KDA to tell Google to pronounce names of towns, villages correctly
BENGALURU: Bilimale is a small village in Dakshina Kannada district. In Kannada, BiLi means white and male (pronounced as maley) means hillock. But Google Maps pronounces it so differently that it changes its meaning completely.
This is not about just one village or town. There are a whole host of places whose pronunciations are completely changed and anglicised. The Kannada Development Authority (KDA), in association with ISRO and Google, is now trying to rectify the problem.
KDA Chairman Purushothama Bilimale said names of most villages and towns in Karnataka are based on the surroundings of those places. They are also based on particular castes or communities residing in those places. Generally, the names in Dravidian Kannada are based on hills, water sources, forests, wind and more.“These words are not just names of places. They represent the richness of Kannada language,” Bilimale said.
Over the years, some names have become abbreviations, while others have changed. But with Google Maps, which is used extensively by people across the world, the pronunciations have changed further. “There is a need to popularise these places, but with correct pronunciations,” he said.
KDA has convened a meeting with ISRO scientists. India has developed its own satellite navigation system, NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation). NavIC is more accurate compared to Google Maps on pronunciations, but it is not recognised outside India.
“We need to meet Google authorities here and explain the issue to them. The revenue department has a collection of audio, which gives the proper pronunciations of names of over 75,000 villages and towns. When someone is using Google Maps, they should hear the voiceover with the correct pronunciation,’’ he said.
KDA also has volunteers in each district who can help recheck the names in Google Maps. If everything goes well, the correction may be completed in five to six months, he said.
Meanwhile, KDA has written to Chief Secretary Shalini Rajneesh to insist on commercial establishments mentioning the names of their villages and towns at the bottom of name boards. “We need to popularise names of places that are part of our rich culture and history,’’ he added.