It gives me immense pleasure to know that Himachal Pradesh Academy of Arts, Culture and Languages is reprinting 'A Dictionary of Pahari Dialects' and 'A Dictionary and Grammar of Kanawari compiled by Shri Tika Ram Joshi.
In earlier times, any book was venerated. Hand-written or published Ramayana or Mahabharat or Bhagwat Gita or Quran and Granth Sahib are still venerated and, in most houses, these are kept in 'Pooja Sthal'. The rise of literacy among the general public and easy techniques of printing and publishing books made those widely available to the general public at a reasonable cost. This explosion of printed word demanded knowledge about the words used in the dialect or language. This could be achieved by means of an authoritative dictionary and two such Dictionaries were provided by Pandit Tika Ram Joshi when he compiled Dictionaries on Pahari (lower Mahasu) and Kinnauri dialects.
We cannot study a language unless we have an important thing like dictionary with us. It is obvious that dictionary plays the most leading role in studying a language. Language is basically a system of communication where sound or signs convey objects, actions and ideas. No man is an island: man is a social being.
Himachal Academy of Arts Culture and Languages was established in 1971 for preservation documentation and publication of traditional and contemporary arts culture and language different Janpadas of Himachal Pradesh Academy has successfully achieved its goal through different projects by publishing various books and magazines with contribution of writers of Himachal Pandit Tika Ram Joshi, one time Private Secretary to the ruler of Bushchar State in the Western Himalayan region was a man of great vision. His three articles which appeared in the columns of the Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1909 and 1911 testify his interest in the fields of lexicography and cultural anthropology. In one of the folk songs in Kinnaur area of Himachal Pradesh, he has been portrayed as great admirer of Nature who preferred to settle down in Sangla Valley adjoining Kinnar Kailash mountain range.
It was mere co-incidence that in the first decade of twentieth century when Dr. Abrahm Grierson and his team was busy in compiling Linguistic Survey of India, Pandit Tika Ram Joshi was compiling Kinnauri and Pahari dictionary singlehanded. Grierson is today remembered as one of the greatest lexicographers in the wrold but people of Himachal Pradesh cannot forget the exemplary work done by Pandit Tika Ram Joshi at a time when modes of communication in this state were hardly visible. The best part of the dictionary lexicographed by Pandit Tika Ram Joshi is the use diacritical marks which has made the work more scientific in approach. With the progress in phonetics some of the marks used in the dictionary today stand modified but are still clear in depicting the sound used in pronouncing the words and terms. There are certain words which have now become obsolete with the passage of time but are very important keeping in view the socio-linguistic history of the region.
Kanawari or Kinnauri is the most Fascinating language having its roots with Mundari language as ascertained by Dr. Grierson in his book referred to above. The author has not only collected the vocabulary of this Tibeto-Barman language but devoted some pages to enlighten the reader about its grammar and folklore. Many scholars have science worked on linguistic forms of Kinnauri but this brief description given by Mr. Joshi is of immense value to us Himachal Academy of Arts, Culture and Language has many ambitious plans including prepration of a Pahari-Hindi Dictionary which Dictionary containing about 55,000 words was released in December, 1989 and Hindi-Pahari synonym dictionary is under progress. Academy is also helping to provide linguistic data through himachali writers of Kangra Janpad for prestigious project of NIT Hamirpur regarding Kangri-Hindi digital translation. Academy is also working for endangered dialects of Himachal.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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