Computing treats non-Latin languages as second-class citizens. Despite efforts, many languages like Urdu remain disproportionately underrepresented on the Internet, in electronic communication, publishing, and software design. The history of Urdu computing in particular is a story of repeatedly compromising linguistic tradition to fit available technology.
The result of this history is an inescapable belief in Pakistan today that English is the language of computing – implying that Urdu will never be sufficient for computing. Of course the reality is that computing is not sufficient for Urdu.
Matnsaz is an initiative to build consumer and developer tools for the Urdu language. These tools are built with the outlook to scale to other languages in the Arabic script. The goal is not just to build software, but to help our audience believe that high quality computing can be experienced in Urdu and built by Urdu speakers. We attempt to build an awareness of culture and history into our technology.
We are committed to open-sourcing large parts of our work.
Matnsaz is operated and distributed by Shanasai LLC.
Designer & Engineer
Zeerak Ahmed
With significant experience at the world’s largest technology companies, Ahmed is a recognized product leader. His work on Matnsaz is a contribution to imagining technology in a non-Western mould. Ahmed is also known for his writing on Pakistani pop music.
Our Supporters
Matnsaz began in the Harvard University Design Engineering program, under the University's Graduate School of Design, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
This work stands on the shoulders of many before us, such as the Unicode Consortium, the Face/Interface conference, & the Center of Language Engineering.
Contributions to Makhzan
Our state-of-the art autocorrection system is built on our open-source Urdu dataset, Maḵẖzan. Generous contributions to the development of Maḵẖzan have been provided by the following individuals and organizations.
Engineering for Makhzan
Waqas Ali Hassan Talat Shaoor Munir Muhammad Haroon
Data Editing for Makhzan
Hamza Safdar Akbar Zaman
Text Contributions to Makhzan
Gurmani Center at LUMS IBC Urdu Al-Mawrid Institute
Additional Support
We are particularly grateful to the following individuals for their support of the Matnsaz project.
Advisors
Krzysztof Gajos Susan Crawford Neil Brenner Shiraz Ali Munir Ahmed Martin Bechtold Woodward Yang
Special Thanks To
Sadiya Ahmed Natasha Noorani Zara Ahmed Muzafar Husain Ateeb Gul Bilal Tanweer Abeera Kamran Tahir Umar Fareed Zaffar Jawad Ahmed Najeeba Arif Awais Athar