Fifth edition of Hindko language dictionary published

PESHAWAR: The Gandhara Hindko Academy, Peshawar, has published the fifth edition of the Hindko-Urdu dictionary.A press release said the two-volume dictionary has 2032 pages and over 100,000 words and expressions.

It said the latest edition was a continuation of the first lexicon prepared by late Prof Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan, who hailed from the walled city of Peshawar. He had earned his doctorate in Linguistics 50 years back from the University of London, England, after carrying out extensive research on the phonology of the Hindko language.

The Gandhara Hindko Board published the first edition of the dictionary in 2008 during the lifetime of Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan who had several other research-based publications to his credit as well.

Later, the board and the academy brought out four editions of the dictionary in 2017, 2019, 2022 and now the latest one in the year 2023.The work was accomplished by a team comprising Dr Muhammad Adil, Zeeshan Ghaznavi, Saqib Hussain, Ali Awais Khayal, Muhammad Noman Qayyum and Bilal Ahmad.

Muhammad Ziauddin, a research scholar of Hindko and General Secretary of the Gandhara Hindko Board, supervised all the work. He has a rich experience of documentation and is the chief of the Executive Committee of the Hindko Academy which has been working under public-private partnership since its establishment on April 1, 2015. He reviewed the earlier editions and added more words and expressions to the dictionary.

“A dedicated team work was there at all the stages - composing, proofing and printing,” said Ziauddin. He said the Hindko-Urdu dictionary compiled by Sultan Sakoon, Feroz-ul-Lughaat by Maulvi Ferozudin) and Sheraz-ul-Lugahat by Sheraz Tahir had been consulted while preparing the last edition of the Hindko dictionary.

The latest edition of the dictionary also includes write-ups of Prof Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan, Prof Dr Zahoor Ahmad Awan, founding-chairman of Gandhara Hindko Board, Nazeer Bhatti, Aftab Iqbal Bano, National Language Authority Chairman Dr Rauf Parekh and Pakistan Academy of Letters Chairman Dr Muhammad Yousuf Khushk.

Muhammad Ziauddin said Gandhara Hindko Academy would continue work on the next edition of the Hindko-Urdu dictionary by adding more words and expressions to the lexicon.