Abstract
Transcending the boundaries of printed lexicographic resources is becoming easier in the digital age, with e-resources facilitating restrictions on the size and type of information that can be included. In this article we explore innovative ways of documenting and preserving African indigenous knowledge, often underrepresented in traditional dictionaries, in an existing digital lexical database. Our approach is based on the extension of the African Wordnet, a lexical database under construction for nine African languages, in this case applied to isiZulu. This article addresses the challenge of consolidating dispersed indigenous knowledge collected from a variety of sources such as conventional dictionaries, interdisciplinary publications and a flat-structured online database, in a digitised hierarchical wordnet structure. A representative sample of traditional domestic utensils in Zulu culture is used to demonstrate the conversion into a set of typical semantic relations in a wordnet structure. By focusing on filling lexical gaps between isiZulu and English as found in the Princeton WordNet, with culturally relevant synsets, the African Wordnet also becomes a useful resource for natural language processing. Finally, it is shown how the hierarchical classification of selected domestic utensils is visually presented in wordnet graphs in the WordnetLoom interface.
Highlights
In an article on large-scale lexicography in the digital age, Fellbaum (2014: 378) states: The Digital Revolution can be fairly said to have shifted the paradigm in lexicology and lexicography
We introduce the African Wordnet (AfWN), a prototypical lexical database consisting of words that are grouped into sets of synonyms called synsets, as framework for the digital documentation and preservation of indigenous or cultural knowledge
Our core contribution is twofold and ties in with envisioned future work: Firstly, we describe a new lexical resource for isiZulu which enhances and supplements lexical knowledge from conventional dictionaries and other interdisciplinary sources, thereby addressing the problem of missing or dispersed indigenous knowledge that might be lost for posterity
Summary
In an article on large-scale lexicography in the digital age, Fellbaum (2014: 378) states: The Digital Revolution can be fairly said to have shifted the paradigm in lexicology and lexicography. The question now is whether any existing frameworks or digital database structures can be utilised effectively in this move to a more digitally accessible lexicographic working base Such a framework would need to offer the capacity to include (digitised) data from printed dictionaries and in addition, be expandable with less frequently used and underrepresented concepts, bringing the traditional into the digital age. Souza et al (2020: 946) stress that the collection of IK in paper archives and more recently in digital databases is imperative in preserving the language, and traditional customs for posterity In this exploratory article we describe a novel application and subsequent expansion of an existing lexical resource for isiZulu which enhances and supplements lexical knowledge from conventional dictionaries and other interdisciplinary sources.
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