Oxford Calls For Entries For The First Ever ‘Hindi Word Of The Year’

Starting this year, Oxford Dictionaries will feature a Hindi word of the year.

The Hindi word of the year will be a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest this year. The chosen word should reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the year. It is not necessarily a new word, but should be one that is strongly linked somehow to 2017.

This year’s word of the year will be announced in January 2018.

Oxford Dictionaries has called on Hindi speakers across the country to help choose the word. Submissions need to be made before 29 November.

Following public suggestions, the word will be chosen by the Hindi Dictionaries team at the Oxford University Press (OUP) along with an advisory panel of language experts who will each bring a unique perspective.

The panel includes writer-publisher Namita Gokhle, Indian language expert Kritika Agrawal, journalist Saurabh Dwivedi, senior editorial manager at OUP India Malika Ghosh, and Ranchi University associate professor Poonam Nigam Sahay.

Kritika Agrawal, language champion for Oxford's Hindi Living Dictionary, says that the Hindi word of the year is a big leap forward for the Hindi language as it aims to highlight the social and cultural relevance of Hindi in the current context.

Oxford says it has been creating dictionaries for over 150 years and its dictionary editors in India and around the world have developed expertise in monitoring how a language is used by real people.

"To further supplement our research we're both calling on Hindi speakers across India to send us their word of the year suggestions and consulting with a panel of experts from a range of backgrounds," it says. PTI