Kannada Folklore Dictionary

Nearly one and a half years of hard work by a team of 20 folklore experts and linguists — including G. Venkatasubbaiah, M.M. Kalburgi, H.J. Lakkappa Gowda, N. Basavaradhya, D. Lingaiah and C. Veeranna — finally bore fruit in the form of a three-volume Kannada folk dictionary. The project was supported by the Kannada Development Authority (KDA). 

Over 430 reference books were consulted and 14 field editors and 34 field assistants visited every part of the State to collect more than two lakh folk words. 

The dictionary, Mr. Sadananda Gowda said, was an invaluable contribution to the cultural spectrum of Karnataka and would go a long way in protecting the Kannada culture. 

The folk dictionary project would be transferred to the Karnataka Janapada University (KJU), which would take up the work of further revising and re-editing it. An allocation of Rs. 7.5 crore made in the budget for the university would help in improving the dictionary, he said. 

Dr. Channabasappa said that work on the dictionary was completed six months before its two-year deadline. “KDA had released Rs. 70 lakh for the work of which the academy utilised only Rs. 42 lakh and returned the balance,” he said. 

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