Journalists, writers, communicators and others who make use of the Kannada language now have a reason to cheer. “Padanidhi”, a thesaurus in Kannada, which was released recently, provides flexibility in the use of Kannada language.

The thesaurus has been compiled and produced by Fr Prashant Madtha, SJ, a Jesuit priest and the principal of St Joseph's Evening College.

“I got the idea of a Kannada thesaurus as early as 1986, when I was teaching Kannada at St Aloysius College in Mangalore. The project was shelved after I became the principal of the college. However, I restarted it in 2004. I did not pursue any grant or outside support and did it on my own,” says Fr Madtha.

There have been attempts at writing thesaurus before, like the 150-page thesaurus in alphabetical order by one Hanasogi, but “Padanidhi” is a huge volume in six main conceptual categories and 886 sub-categories, encompassing Kannada in all its colloquial styles and evolutionary stages right from the time of Pampa. There is no term in Kannada for thesaurus and the word “Padanidhi” was coined by Fr Madtha.

The editor has used the conceptual method, the method followed by Roget's Thesaurus in English, instead of using the alphabetical order.

Six classes of categories are elaborated - abstract relations; space; material world; intellect; volition; sentient and moral powers. Within these broad classifications, there are numerous subdivisions, with the subdivisions further subdivided.

Along with the main index to help readers to find the signification they are looking for, there is also a copious alphabetical index of familiar Kannada words.

More than 16,000 words are given synonyms in this dictionary. With the synonyms one finds relevant idioms and sayings alongside a particular concept. The words are collected from about 70 Kannada dictionaries. For easy reference, a long list, running into several pages in alphabetical order, of more familiar Kannada words has been presented.

The author has presented a scholarly introduction, narrating the history of Sanskrit, Kannada and English dictionaries of synonyms and a philosophical discussion on the synonymity itself.

The Editor

The Editor, Fr Prashant Madtha SJ, was a professor in Kannada for more than 25 years at St Aloysius College, Mangalore and administered the same college as its principal for ten years. At present, he is the principal of St Joseph's Evening College, Bangalore. He is a prolific writer in Kannada, Konkani and English.

He has authored the book 'On Eagle's Wings' in English, a lucid narration of 125 years’ history of St Aloysius College, Mangalore. His translation of the two mystical books of 16th century - 'The Imitation of Christ' and ‘The Cloud of Unknowing' - has been appreciated by Kannada poet, late Dr V K Gokak. His book on child labour has been translated into Hindi.

He is also a popular Konkani writer and the collection of his Konkani articles have been published in two volumes. He has also edited a huge volume of 10,000 Konkani idioms.

When he was the principal of St Aloysius College, he introduced Konkani as the subject in the college, the first and the only institution in Karnataka which taught Konkani where exams were conducted by the Mangalore University.

For details, contact - St Joseph's Evening College, 35, Museum Road, Bangalore - 25; Ph : 080- 22211911, 22297274, 9886064560.