Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Sep 9: Despite the Tulu language not being recognized as an official language of Karnataka nor included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, the Tulu script has achieved a significant milestone by being added to Unicode.

This is a proud moment for Tuluvas, following the inclusion of the Tulu language in Google Translate and the launch of Tulu Wikipedia. Tulu is now part of the 16th edition of Unicode, with 80 alphabets included.

With the Tulu script available on Unicode, various technologies like Natural Language Processing, Text-to-Speech, Speech-to-Text, and Artificial Intelligence can now be implemented. As Google already provides English-to-Tulu translation, more possibilities are expected to arise through Unicode in the coming days.

Tulu Wikipedia began on August 6, 2016, and in 2017, the Tulu Sahitya Academy formed a committee to finalize the Tulu alphabets, with IT expert U B Pavanaja providing technical advice. A separate proposal for the Tigalari script was also submitted, and after discussions, the Tulu-Tigalari script was added to Unicode.

IT expert U B Pavanaja shared, "In 2001, during my attendance at the Unicode Consortium, I helped correct the Kannada language on Unicode and appealed to include Tulu. They reserved space for Tulu and asked for a submission on how the Unicode Tulu script should look."

He further explained that while the Unicode version of the Tulu-Tigalari script has minor differences from the Tulu Sahitya Academy's proposal, most letters are included. However, one important vowel and Tulu numerals are missing. Some additional symbols needed to write Sanskrit in Tulu have also been included, although they aren't necessary for the Tulu language itself.

"A keyboard software, an open-type font with Unicode symbols for Tulu, and a tool to convert existing Kannada data to Tulu Unicode are urgently needed," Pavanaja added. He urged the Tulu Sahitya Academy or the Tulu Studies Department at Mangalore University to prioritize these developments.

Tharanath Gatty Kapikad, president of the Tulu Sahitya Academy, hailed the recognition of Tulu script by Unicode as the fulfillment of a long-standing dream for the Academy and all Tuluvas.

He also acknowledged the contributions of experts including K P Rao, U B Pavanaja, Vaishnavi Murthy, S A Krishnaiah, Radhakrishna Belluru, Bhaskar Sherigar, S R Vignaraj, and Akash Raj in making this achievement possible.