Report of the Apatani Language Development Committee

APATANI LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

-       Final Report submitted to the Apatani Cultural and Literary Society (ACLS), Ziro  –

The Apatani Language Development Committee (ALDC) was constituted by the Apatani Cultural and Literary Society (ACLS) on August 3, 2013 with the followings as the members:

11.   Dr. Tage Kanno                                    Chairman

22.   Takhe Kani                                           Member

33.   Mihin Kaning                                       Member

44.   Nani Kojin                                           Member

55.   Yachang Tacho                                    Member

66.   Nending Ommo                                   Member

77.   Hage Yapa                                           Member

88.   Taku Tanio                                           Member

99.   Kago Siira                                           Member

110.  Gyati Apa                                           Member

The followings were the broad mandates of the committee:

11.     To review the existing standard Apatani script (ACLS, 1997) and to explore possibility of improving the script in view of increasing expertise and technological changes;

22.     To explore ways to improve the overall development of the Apatani language.

The following activities were carried out:

11.     Facebook Group for online discussion;

22.     Offline discussions;

33.     Expert consultation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

After the year-long discussion and literature review, the following recommendations are presented to the Apatani Cultural and Literary Society (ACLS) for consideration and necessary actions:

Principles:

It is recommended that the following basic principles be followed for development and use of the Apatani Alphabet:

1.     Modified Roman Script (MRS) as recommended in the Symposium organized by ACLS in 1997 be continued to be used with appropriate modifications to make the writing of Apatani more consistent and accurate.

2.     The principle of “one sound, one symbol” which is the basic principle of alphabetical writing system be followed.

3.     The letters be named as in Devanagari script.

4.     The letters be arranged as in the English alphabet followed by additional characters.

5.     The rules of punctuation marks, including capitalization, be followed as in English.

6.     The existing Proper Nouns may be left alone and not be tampered with.

A. Vowels:

The following vowels from English alphabet be adapted and used as in English usage:

The following symbols be used as additional vowels with modified usage in Apatani alphabet:

B. Consonants

The following consonants from English alphabet be adapted and used as in English usage:

Letters	Devanagari Equivalent	As in…	English Meaning
B                             b	ब	Balu Tabu	Garden Snake
D                             d	द	Dipe Sadi	Spade Plantation
G                            g	ग	Goñci Tagi	Dragonfly Sickle
H                            h	ह	Hamañ La’hiñ	Vegetable Nail
J                             j	ज	Jomw Aju’	Cloud Weak
K                            k	क	Kwle Tako’	River Dirt
L                            l	ल	La’ko Alo	Button Salt
M                         m	म	Miyu Yamu	Man Fire
N                         n	न	Nesu Tano	Granary Thread
P                         p	प	Papu Yapiñ	Egg Nose
R                         r	र	Rupiñ Taru	Ear ring Rope
S                          s	स	Subu Haso	Mithun Slow
T                          t	त	Tabu Patw	Snake Tiger
Y                             y	य	Yamu Tayu	Fire Bee

The following letters be used with modifications as indicated to represent the sound identified in Apatani but not present in English:

Letters	Devanagari Equivalent	As in…	English Meaning	Remarks
C                    c	च	Ciru’ Pacu	Pocket Chick	Replaces ch of ACLS (1997)
F                    f	ly	Firotoko Afo	Uvula Tongue
Q                  q	ङ	Qwi Pequ	Fish Barbet	Replaces ng of ACLS (1997)
X                  x	ख	Xui’ Taxw	Sour Squirrel	Replaces kh of ACLS (1997)
Z                 z	ञ	Za’tu Azañ	Knife Year

C. Special Character

The following symbol be used as a special character to meet accurate writing of Apatani language.

Symbols	Indicative Description	As in…	English Meaning		Remarks
-ñ	(अं)	Yasañ Laliñ Aluñ	Fuel Footprint Shock		Nasalizes the preceding vowel
‘	(Glottal Stop)	La’ta’ Taku’	Stick Cucumber

Hence, the following is the recommended Apatani Alphabet with their names:

a	b	c	d	e	f	g
आ	ब	च	द	इ	(लय़)	ग
h	i	j	k	l	m	n
ह	इ	ज	क	ल	म	न
o	p	q	r	s	t	u
ओ	प	ङु	र	स	त	उ
v	w	x	y	z	’	-ñ
		ख	य	ञ	अः	अं

Way Forward:

A. Once the letters of the alphabet are finalized, the following activities may be taken up, preferably in the order listed:

1.     Address tone issue;

2.     Draw up guidelines for word boundaries;

3.     Standardize spellings;

4.     Develop an Apatani-English-Hindi Dictionary.

5.     Develop an Apatani Grammar;

6.     Develop audio-visual learning aids;

7.     Design an online learning resource.

B. Further, the following activities may be taken up to promote learning of the Apatani alphabets and thus promote the language:

1.     Alphabet chart and booklet for wide distribution to all the schools and for sale;

2.     Pictorial alphabets chart and booklet for wide distribution to all the schools and for sale;

3.     Revise existing third language textbook and incorporate the initial lessons on Apatani alphabets and word formation;

4.     Take steps to resume teaching of Apatani as the third language in all the schools, including the private schools, located at Ziro.

5.     Constitute a permanent APATANI LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE to oversee the growth and promotion of the Apatani language.

(Dr. Tage Kanno),

Chairman,

Apatani Language Development Committee,

Ziro.

Submitted to:

The President,

Apatani Cultural and Literary Society (ACLS),

Ziro