Affirming a role for specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages
Date
2010
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Bureau of the WAT
Abstract
One of the main problems facing speakers and language practitioners of indigenous African languages is the shortage of appropriate dictionaries for a variety of purposes. This lack results in users consulting any available but inappropriate dictionaries. Quite often, users are disappointed because a wrong dictionary does not normally provide the required assistance. Various functions, which the dictionary may serve, are sought in vain from inappropriate dictionaries and other terminological products. Consequently, the potential of lexicography in general and specialised lexicography in particular, remains unrealised owing to a variety of reasons. This article which mainly discusses the specialised dictionary, draws insights from Wiegand's (1984) general theory of lexicography and the theory of lexicographic functions (Bergenholtz and Tarp 1995, 2003; Tarp 2000, 2002, 2008) to affirm the role of specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages and also to give insights into how such dictionaries may be produced.
Description
CITATION: Nkomo, D. 2010. Affirming a role for specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages. Lexikos, 20:371-389, doi:10.5788/20-0-148.
The original publication is available at http://lexikos.journals.ac.za
The original publication is available at http://lexikos.journals.ac.za
Keywords
, Dictionaries, Lexicography, African languages -- Dictionaries
Citation
Nkomo, D. 2010. Affirming a role for specialised dictionaries in indigenous African languages. Lexikos, 20:371-389, doi:10.5788/20-0-148.