C-DAC has a long tradition of releasing cutting-edge tools and technologies with social applications and which can be used by the common man. On the occasion of the C-DAC foundation Day, GIST would like to dedicate to the nation its latest offering: PERSO-ARABIC LANGUAGE SUITE: a complete solution for the Indian languages written in Perso-Arabic. Three official languages of India use the Perso-Arabic script Urdu, Sindhi and Kashmiri. Written from right to left they have a complex writing system inherited from the Semitic script. The speakers of these languages in India number nearly 600 lakhs. The suite will ensure that these languages and their users find their rightful place on the digital platform.
The suite comprises a peace-of-mind solution for computing in Perso-Arabic scripts and contains a basket of applications and tools. TAHREER allows for easy creation of content in these scripts on any UNICODE compliant application, such as office suites, browsers, email client etc. A wide range of ergonomic fonts, pleasing to the eye cater to the different styles be it Nashq or Nastaaliq for the desktop, web as well as the video medium. Fonts for these scripts are designed to meet the cultural perceptions of these languages. On screen Floating Keyboards make data-entry easy. High quality Tughras ( ornamental monograms, seals or signatures ) allow the user to embed them in his or her document.
The suite also contains sophisticated tools which cover the full gamut of needs. Content created needs to be checked and proofed. Imlaa Shanas: the Spell-checker for Urdu provides the answer. A rich dictionary compliant with the spelling norms of Urdu and based on a judicious blend of domains ensures peace of mind solution to proofing text.
One of the major hurdles is accessibility of content for users not familiar with these scripts. Thus a large number of users of Hindi for example would like to see a Ghazal written in Urdu or an Urdu text in their Devanagari script. Up till now this was not accessible. This digital divide between the Brahmi and Perso-Arabic scripts is bridged thanks to Tarjumaah Kaar: a Machine Assisted Translation tool which converts Urdu to Hindi. Carrying this technology further are a set of Transliteration tools available for various language pairs such as Hindi-Urdu, Telugu-Urdu, Kannada-Urdu, Gujarati-Urdu, Bangla-Urdu, English-Urdu and Urdu-English. These can be used in transliterating names for, data entry, printing localised reports and various turnkey e-governance applications such as electoral rolls and national initiatives such as Aadhar.
Our century is that of searching and data-mining. Search Plugins are available for these languages. These enable Search engines to work for example with Urdu data on the web. A wide range of high-end linguistic tools allow the user to search for misspellings, alternate words, synonyms and also intra word grammar, which is not available even in the popular search engines of today. A perfect solution for searching and which is unique in the Perso-Arabic world.
Localisation is a must today and the suite ensures that Perso-Arabic scripts are not left behind. C-DAC GIST offers a Localisation suite to localise existing English applications into local language without changing the source code. The SDK: Software Development Kit and Web-plugins in these scripts provide a peace of mind solution to developing applications as well as web-sites.
True to its motto: Dissolving Language Barriers, C-DAC GIST is proud to present this suite crafted with care and attention.
Contact:
GIST GROUP
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing,
4 th Floor, Westend Centre III, Sector II,
S/No. 169/1, Aundh,
PUNE: 411 007
Phone : +91-20- 2550 3100 Fax+91-20-2588 3194
Email : ajai[at]cdac[dot]in