Toto language

Sept. 30, 2023

Recently, Toto Shabda Sangraha, a dictionary has been compiled to save a language from extinction.

About Toto language:

  • It is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the tribal Toto people and is written in the Bengali script
  • A prominent community member Dhaniram Toto developed a script as recently as in 2015.
  • It is spoken by barely 1,600 people living in parts of West Bengal bordering Bhutan.

Key facts about Toto Shabda Sangraha

  • The dictionary has been compiled by Bhakta Toto, a bank employee-cum-poet, and published jointly by the trust and Bhasha Samsad
  • The dictionary is a step in the direction of preserving the language, alive so far only orally, by putting its vocabulary in print.
  • Toto words, to be translated into Bengali and English, will be composed in the Bengali script, considering that the Toto script is still in a nascent stage and members of the tribe are more familiar with the Bengali script.