The National Council of Khmer Language (NCKL) at the Royal Academy of Cambodia on November 1 launched the online Khmer dictionary software on App Store and Play Store to make it easier for people to access the Khmer language in the digital age.
NCKL president Hean Sokhom said the only dictionary, named Lexicon KH on the two platforms, has gone through many stages.
“NCKL is also proud to participate in the development of the Khmer language through digitalisation to be in line with the era, such as building Khmer language data for future dictionaries, as well as the creation of software for disseminating vocabulary we have created over the years,” he said.
“However, there are also some shortcomings due to limited human and financial resources, so the speed in the formation of new words cannot keep up with scientific and technical advances.”
NCKL vice-president Sorn Pov said the council has achieved many results, including the implementation of technical dictionaries, glossaries, Khmer grammar books, creating word data in the Khmer dictionary, software development and Khmer language correction, among others.
Pov said the print version is still limited, prompting the council to have an online version in order to disseminate the glossary more widely. NCKL has selected 3,766 definitions for this online dictionary.
“We have spent 11 months developing the software, in addition to the technical review by various relevant committees and public and private institutions regarding the use of the Khmer language.
“NCKL has performed historical work in two frameworks assigned by the head of the government: preparation of a national policy on the Khmer language and development of the Khmer language dictionary,” he said.
Chhit Vannrith, an NCKL member, pointed out that digital technology has spread into everyone’s life, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is becoming more and more advanced, with learning and meetings taking place online.
“We had a print version, but it’s so difficult to find each word. So digitalisation is a way to make it easier for the general public to use,” he said.
According to Vannarith, people can access the software on the website rac-app.com/keadic.
