MANGALURU: The Tulu Wiktionary and Tulu Wikisource officially went live on Wednesday marking a significant milestone in the history of Tulu language and literature.
The launch of these two platforms is expected to give a boost to promotion and preservation of Tulu language and culture on the global stage and ensure that future generations can continue to learn and engage with its rich cultural heritage. Users can search, edit, and contribute to the Tulu Wiktionary, one of the online dictionaries maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation.
This is the result of six years of dedicated efforts by the Karavali Wikimedians and Tulu Wikimedians. The key contributors include Dr Vishwanatha Badikana, U B Pavanaja, Bharathesha Alasademajalu, Kishore Kumar Rai Sheni, and Yakshitha, among others. The technical support was given by Anoop Rao Karkala, Chidananda Kampaa, and Bharathesha Alasademajalu.
Bharathesha said they started working on this project in Auguest 2018 after Tulu postgraduate course was started at University College in Mangaluru. The dictionary has over 3,000 pages, all segregated grammatically. He said the Wiktionary is a free, multilingual online dictionary providing definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, translations, and more.
Unlike traditional dictionaries, it is collaboratively edited by volunteers from around the world, making it a dynamic and ever-evolving resource. Tulu Wiktionary will provide in-depth information on words in the Tulu language, with usage examples, word origins, and grammatical details, offering immense value to language learners, linguists, and cultural scholars alike.
The Tulu Wikisource which has also been launched is a free online digital library that hosts source texts in the public domain or under open copyright. Users can access, read, and contribute by transcribing and proofreading texts to ensure accuracy.
The Tulu Wikisource will focus on preserving original Tulu documents such as books, letters, historical texts, and literary works, making them accessible to a global audience. This platform will be particularly useful for researchers, students, and anyone interested in the preservation of Tulu literary heritage.