A dictionary binding N-E people across globe

“It is not a regular dictionary approved by any university or a pundit of linguistics. It is a modern concept aimed at demolishing the man-made language barrier and thereby fuelling mutual understanding and co-operation among people from all over Northeast India,” says the vision statement of Xobdo which is written phonetically and means ‘Word’ in Assamese.

It attempts to capture languages as they are used, whether spoken, written or understood, across the Northeastern region, points out Buljit Buragohain, a research scholar at IIT, Guwahati, who is part of the team to popularise the online dictionary. Xobdo does not follow any specific dictionary or glossary published by any authority. “We are more interested in inclusion of words in everyday use,” says Buragohain, adding that a large number of words are being picked up and added everyday from well-known newspapers, magazines and works by well-known authors.

Thus, anybody can contribute a word along with its meaning to Xobdo. It is then put through a discussion among members of the Xobdo core team comprising 25 members who work on it online from different parts of the world. Leading the team is Bikram M Baruah, a petroleum engineer at Abu Dhabi.