Nikkei Asia Prizes 2001

Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee

Dictionary yields cultural insights Team worked for 20 years to compile dictionary of ancient Newari tongue

BY HIROKI MATSUOKA
staff writer

The Nepal Bhasa Dictionary Committee has gathered regularly on the second floor of a quiet building overlooking the narrow streets of Kathmandu, Nepal, for more than 20 years to compile a dictionary of Newari, a minority language now spoken by only about 3% of the nation's population.

The 15 members, who have continued with their primary occupations such as teaching, "all work for honor," according to project leader Kamal P. Malla, adding that the greatest reason for their success was that a good team was formed from the beginning.

There are roughly 1 million Newars, one of the more than 30 ethnic groups that make up Nepal, living in and around Kathmandu Valley. Their mother tongue is a Tibeto-Burman language, while Nepali, the main language of the country, is Indo-Aryan.

The importance of Newari is that it is one of the few languages in the Himalayan region that have left records in characters.

The history and culture of the region have been recorded in epitaphs and literature since the seventh century, and among them are many texts about Hinduism and Buddhism, which were introduced from India.

By deciphering texts written in classic Newari, one can derive important insights into how Indian culture was accepted into the Himalayan region, in addition to how the language has changed, Malla said.

In 1980, Newar linguists started working on a Newari dictionary, the first such attempt in history. Documents written between 1115 and 1799 became the main material.

Compiling a dictionary is time-consuming and involves a lot of hard work. Kashinath Tamot, linguist and professor at Tribhuhan University, who is one of the main members of the committee, said he intended to stake his life on the project, recalling how he felt when the work began.

The committee fell into financial difficulty a number of times during the course of the project. It overcame the difficulties by obtaining financial assistance from other countries, including Japan, investing its funds, and putting a person in charge of financial affairs. One of the most astonishing aspects of the project was that the team used only one old computer to put together the entire dictionary.

In 1991, Prem Bahadur Kansakar, the founder of the committee and its spiritual leader, passed away. The members were able to endure the adversity because of the joy of experiencing firsthand the process of development of their language, culture and society, Malla said.

The committee takes pride in Newars, who have always performed their role as an intermediary and catalyst for conveying cultures between India and China.

"The Dictionary of Classic Newari" was published in September 2000. It contains more than 30,000 entries and just over 12,000 complex conjugations of verbs, which is considered the most striking characteristic of Newari.

The dictionary has made it possible to find the equivalents of classic Newari words in any language, including Nepali, English and Sanskrit.

The next stage of the project remains to be undertaken. It consists of a plan to compile a dictionary that contains technical terms, including those related to medicine, mathematics, astrology, astronomy and religious rites. At present, it is uncertain when the new stage will be launched, because of a shortage of funds and the rapid decline in the number of Newar specialists.

Unable to find the time to indulge themselves in the joy of winning the Nikkei Asia Prize, the members of the committee continue to pursue their research and apply their energies to nurturing young scholars who may succeed them in the future.