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Major breakthrough in Punjabi software

By Sarabjit Pandher

CHANDIGARH, SEPT. 6. A major breakthrough in software engineering is all set to overcome most of the obstacles faced by the Punjabi diaspora while communicating in their native language. While it is yet another step towards the elusive Unicode, the development is expected to make a major contribution in standardisation of publication techniques as well as provide easy answers to series of questions that had so far been answered either by intuition, guess or mind numbing research.

The landmark achievement includes developing a word processor that is quite analogous to Microsoft's Word, efficient system to convert Gurmukhi script into Shahmukhi, special keyboard with unique as well as user-friendly features, first ever Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Gurmukhi, font independent spell checker, English-Punjabi cross dictionaries and text analysis utility.

All these facilities would be provided in one package for the first time, which would open new frontiers in Information Technology and increase usage of computers in the growth and sustenance of Punjabi language, literature and culture. Also a specific programme for online teaching of the basics of the language has been developed for the new generation Punjabis settled in other countries.

While some portions of this landmark software have been developed by the Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi Language, Literature & Culture at the Patiala-based Punjabi University, others are personal achievements of its Director, Gurpreet Singh Lehal. The first version of the software would be released in October this year on the occasion of the World Punjabi Conference, which has been slated in the erstwhile princely State.

The Centre was set up in February this year, to meet the technical requirements required for the survival and promotion of the language, when IT controlled the fields of communication and linguistic competition. It was feared that as technical development was at rudimentary stage, Punjabi faced a grave threat of extinction. The threat was grave due to differences in script as Punjabis in India, Pakistan and western countries used Gurmukhi, Shahmukhi and Roman, which are Devnagri, Persian and Roman derivatives, respectively.

According to Dr. Lehal, the new software would convert a medium sized book written in Gurmukhi to a Shahmukhi script, within a few minutes, while the job took months when done manually. He disclosed that another project is on, which would ensure conversion of Shahmukhi text into Gurmukhi. Once achieved, the software would go a long way in bringing the Punjabi people closer, even though the Indo-Pak border divided them.

Claiming that the first ever Punjabi word processor, which he has christened "Akhar'' (Word), would address most of the problems faced by the computer users in different fields, Dr. Lehal says that the processes were never been as simple. It provides an onscreen keyboard, where keys are laid in alphabetical order along with more than two dozen most occurring words and would support most of the Punjabi fonts used in the existing systems.

The striking achievement is that the keyboard prevents any illegal character combinations, which may crop up while using the "matra''. For non-professional typists and those not familiar with the Gurmukhi script, English to Punjabi transliteration utility has been provided, which would help the next generation Punjabis settled in the western countries. While the user may type the word in Roman, the system would automatically convert it into Gurmukhi as well as into Shahmukhi.

Dr. Lehal points out that for the first time a spell checker has been developed which is font independent, while the default dictionary has 1.5 lakh words in its database. Interestingly, if English words or text are used, the spell checker would shift accordingly to complete the job satisfactorily. Provision has also been made to allow the user to upload customised dictionaries.

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