| Dictionary of Punjabi Language |
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| Written by Tribune News Service, Chandigarh | |
| Friday, 01 February 2008 | |
 Punjabi University, Patiala, will soon bring out a dictionary that will present a definitive epistemological departure from those published so far world over.Under the command of Harjeet Singh Gill, Punjabi University is preparing “The Conceptual Dictionary of Punjabi Language and Culture”. Gill, professor emeritus of semiotics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), has spent considerable time in France before joining Punjabi University in 1968. He later shifted to the JNU, where he served till 2000. “I believe that there is no dictionary in English and some other language that has focused on defining the concept and discursive constitutions of words,” asserts Gill. “The dictionary being prepared by Punjabi University will be the first of its kind. Its first volume will come out in July and 10 more will follow,” says Gill. “The dictionary deals with the three registers of the discourse of Punjabi during the last 500 years, the Gurbani, Sufi mysticism and the folklore. Janam Sakhian, Bhai Gurdas and Punjabi Qisse have also been included,” he adds. “In the dictionary concept of each word of the Gurbani that is part of Adi Granth would be explained by giving citations from the Gurbani. Giving an instance in this regard, he says “we have conceputalisation of sat/asat, gian/agyan, parkash/andhkar, gurmant/durmat, gurmukh/manmukh, etc.” To understand the concept of sat (truth) one also needs to understand the concept of word asat (falsehood), he says. |
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