The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) has undertaken the ‘National Language Atlas’ project to map the languages and dialects used in India. It aims to document and preserve the nation’s rich linguistic heritage.
Reasons Behind Language Atlas Initiative
Some reasons highlighting the need for IGNCA’s language mapping project:
- Over 19,500 languages & dialects spoken in India as per latest surveys
- Extensive linguistic diversity under threat from disappearance & extinction
- Lack of comprehensive documentation of actual language usage patterns
- Need for targeted language conservation efforts at hyperlocal levels
Key Objectives
IGNCA’s National Language Atlas has some core objectives like:
- Creating audio-visual digital resource repository for languages/dialects
- Capturing spatial spread & demography of usage through maps
- Identifying vulnerable and endangered native tongues requiring revival plans
- Promoting community participation in preserving linguistic identities
Project Implementation Strategy
- Phase-wise Approach: Work happening in phases focused on regions
- Focused Collaboration Model: Working jointly with expert institutions like CIIL
- Enabling Indigenous Evaluations: Involving language informants in field surveys
- Leveraging Technology: Developing GIS mapped digital atlas for interactive access through online portal
Scope and Coverage
- Document nearly 2000 languages across India using UNESCO framework
- Cover languages from all states showing spatial patterns of usage
- Include officially scheduled as well as non-scheduled native languages
- Feature visual depictions through audio-video documentation
Significance of This Linguistic Atlas
Mapping language distributions holds relevance considering:
- Repository for policy making towards linguistics development
- Improves understanding of language inter-relations and overlaps
- Tool for tracking movement & evolution responding to migrations
- Input for planning targeted language preservation and teaching
Key Recent Activities & Updates
- Regional atlas covering Himalayan belt languages released in October 2022
- Project proposal finalized in February 2023 for mapping tribes of Chhattisgarh state
- Collection of Ladakhi folk songs initiated in January 2024 through cultural mapping project
These demonstrate steady progress by IGNCA centre across diverse geographies.
Case Study Examples
IGNCA’s crowdsourcing initiative under Jan-Bhagidari scheme involves:
- Getting native dialect speakers to send speech samples through mobile app
- Using inputs to enrich repository of documents/recordings in digital atlas
This promotes participative language conservation.
Whereas the Maharashtra tribal language mapping initiative focuses specially on:
- Documenting endangered dialects of nomadic/de-notified tribes
- Combining annotations from linguistics with cultural/anthropological contexts
- Recommending urgent policy response to prevent extinction
Related Efforts and Integration Scope
IGNCA’s atlas project can leverage work done through other similar linguistic sub-mission schemes like:
- Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL) by Ministry of Education
- Project Documention of Endangered Languages (PDEL) by University Grants Commission (UGC)
- National Translation Mission by Ministry of Education
Convergence would enrich coverage and enhance outcomes.
Key Statistics
- Total Languages Mapped under Atlas Currently: 450 approx
- Vulnerable Tribal Dialects Identified Needing Attention: 159 till now
- Total Expected Audio/Video Files to Be Documented: Target over 60,000
- Atlas Portal Languages Mapped: 23 developed so far
- States Covered for Field Surveys: 18 states covered
IGNCA’s National Language Atlas project would greatly aid preservation of the indicate linguistic diversity under threat today due to factors like declining speaker bases of native tongues.
- Apart from just mapping language pockets and demographics, the atlas would also inform specific policy measures needed to prevent extinction of vulnerable dialects.
- It remains a work in progress but the comprehensiveness planned would make it an excellent ready reference model for promoting regional dialects.
- Creative use of crowdsourcing and technology integration for community participation also resonates strongly with the ethos of decentralization and self determination down to very hyperlocal contexts.
