Noted scholar and the Chief Editor of monumental linguistic work, The Tulu Lexicon, Uliyar Padmanabha Upadhyaya, passed away near Udupi on Friday night. He was 88 and is survived by a son and a daughter.

Sources said that he passed away at a hospital in Manipal at about 11:30 p.m. on July 17.

His wife Susheela who was also an eminent Tulu scholar and who had compiled The Tulu Lexicon with him had passed away on January 14, 2014 at the age of 77 years.

Mr. Upadhyaya was born in a priestly scholar family on April 10, 1932 at Uliyar in Majur Village near Kaup in Udupi district. His father, Sitaram Upadhyaya was a reputed scholar in the court of the Raja of Travancore.

The Tulu Lexicon, with six volumes, was a major contribution to the linguistics by the Upadhyaya couple. Its first volume was published in 1988 and the last volume in 1997. The Lexicon has been published by Rashtrakavi Govinda Pai Samshodana Kendra at Udupi.

Playwright K. Mahalinga Bhat, Associate Professor in Kannada, St. Aloysius Evening College, Mangaluru told The Hindu that his Tulu lexicon project was a major work in Indian languages. The couple had followed the dictionary science and methodology in compiling it and it is of international standard.

The Upadhyayas did serious research work in linguistics and folk culture and produced a number of books-some of them jointly, some individually and some in collaboration with others, he said.

Some of the significant books and articles of Mr. Upadhyaya included Nanjanagudu Kannada (Vokkaliga Dialect), Coorg Kannada, Kuruba – A Dravidian Language, Kannada – A Phonetic Language, Malayalam Language and Literature (with Ms. Susheela), Effect of Bilingualism on Bidar Kannada, Coimbatore Tamil, Kannada as Spoken by Different Population Groups in Mysore City, Dravidian and Negro African: Ethno Linguistic Study (with Ms. Susheela), Conversational Kannada, Coastal Karnataka and Bhuta Worship: Aspects of a Ritualistic Theatre (with Ms. Susheela).

He had acquired three Post Graduate (MA) degrees in Sanskrit, Kannada and Linguistics from Madras, Kerala and Pune Universities, Vidwan in Hindi and PhD in Linguistics from the Pune University for his thesis titled “A Comparative Study of Kannada Dialects”. He had command over Hindi, Kannada, Tulu, Malayalam, Tamil, English, French and Olof, the language of Senegal in Africa.

He was a visiting Professor at the Universities of London and Paris.

Noted critic Muralidhar Upadhya Hiriyadkka said that in addition to Tulu, the couple had made significant contribution to folklore research.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mangaluru – July 18th, 2020