Bhubaneswar: In a breakthrough, Google added Ol Chiki script, the official writing system for the Santali language, to Google Translate, marking a significant milestone for the Santalispeaking community. The inclusion of Santali comes after sustained efforts since 2019 by a group of dedicated digital activists, including R Ashwani Banjan Murmu, Ramjit Tudu, Prasant Hembram, Fagu Baskey, Samu Tudu, Bijendra Hansda, Premchand Murmu, Bodi Baski, Aryan Murmu, Maino Tudu, Durga Soren, and many other independent volunteers.
The addition of Santali language to Google Translate is seen as a crucial step towards expanding digital content for the marginalised language, which is spoken by millions but often under-represented on digital platforms. With its inclusion, Santali speakers will now have a valuable tool to access and share information in their native language, contributing to the preservation and growth of their cultural heritage. “In June, Santali language was added with Latin script by Google. Now, it is added with Ol Chiki Script after we raised the issue,” said Ashwani Murmu, an activist. Members of the Santali community have expressed their joy and pride in this achievement, as it paves the way for increased visibility and digital representation. Many hope this will lead to further inclusion of indigenous languages on global platforms.
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Alongside Santali, Google’s latest update also includes several other languages such as Inuktitut (Latin and Syllabics), Crimean Tatars (Latin script), Tshiluba, and French (Canada), expanding the diversity of languages available at the translation service. This move further solidifies Google’s commitment to promoting linguistic diversity and inclusivity across its platforms. Santali is written using several scripts including Bengali, Devanagari, Odia, Latin, and Ol Chiki. The newest of these scripts, Ol Chiki was developed between 1920–1940 by Pandit Raghunath Murmu to create a writing system that met all the orthographical needs of the Santali language and could unify its literature under one script. The Ol Chiki script has 30 letters, out of which six are vowels and the remaining 24 are consonants, along with six diacritics. There are about 894,764 Santali speakers in the state, and they are mainly concentrated in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore, and Sundargarh districts.