Roman messages, Punjabi script

Amrita Chaudhry  

Ludhiana, August 18: SENDING e-mails and SMSs in Punjabi will be more fun and much easier, especially for those who do not know how to write in Gurmukhi. This is courtesy a new software by which a message typed in Roman will automatically get converted into Punjabi language.

The software has been developed by Dr Gurpreet Singh Lehal, Director, Advanced Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi Language at Punjabi University, Patiala. Talking to Newsline today, Dr Lehal said a version of the software will available soon on the Internet, for free. Dr Lehal was here to attend a seminar on computer applications at Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College.

Dr Lehal said, ‘‘The software will help many Punjabis in India and abroad, who know how to speak the language, but can’t write in Gurmukhi. They can now type the Punjabi message in English, and our software will make it Gurmukhi.’’

Dr Lehal says it is not possible to convert all the sounds, but the software can achieve a success rate of more than 90 per cent.

Talking about the need of this software, Dr Lehal said, ‘‘The key boards are in English, and we also face the problem of font convertors. Many problems get solved through such software.’’ Dr Lehal has previously developed a software by which the Punjabi written in Pakistan, in Shahmukhi, gets converted to Gurmukhi.