The Census of India 2011 recorded over 1,500 distinct languages spoken by the people of India as their mother tongues. These languages include Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Bundelkhandi, Chhattisgarhi, Rajasthani, Bhili, Maithili, Santhali and others.
With an aim to preserve popular regional dialects - Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Braj, and Bundelkhandi - Uttar Pradesh's State Education Institute (SIE) will soon launch the first-ever dialect dictionary.
The SIE in Prayagraj city has designed a first-of-its-kind dialects dictionary in four volumes, containing 76,000 words in four region-specific languages including Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Braj, and Bundelkhandi.
Based on the new National Education Policy (NEP)-2020, the dictionary comprises a set of four books of around 150 pages each.
The dialect dictionary, currently in the printing stage, will soon hit the shelves after its launch by Uttar Pradesh's State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
An official told an Indian news agency that the dialect dictionary will not only preserve the four regional dialects of Uttar Pradesh state but will also enhance teachers' ability to explain subjects and topics to students in their own local dialects.
Naval Kishore, principal of SIE, said this will also help in removing linguistic barriers.