Tir Yimyim, an Ao vernacular daily, has joined efforts to revive the Ao Wikipedia project and has called for volunteers from the Ao community to contribute towards building an online encyclopaedia in the Ao language.
The initiative comes as Tir Yimyim marks 23 years of publication. The newspaper said the project aims to strengthen the presence of the Ao language in the digital space and make the use of the mother tongue more accessible and relevant to younger internet users.
According to Tir Yimyim, an earlier attempt to establish an Ao Wikipedia was initiated by an online user in 2007 but subsequently stalled.
The effort was revived following a proposal by Tsüngrojungla Walling of Sungratsü village, an MPhil research student in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. With the support of Tir Yimyim, Walling has formed a team comprising Imcharenla Longchar, Noktichung B Ozüküm, Repatemsü Jamir and Watisen Aier to work on the project.
The team has identified two main objectives for the initiative — preservation of the Ao language in the digital age and ensuring access to knowledge in the mother tongue.
The Ao Wikipedia is currently being developed through Wikimedia’s Incubator, a testing and development platform for new language editions before they can become full Wikipedia editions. The team said the project will have to fulfil the requirements set for new language Wikipedias before it can be launched as an independent edition.
The team has appealed to Ao speakers, writers and others with knowledge of different subjects to volunteer and contribute articles to the project. Contributions will be required to follow Wikipedia’s standards, including neutrality and impartiality.
The initiative comes amid concerns over the declining use of the Ao language among younger generations, particularly with increased exposure to English and digital media. The team said establishing a stronger digital presence for Ao could help encourage young people to engage with the language while also creating a repository for knowledge relating to Ao history, culture, traditions and contemporary subjects.
It said a functioning Ao Wikipedia could also serve as a free educational resource for students and children, while enabling the Ao community to document its own history and worldview in its own language.
The team has invited volunteers and prospective contributors to join the initiative and contribute towards developing the Ao-language encyclopaedia.
Interested volunteers can contact the team at aowikipedia@gmail.com.