LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 24:4 April 2024
ISSN 1930-2940

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Growth and Development of Odia Dictionaries:
An Introductory Study

Jhuni Mallick

Abstract

The history of Odia lexicography is not as old as the history of Odia language or Odia literature. Lexicographical developments in a language imply that the standardization of the same language is seen as the first initiative towards giving an identity to a language and is considered as the first sign of a developing language linguistically. The history of Odia lexicographical initiatives dates back to 18th century. This paper is an introductory study of the growth and development of Odia dictionaries.

Keywords: Odia, Language, Dictionary, Lexicography.

1. Introduction

In modern times, Odia is the sixth Indian language to be nominated as a classical language in 2014. Odia originated from the Eastern Magadhi Apabhramsa, and it is a member of Indo-Aryan language family. It is a modern Indian language that has its own script, linguistic convention, literature and culture. The development of the Odia language entails the development of writing tradition in Odia. In the development of the writing tradition of a language, the field of lexicography contributes a lot. The formation of Utkala Sahitya Samaja in 1903 was a very significant step in highlighting the Odia language and literature in India. The Rajas and Jamindars of Odisha took a very prominent role in this respect (Dash 2015). We find three major Odia language movements that have taken place in Odisha. We all know that language movements take crucial roles in the development of a language. One could witness the influence of Sanskrit language on Odia historically just as Sanskrit has influenced other modern Indian languages.

Before the British period, the preparation of the Dictionary in Odia could be seen from the 18th century. Upendra Bhanja’s Gitabhidhana (“Gita” means song in Odia, and “Abhidhan” means dictionary) is considered as the first Odia dictionary though not technically. This was written around 1710 but printed in 1870. The exceptional feature of this dictionary is that it is written in a poetic style as Upendra Bhanja belongs to Riti Juga (“Between Dhananjaya Bhanja in the middle of the 18th century and Abhimanyu Samantasinghar in the middle of the 19th century, Odia ornate poetry's Golden Age also known as Riti Yuga or Alanakar Yuga began. and writing in a poetic style is a recurring and popular style in Riti Juga

Gitabhidhan is a rhyming dictionary that lists the words ending with similar letters to help in composing rhyming poetry. We can find the influence of Sanskrit in this dictionary because the author Upendra Bhanja had thorough training in Sanskrit classical literature. He had an excellent command over Sanskrit dictionaries such as Amarakosha, Trikanda Kosha, and Medini-Kosha. Upendra Bhanja had lost many handwritten articles because at that time there were no printing presses available in Odisha. We can consider this as an earlier development of Odia dictionaries.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Jhuni Mallick
National Translation Mission
Central Institute of Indian Languages
Mysuru 570006
jhuni_mallick@yahoo.co.in
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