SRINAGAR, INDIA,, January 6, 2024 (The Hindu): For centuries, the Kashmiri language has survived only through oral traditions; by 2013, those who could write the script fell to just five percent. This year, two technological giants, Microsoft and Google, will infuse a new lease of life into the language, whose rich literature continues to remain accessible to only a small section of people. Left out of school curricula for almost half a century, Kashmiri — which is influenced significantly by Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic — had fallen into the category of endangered languages. In a 2013 research paper, scholar and author Maroof Shah said that 95% of literate Kashmiris could not write Kashmiri. Less than five percent could read it fluently, Mr. Shah said, adding, “Fewer are comfortable with the highly Sanskritised or Persianised language of Kashmiri poetry.”

Linguists in the Kashmir Valley are hoping for a turnaround this year, thanks to the giants of Silicon Valley. Microsoft India’s MS Translator software has now included the Kashmiri language. In November 2023, an online campaign was to get Kashmiri included in Google Translate as well; this demand has also been accepted and is likely to be rolled out in the next six months. These moves are likely to benefit 7 million Kashmiri speakers living in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, including those in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

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