: Man Creates Script for Dying Language from Scratch, Gets Microsoft to Recognise It #IndiaNEWS #Arunachal Pradesh Did you know that the feeling of love can be described in 9,000 words if we put all

Man Creates Script for Dying Language from Scratch, Gets Microsoft to Recognise It #IndiaNEWS #Arunachal Pradesh
Did you know that the feeling of love can be described in 9,000 words if we put all the Indian languages together? A country that is often touted as the treasure trove of linguistic diversity, has 780 languages of which 600 of them are on the verge of becoming non-existent.
In the last 60 odd years itself, close to 250 languages have become extinct in India, which means speakers of these languages have migrated onto other languages. This also means that they have left behind a significant part of their culture and identity.
So how does one go about preserving a language?
There are several routes like commercialising the language and encouraging it in school curriculum.
But what happens when the script of a language is missing? The ability of putting our thoughts into words and spreading information is worthless if there is no script. With no documentation of words that we speak, how does one pass it on to the next generation?
Even if a parent tries to teach their child the language, it will differ slightly from what their neighbours might teach their kids. This difference between spoken words eventually increases to a point where it becomes two different dialects.
This was the case with the Tangsa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The community is further divided into 40 sub-tribes, each having its own dialect. Over the years, the meaning of sentences and words grew so apart that one sub-tribe could not understand the other.
Wanglung teaching Tangsa
The population of the Tangsa community is roughly around one lakh and with each tribe speaking its own dialect, the danger of extinction becomes two-fold.
This fear is what prompted Lakhum Mossang from Changlang district to develop a common script that could be used by the entire community.
He began his work in 1990, and after a grueling 30 years, the script was finally developed in 2019. However, he passed away a year later. Today, his friend Wanglung Mossang is carrying forward his legacy.
Not Lost in Translation

Wanglung, a farmer by profession, has come forward to teach the script to college students and graduates. Fifteen students are already in the process of learning.
He is also a part-time cultural consultant to foreigners and while sharing about his heritage, he realised that the exact pronunciations of certain words were getting lost. So, he decided to collaborate with Lakhum and learnt the script seven years ago.
“To communicate with other community members, we have to use Assamese, English or Hindi. But this common script helps us save our folklores, songs, poetries, rituals and more. It has been accepted by the state government and soon will be introduced in the school curriculum.