'Hindko Sautiyaat', a book on Hindko language phonetics, by a UK-based linguist from Peshawar, Professor Dr Elahi Bakhsh Awan, was launched here on Sunday.
A noted writer, Professor Zahoor Ahmad Awan, chaired the function held at the City University, Peshawar. Professor Dr Ashraf Adeel, who teaches philosophy of education at the Institute of Education and Research, University of Peshawar, was the chief guest.
Other speakers included Professor Khatir Ghaznavi, Professor Dr Sabir Kalorvi, Professor Nasser Ali Syed, Khalid Sultan, Haleem Jan, Ismail Awan, Afzal Chishti, Mushtaq Shabab, Mohammad Ziauddin, Arshad Hussain, Zaffar Naveed Jani, Imran Ahmad and Hidayatullah.
Khatir Ghaznavi, a Hindko poet, said phonetics was a highly technical field and Professor Elahi Bakhsh Awan, Director of Linguistic Academy of Pakistan, UK, had done a great service to Hindko by authoring a book on the subject.
Dr Ashraf Adeel said 'Hindko Sautiyaat' was a scientific and scholarly research on an ancient language spoken along the Indus River which had given birth to several civilisations. He said the book would prove to be an asset to the literary world of Hindko.
Ashraf said that the University of Pennsylvania, USA, had decided to sponsor research on Hindko.
Professor Kalorvi said that phonetics was an important aspect of linguistics and the author of 'Hindko Sautiyaat' had done a painstaking job by touching this side of Hindko.
Dr Zahoor said that Dr Elahi Bakhsh had given a valuable gift to the City of his birth in the shape of 'Hindko Sautiyaat'. He said the publication would lead to the development of a Hindko software which would be no small achievement.
Ziauddin, Secretary for the Gandhara Hindko Board, lamented the lack of official patronage to Hindko.
Dr Elahi Bakhsh in his brief address said that 'Hindko Sautiyaat' was an effort by him for explaining only one aspect of the Hindko language. He said a thorough discussion and critical analysis by literati would better evaluate his work. He promised to give Hindkowans a book on the linguistic history of Hindko and a comprehensive Hindko dictionary on his next visit to Peshawar.