Khowar-Urdu dictionary launched

Report Zahiruddin, Chitral

Speakers at a ceremony held here on Sunday said that Khowar language and literature could be ranked with other languages of the country because of its rich and varied vocabulary.
The ceremony was held to launch the first-ever Khowar-Urdu dictionary. The speakers said that the compilation and publication of the Khowar dictionary was a landmark achievement.
Those who addressed the ceremony included compiler of the dictionary Naji Khan Naji, former MPA Maulana Jahangir Khan, tehsil nazim Sartaj Ahmed Khan, president of Anjuman Taraqi-i-Khowar M Yousuf Shahazad, intellectuals Mukarram Shah, Moula Nigah and others.
They said that the dictionary contained more than 16,000 words and phrases of Khowar language which had been rendered into the national language. They said that serious efforts by the writers and poets of Khowar were afoot to bring the language at par with the other languages of the country.
The speakers said that the number of publications on Khowar prose and poetry had reached 500 which showed steady progress and advancement of the language. They said that diversity of the subjects used in the language was enough to testify the approach of the Khowar writers.
They said though a good number of words had been replaced by other languages but the dictionary still preserved the essence of the Khowar language.--Dawn