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Language standards are usually developed either by the native speaker
community (this is a historical, usage-based method) or by professional
linguists, who elaborate norms based on language evolution laws and then offer
them to the speaker community for approval.
In our globalization era, no community can afford to spend decades or centuries
developing usage norms. Unless the Yakut language is seriously upgraded
within the next few years and relevant terms are developed for it with the
help of linguists and sectoral specialists, future generations of native speakers
stand little chance of passing the “relay baton” of their native culture over to
posterity. As a result, the language will lose its clout even in those areas where
its current positions are quite strong.
Yakut-language software. It is necessary to provide software programmers
worldwide with an opportunity to include the Yakut language in their
developments. To make this happen, we should team up with the Unicode
consortium and have the Yakut language and its basic notions introduced
into the Unicode Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR) and repositories
with similar functions.
Relying on that base, a producer of computer/mobile phone software could
independently develop Yakut language support programmes. This would give
to the developer a competitive edge without entailing any additional costs.
There will then be no need to remake already existing software programmes,
creating a special Yakut-language shell for each.
It is necessary to rapidly design a spellchecker for the Yakut language, as
well as a programme for computer-assisted translation of text corpora from
Yakut into major world languages and vice versa. The North-Eastern Federal
University is already working toward that goal. The early results include a
thesis on computer modeling of the Yakut language, completed and defended
in 2005 by V. Migalkin.
Providing Yakut-language content. This problem could be resolved by
engaging public organizations and businesses. One example of a public
organization’s involvement is Wikimedia. Sakha Wikipedia has been living
quite a vibrant life of late, with volunteers contributing encyclopedic articles
on various subject matter. A second, newly-launched project – Sakha
Wikisource – is an e-library with texts in the Yakut language.
The Sakhainternet company offers an example of business involvement. Its
website Ykt.ru – the republic’s most visited these days – switched over to the
Unicode in 2010, making its resources usable for communication in the Sakha
language.
Public organizations and independent businesses launching such projects
should be provided with every kind of support and encouragement.
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