Science Literature in Indian Languages: A Study of Punjabi Language

Abstract

The context of this paper is to find out the status of science (and technology) literature being published in Indian languages. Science can reach masses only if it’s in their mother tongue. Indian languages are rich repositories of scientific knowledge, although terminologically these have not matched the developments in European languages. The paper focusses on scientific literature in Punjabi language (Gurmukhi script). A descriptive approach is used, followed by brief analysis of the situation. In spite of efforts by various agencies such as the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology, Government of India; the Languages Department, Government of Punjab; Punjab Agricultural University; Punjabi University; and Punjab State Council for Science and Technology; there are only a few publications only on science in Punjabi language from the public sector institutions. Many others, such as leading Punjabi language newspapers regularly carry articles and other information on science. Increasing number of science resources in Punjabi are also being made available on the Internet. A brief list of such resources is provided in the paper along with suggestions for improving the situation.