Oxford University Press (OUP) announced the launch of a trilingual Sanskrit-Hindi-English dictionary on Friday, aimed at making Sanskrit accessible to learners worldwide.
This initiative aligns with OUP's mission to enhance knowledge and education in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, while expanding its bilingual dictionary offerings in India to a total of 13 languages, including 9 classical ones.
The new dictionary adds Sanskrit to OUP's existing dictionary portfolio, which includes Bengali, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Urdu, and Hindi.
"Oxford University Press is committed to preserving and enriching languages, promoting global linguistic diversity and knowledge sharing. This trilingual dictionary marks a key achievement in our efforts to support language learning and cultural heritage," stated Sumanta Datta, Managing Director of OUP India.
He added, "It will serve as a valuable tool for students beginning their Sanskrit studies, aligning with NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 guidelines."
The dictionary was developed in partnership with Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthanam (UPSS) and features over 25,000 carefully selected words designed to help learners become proficient in standard Sanskrit within a decade.
OUP also announced the release of three additional dictionaries: a Compact English-English-Urdu Dictionary, a Mini Hindi-English Dictionary, and an English-Hindi Dictionary.
Earlier this year, OUP introduced the English-English-Assamese Dictionary and the Mini English-Bengali Dictionary.
Sanskrit was designated as a 'Classical' language in 2005. Linguists have suggested that Sanskrit and several European languages share a common ancestor known as Proto-Indo-European, believed to have been spoken thousands of years ago, influencing numerous language families across continents.
The connections between Sanskrit and European languages also shed light on migration patterns, cultural interactions, and the evolution of languages over the ages.