Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages

Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL)

The Ministry of Education (erstwhile Ministry of Human Resource Development), Government of India, instituted the Scheme for Protection and Preservation of Endangered Languages (SPPEL) at the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysuru in 2013 with an aim of preserving and documenting the endangered & lesser-known languages that are at the verge of extinction in India. The objective of SPPEL is to produce grammatical sketch, bi-lingual/trilingual dictionaries (print and electronic formats), pictorial glossaries and ethno-linguistic profile of the community. It plays a major role in building the resources and training the manpower in language documentation and digital archiving of endangered languages. Besides, it also acts as a platform for academic deliberations on language endangerment and language documentation involving both the community members, language enthusiasts and linguists.

The documentation of 117 languages is identified in the Phase I. For research and administrative convenience, the languages identified by SPPEL are divided into six zones: North Eastern Zone, East Central Zone, West Central Zone, Southern Zone, Northern Zone and The Andamanese. SPPEL has collaborated with various universities and institutes across India involving linguists, folklorists, and language archivists for furthering this mission.