User-friendly Dictionary (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

User-friendly Dictionary

[ 2007-6-22 ]
By Khagendra Bhattarai
http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/content.php?nid=21579

Language has its direct relationship with the existence of a particular race
and their cultures. It is an identity of a particular social group that
shares similar cultural traits as well as linguistic features.

The Yakkhas, a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group of the middle hills of east Nepal,
are distinct indigenous peoples. The Yakkha dialect that the people of that
particular community use is one of the living ethnic languages in Nepal
which has its own history. Their dialect, Yakkha, belongs to the
Tibetan-Burman family.

The Yakkha area recognized as the traditional land of�Yakkha is the
southern part of Sankhuwasabha district bordering the district Dhankuta in
eastern Nepal. However, the original homeland of the�Kirant people
speaking the Yakkha language is the historical Five and Ten Majhiya region
in the southwestern part of�Pallo or far Kirant area between the
Arun and Tamor rivers. Their population according to the census of 2001, is
17,003, and of this population, 14,648 could speak the Yakkha language.

Despite being a living language, the Yakkha does not have its own script.
Realizing the need to preserve the language and to enhance uniformity among
the dialect users, Ramjee and Bishowkaji Kongren have compiled a
Yakkha-Nepali-English dictionary. The dictionary has based its source as
the dialect being used in the ancestral places of the Yakkhas- Panch
Majhiya and Das Majhiya of the eastern Nepal.

The editors' effort would certainly help preserve the dialect, create
uniformity among the Yakkha language users and help enhance
intercommunication among Yakkha, English and Nepali language users.

The editors have used International Phonetic Association (IPA) method while
arranging the words as the method is regarded as one of the best method
from linguistic and users' point of view. Another admirable aspect of the
dictionary is that the editors have differentiated between vowel and
consonant sounds. Besides, the three dimensions �
Yakkha-Nepali-English, Nepali-Yakkha-English, and English-Yakkha-Nepali
� has made the dictionary a user-friendly guide.

This Yakkha-Nepali-English dictionary, the first kind of its type, would
certainly be a useful tool for the linguists, students, researchers and
language users as well.

The clear, concise and alphabetically arranged entries deal with historical,
political, and social aspects of race and ethnic relations. It would also
set standard in the presentation of meanings and the choice of equivalents.
Cross references and the dictionary format provide easy access to the users
wishing to clarify the meaning or learn the background of the terms used in
the dictionary. It would have been better if they had used the words in
sentences to present accurate picture of the syntactic patterns of the
language use. Certainly, there are rooms for improvement and hope that the
editors would polish it in the next editions.