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BOOKS
Apna
OED
It's
the mahurat of the dictionary's new edition, one with a mela of Indian
words
By
Methil Renuka
Avatar
is not a new word for the world's most authoritative English languageinstitution,
the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). But if earlier, "avatar"
meant "descent of a deity (in Hindu mythology) to earth in bodily
form", today, it is a more secular word. Much like the OED's new
revised version, now available online, offering unprecedented global access,
and heralding a new "editorial rebirth" for the dictionary from
word to www. Besides tracing the evolution of 6,00,000 words across the
English-speaking world, the new OED (its first revision since its first
edition in 1928) also encompasses more Indian words than puritans would
have ever thought possible. Take this for instance. In true Indian tradition,
"mahurat" (the Hindi word for an auspicious beginning) was one
of the first few Indian words to be added during the revision of the OED.
Sure enough, when the OED went online in March last year, the Oxford University
Press called it the "mahurat of OED Online" in its newsletters.
The revised edition will have over 2,000 Indian words. Now it has some
600. And that includes words like machan, madarsa, maidan, manzil, masala,
mela ... even bhangra and Bollywood.
The Oxford
English Dictionary is exploring the English language and the world like
it never did before. John Simpson, OED's chief editor, says, "There
is no longer one English-there are many Englishes." The Indian influences
in the dictionary, notes Simpson, have come thanks to Indian literature
(read Indian writers in English), Indian films and music, and of course,
Indian cookbooks. Why, the Oxford University Press in England, notes Simpson,
has over four Indian restaurants and shops in and around it.
For Indian
writers in English, the OED's new avatar has come as a pat on the back.
"I'm delighted," says writer Khushwant Singh, who had himself
recommended a word, aurophilia ("love for one's own voice"),
to Simpson. "Nice to know that Indian words will now be accepted
in other parts of the world," he says. Simpson is more than geneous:
"The OED's new edition is a record of the internationalisation of
English. The Indian language is in an interesting state of development.
It'll be nice to know where it is headed." During his visit here,
Simpson issued, for the first time in India, an appeal to readers to spot
new Indian-English words. Former Delhi University Professor of English
G.K. Das views the inclusion of Indian words as "invaluable for research".
He says, "In an age of advanced communication, words acquire many
meanings and the only way to look at it is the progressive way."
Possibly
the largest humanities research project of its kind (the Oxford University
Press has committed £34 million for bringing it up to date), the
project that began in 1993 will take a good 10 years before the New Edition
appears in "close to 40 volumes". However OED Online, to be
updated with 1,000 new words every quarter, will be available by subscription
(£250 a year) in India. An English-Hindi dictionary is also in the
offing from the Oxford University Press. So we haven't heard the last
word on this yet.
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