Banwang Losu

Banwang Losu is a government schoolteacher in Arunachal Pradesh who gave the Wancho language its own alphabet. The Wancho had spoken their language for generations without a script to write it ^[2]. His work was highlighted in episode 110 of Mann Ki Baat in February 2024 ^[1].

Why a new script

The Wancho are a community of about 56,000 people living in the Patkai hills of Longding district, which was once part of Tirap district ^[2]. Their language is tonal, so one word can mean different things depending on pitch ^[2]. Losu became aware that Wancho had no script while still a school student, during a study of his community ^[2]. When he tried writing it in the Roman alphabet or Devanagari, many of its tones had no equivalent ^[2][4].

Building the alphabet

Losu began work in 2001. With no training in linguistics, it took him about eleven years to settle on a complete script ^[3][4]. It has 44 letters, 15 vowels and 29 consonants, and their shapes are drawn from familiar local forms such as birds, trees, rivers, human postures and traditional tattoos ^[2][4]. Marks over the vowels show tone ^[3]. In 2019 the Wancho script was added to the Unicode standard, so it can be typed and displayed on computers and phones ^[2].

Into the classroom

With the script complete, Losu turned to teaching it. He produced primers, workbooks, alphabet charts and animated films, and month-long workshops trained primary teachers to teach the script ^[2]. Village Square reported that nearly 5,000 children in Longding’s government schools were learning to read and write Wancho, and sitting exams in it ^[2]. Keeping it in the curriculum has been hard: at one point he paid trained teachers from his own pocket while their contracts awaited renewal ^[2].

In Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister noted that Losu had set up a language school and was teaching Wancho to the next generation so it would not be lost ^[1].