Nepal Academy has launched the Nepali Brihat Shabdakosh app, which is an important printed reference in the world on Nepali Literature. It is a comprehensive dictionary comprising around 60,000 Nepali heading words. We also believe that it comprises almost all the words used in the Nepali language. The first edition of the dictionary was published in 2040 B.S. (1983 AD) and has been revised numerous times throughout the years. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oil launched the digital version of the dictionary on the 14th of July 2020 in the form of a mobile app.
The app is formulated by the Nepal Academy (Nepal Pragya Pratisthan) as it is the sole publisher of the Shabdakosh since 2040 B.S. Nepal Pragya Pratisthan is a national institution established to promote language, literature, culture, philosophy, and social sciences of the country. The academy commissions research and coordinates national and international activities to promote the development of cultural and intellectual endeavors. Nepal Pragya Pratisthan has been furthering various academic prospects, the revision of the Shabdakosh, and the establishment of the app is a part of this academic prospect. They have further planned to release even more versions of the shabdakosh in the different regional dialects of Nepal. According to the Pratisthan, as of Chaitra 2076 B.S. over sixty thousand copies of the Brihat Shabdakosh had been sold and there is an increasing demand for the same. Due to this demand, both from within the nation as well as foreign nations, the publisher decided to convert the physical copy into a digital copy and hence the app was conceived.
The app description states: “Nepali Brihat Shabdakosh, by Nepal Academy (Nepal Pragya Pratisthan), is the official dictionary for Nepali language and is widely considered an important printed document. It is used by Nepali language all over the world. However, with the advent of mobile technologies, readers are shifting towards accessing most of their information right from their mobile phones. This has resulted in an overwhelming number of requests from the readers for an official app for Nepal Brihat Shabdakosh. Understanding the need to shift to an app-based dictionary for the growth of the dictionary and acknowledging its improved accessibility for readers, Nepal Academy, in technical support of Naya, has created this app “
The app was released on the 14th of July 2020, and as of today (17th July 2020) it has been downloaded over 10,000 times. There has been an overwhelming review from the with the average review rating of the app being 4.7/5.0. Here are some reviews we found in the play store:
“The long-awaited official app will be useful for Nepali language lovers. I wanted to give five stars but the font display size is too big. Must be suitable for reading according to screen size. Also, if there was a facility to translate Nepali-English, English-Nepali, the Nepali language would be more ubiquitous and would be further supported in its propagation.“
“One of the easiest, great, simple, and very useful app ever made for the Nepali dictionary. Best wishes. Hope it will add more features in the near future. Small clip art or graphic is more for understandable, pronunciation is added, would be for voice-hearing. Awesome! APP to let new generations keep our language, history, and culture.“
“Thank you for this long-awaited application! Please add some more features like the guidance to new rules of Nepali languages such as where to write sworbarna, rasa, dirgha formula, foreign words, general rules on punctuation etc.“
“Thank you, waited since long.“
You can download the application on Google Play Store
