Tribal development in the country has been vitiated due to presupposition. It is generally taken for granted that tribals are in the periphery of Indian society and outside the Indian psyche. It is also assued that the tribals need protection and they must be integrated into the Indian main stream.
Scholars and administrators alike believed in the 19th century that the tribals either had no language or had limited languages. It was said for example, that So:ra language had only 700 words. The term ‘culure of silence’ came in handy to reinforce the above notion.
Tribal languages are neither easy nor are they incomplete. Structurally they are as complex as the known major languages of India. They express all the nuances of tribal life and are capable of expressing any aspect of modern life if put to such use.
The Central Institute of Indian Languages which has a major programme of studying tribal languages in all their psycho-social relations, has decided to produce a grammar, a dictionary, a volume of folklore and learning materials for children and adults in each language with a view to establish ing bi-directional communication among the tribal and non- tribal communities.
The present Apatani-English-Hindi Dictionary is the third to be published in our dictionary series. By providing Hindi and English glosses an attempt has been made to simultaneously expose the Apatani speakers to both the official and associate official languages of the country. We hope that the non-Apatani speakers who will have occasion to come in contact with them either in administration or for trade purposes will find the dictionary useful.
Our field workers who have worked under difficult condi- tions and produced such materials as this deserve commenda- tion. I also put on record our appreciation for those who are responsible for the speedy execution of the work.
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