A major digital documentation effort has secured the linguistic heritage of three critically endangered languages of Assam—Khamyang, Tai Phake and Singpho. The initiative is being implemented by the Nanda Talukdar Foundation with support from the All Assam Students’ Union.
The digital preservation has been carried out under the ‘Endangered Language Programme’ (ELP), aimed at preventing vulnerable languages from vanishing altogether. Sponsored by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the programme focuses on digitising manuscripts, vocabulary, oral traditions and visual records to preserve these languages for future generations.
Key outputs of the project
- Tai Phake: 262 manuscripts, nearly 20,000 digitised pages.
- Singpho: Old printed texts plus 350+ recorded speech units.
- Khamyang: 12 manuscripts, 650 pages, and a basic audio vocabulary archive.
- Hundreds of photographs capturing rituals, traditions and daily life, ensuring cultural context alongside language.
In addition, visual archives of rituals, traditional knowledge and community life were developed to ensure a holistic cultural record, following UNESCO-recommended standards.
