The Beary dialect, spoken by an ethnic Muslim group in parts of Karnataka and Kerala, will have its first dictionary with meanings in Kannada and English in about two months.
The dictionary, with about 20,000 words, will have the original Beary word in Kannada script and an English transliteration. It would be followed by the meaning of the word in Kannada and in English.
The academy plans to bring out 1,000 copies which would be released before May 20. The printing process is on. The dictionary has about 700 pages and its price is yet to be fixed.
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According to B.A. Mohammad Hanif, president, Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy and Chief Editor of the dictionary, Beary-speaking Muslims are mostly in Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Mysuru, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, and in West Asian countries and parts of Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and China. The dictionary would give additional leverage to urge the government to introduce Beary as the third optional language in schools, like Tulu, and bring back into circulation words that are forgotten, Mr. Hanif said.
The editor is B.M. Ichlangod, while the co-editors are Shamshuddin Madikeri and Abdul Rahaman Kuthethoor. They said Beary words like ‘Eekel’ (broomstick), ‘Yaake’ (rope for drying clothes) and ‘Mwaza’ (socks) have disappeared from local conversation now.
In her work ‘Beary Language’, researcher and the late Susheela P. Upadhyaya mentions that there was a belief that Beary had a script known as ‘Batte Baraha’, which is now not in use. Now Kannada script is being used. In another research work ‘Mopilla Malayalam’ the author says that the origin of Beary could be traced to the Tulu dialect.
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