Oxford University Press (OUP), the world’s largest university press, recently announced the launch of the Oxford English-English-Kannada Dictionary at an event hosted in Bangalore. Professor S.G. Siddaramaiah, chairman, Kannada Development Authority, Government of Karnataka, was the chief guest at the launch event.

The dictionary was launched in the presence of Dr Laxminarayan Aurora, former director, Prasaranga Publication, University of Mysore;  Dr C.N. Ramachandran, a well-known author and critic-translator and former professor, Mangalore University; Anita Nair, bestselling English language author and playwright, Prof. B.V. Sridhar, editor of the Oxford English-English-Kannada Dictionary and former deputy director, Prasaranga Publication, University of Mysore, and Paras Bansal, business head, higher education, trade & professional learning, Oxford University Press India.

Speaking on occasion, Venkateswaran said, “We are delighted to come out with our second English-English-Kannada dictionary, following the landmark Oxford Compact English-English-Kannada Dictionary that has a large user base in the region. Our second bilingual dictionary in Kannada, is not only pedagogically more advanced but designed along the contemporary methods of learning and teaching languages, enabling speakers of Kannada to also learn English seamlessly. He added, “OUP’s bilingual learning material including grammar books, have a strong uptake from young learners desirous of improving their career prospects by learning English.” 

The English-English- Kannada Dictionary includes over 52,000 up-to-date entries and related phrases and idioms in English language, with their translations and one-word equivalents in simple Kannada. The dictionary aims to be a formative guide for Kannada language speakers aspiring to learn the English language, and provides a pronunciation guide in both IPA and Kannada. It contains example sentences and a wide range of scientific and technical vocabulary, including over 200 illustrations, synonyms and antonyms in English. It also contains detailed notes in Kannada on English grammar, vocabulary and usage, along with five appendices covering English grammar, prefixes, suffixes, and irregular verbs. 

Prof. Siddaramaiah said, “A dictionary represents the history of a language and is always influenced by new developments and other languages; losing some words and gaining new ones in the process. As the knowledge of the world is always expanding, similarly, a dictionary is an ever growing resource. It is extremely important for the newer generations as it helps make them familiar with words and nuances of the language which might have been long forgotten. Further, compiling a dictionary requires collective effort and a rich exposure to the language as well as various knowledge branches such as medicine, engineering, etc. Oxford University Press India has been carrying out their dictionary work in a scientific manner for multiple regional languages, and I positively believe that the Oxford English-English-Kannada Dictionary will prove to be extremely useful for readers of all ages.” 

Oxford University Press India has been publishing bilingual dictionaries for almost three decades covering 12 Indian languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Assamese, Bengali, Odia, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, and Urdu. These dictionaries are well-respected for their carefully curated and learner-friendly content that has helped millions of learners improve proficiency in the English language, while simultaneously promoting Indian languages.

A department of the University of Oxford, OUP is the world’s largest university press with the widest global presence. Learn more at www.oup.co.in.