Abstract
Affirming a Role for Specialised Dictionaries in Indigenous African Languages
Highlights
Over the last four decades, at least two factors have had a huge impact on practical lexicography on a global level
Minimal is the assistance provided by the end products. This only vindicates those scholars who argue that the distinction between terminology development/terminography on one hand and LSP lexicography on the other is of no practical use, because a large area of confluence exists between them (Bergenholtz and Nielsen 2006: 282-285, Fuertes-Olivera and ArribasBaño 2008: 8, Tarp 2000: 190)
LSP lexicography in the African languages has involved a great deal of termcreation as can be illustrated by the compilation of the Shona biomedical terms dictionary, the Shona linguistic and literary terms dictionary, and the Shona and Ndebele music terms dictionary in Zimbabwe, as well as the production of Isichazi-magama seziBalo Sezikolo in South Africa
Summary
Over the last four decades, at least two factors have had a huge impact on practical lexicography on a global level. The first two questions raise methodological concerns, implying that without effective strategies, LSP lexicography in indigenous African languages is doomed to fail or result in the production of substandard lexicographic products. To this extent these concerns are genuine. Drawing insights from the theory of lexicographic functions (Bergenholtz and Tarp 1995, 2003; Tarp 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010), this article seeks to demonstrate that LSP dictionaries in indigenous African languages can play a very significant role in the teaching and practice of various subject fields in which English is currently the main medium of communication. In this article, the role of LSP dictionaries is seen as a collective of lexicographic functions, which the dictionaries may serve, thereby affirming their relevance
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