Language activist Rita Lasimbang said the dictionary was added to the Webonary site which houses dictionaries and grammars of minor languages of the world.

She said the effort ensures that the 22,627-word dictionary, begun in the 1980s by Finnish researchers Richard and Kielo Brewis, remains accessible to future generations.

The online dictionary was launched at the Malaysian indigenous people’s conference on education in Penampang, Sabah on Dec 13.

She said the dictionary was the result of decades of sustained efforts to document and safeguard the language, Daily Express reported.

A printed Timugon Murut-Malay dictionary was published in 2004, with RM100,000 in funding from local supporters and the Finnish embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Timugon Murut language is among the Muritic family of languages and is currently estimated to have less than 10,000 users, most of whom live in Sabah.