and Hindi
Chief Mother Tongue Resource Persons
Sode Jayababu Dora - Language Supervisor, I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Tellam Ramanaiah - A.A.M.O. (T.E.), I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Gundu Chalapathi - Language Coordinator, I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Kaka Seetharamulu - Language Coordinator, I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Mother Tongue Editors - Computer Typesetting Assistants
Sunnam Rambabu - I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Mendu Venkataratnam - I.T.D.A., Bhadrachalam, Khammam
Linguistic, Computing and Lexicography Consultants
Gumidyala Venkat Ramesh - Multilingual Educational Linguist
Mark Penny - Computational Linguist, SIL International
Linguistic Advisors
Prof. G.
Umamaheshwar Rao - CALTS,
Prof. K.
Thomasaiah - Dept. of
Linguistics, PS
Academic Coordinators
Prof. N. Upender Reddy - State Academic Monitoring Officer
P. Sudharshan Reddy - Academic Monitoring Officer
Advisors
Dr. V. Nageshwar Rao - Additional State Project Director
Venkateshwara Sharma - Additional State Project Director
Chief Editor
Mohd. Ali Rafath, I.A.S. - State Project Director
Developed
by the Rajiv Vidya Mission, Department of School Education, Government of A.P.,
Introduction
In recent years, thanks largely to advances in computing, there has been a growth in the development of community-based dictionary production. Minority communities all around the world are realizing the importance of preserving and reinforcing the use of their mother tongue or heart language - and have begun the process of recording all their words and sayings.
This dictionary is a result of a collaborative effort by many people. Although the A.P. State Government Education Department (Rajiv Vidya Mission, formerly Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) is the primary sponsor, this dictionary would not have been possible without the support, and dedication provided by the Koya community - including young and old, literates and illiterates, teachers and supervisors.
Writing a dictionary for a minority language is often a lifetime achievement for a single person. However, this dictionary has been compiled within a relatively short period of less than 2 years. Collaborative teamwork has enabled this work. It is a dictionary for the people, and by the people. Outsiders have merely helped facilitate the process.
The aim of a single language dictionary is to capture the length and breadth of a language in order to standardize the spelling for the present generation and preserve the language for all future generations. However, the aim of this multi-lingual dictionary (containing Telugu, English and Hindi also) is to do all this and more. It aims to help users jump the chasm that exists between these different languages - so that they may become fluent and eloquent in several languages.
Without a doubt, English is emerging as a major global language - especially for higher education and commerce. It is not surprising, therefore, that parents would like to encourage their children in the study of English. We hope that the vernacular to Telugu and English (written in the Telugu script as well - to aid pronunciation) will be a great blessing to the students who use it. As they progress through the education system in Telugu, English and Hindi, they are likely to come across words they need to understand, but are unable to do so. The Telugu to vernacular, English to vernacular, and Hindi to vernacular sections will be of great assistance in discovering the meanings of these new words.
One extremely useful feature of this dictionary is the categorized section - where words are grouped together and ordered based on their meaning (rather than just alphabetically - as is the case in the main section). This system of categorizing words makes it easy for students to find related words (or synonyms), and teachers may also find this categorized section useful when following a theme-based syllabus.
Given the time constraints under which this dictionary was created, we are very much aware that there may still be a number of mistakes which will have to be corrected in future editions. Therefore for this first edition, only a limited number have been published for the students, teachers and community leaders involved in the Multi-Lingual Education programme (MLE). We trust that you will provide us with valuable feedback for further improvements to this dictionary.
It is the responsibility of each generation to pass on their own God-given and unique language and culture, knowledge and beliefs to their children. As soon as one generation fails to do so, an entire language community can rapidly lose their culture, language and even their sense of identity. Often this in turn leads to massive social problems for successive generations. Due to the rapid technological advances in the last 20 years the current generation of tribals have the potential to lose what has been uniquely theirs for generations.
Our hope is that by creating this extensive dictionary, the Koya community will recognize, or at least be reminded of, the depth and beauty of their mother-tongue and will celebrate their own unique language and culture in this great nation - where diversity is a strength. We hope that the dictionary will serve the present generation well, whilst preserving the language for future generations.
Remember that you, as an individual, have a responsibility to your community to do this work. The community collectively owns this work - and is responsible to take it forward. You can help to make a great dictionary even better!
Editorial Team
November 2009
While
the compilers have taken care in preparing the contents,
we have no warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the
content.
Copyright Notice
Given the wide
spectrum of individuals, organisations, Government Departments and Universities
involved with this project, it was decided at the outset to make the product of
this Dictionary Development process accessible to all for further refinement,
and improvement. Although many have contributed (with knowledge, financial
resources, time, software, and so on), ultimately the very language itself
contained within this dictionary belongs to the Koya community which
reserves the rights to this publication and has made it available to all under
a Creative Commons licence agreement:
This dictionary is licensed under Creative Commons license Attribute-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 2.5
This means that you are free to:
* Share -- to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* Remix -- to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
* Attribution. You must attribute the work
in the manner specified by the author or licensor
(but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the
work).
* Non-commercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
* Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or
build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting
work only under the same or similar license to this one.
For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the Koya community. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the compilers' moral rights.