Abstract
This article presents a panoramic and critical overview of isiXhosa lexicography and its impact on the intellectualisation of this indigenous South African language. The history of isiXhosa lexicography dates back more than two centuries. However, there still exists a need for dictionaries that serve the language-speaking community as practical tools for addressing diverse communication and learning-oriented needs in the current language policy dispensation. The IsiXhosa National Lexicography Unit (XNLU) is currently working on dictionary projects that attempt to address this situation while at the same time not losing sight of the mandate that the Pan South African National Language Board (PanSALB) placed on all the National Lexicography Units (NLUs). For this to happen, the article argues that the NLU needs to put lexicographic practice into its historical perspective, i.e. conceiving dictionary projects in the light of existing dictionaries and lexicographic traditions in the language. Over and above that, there is a need to take into account the recent developments in lexicographic research, adopt co-operative lexicographic practice and develop a dictionary culture among the isiXhosa-speaking community.
Highlights
This article presents a panoramic overview of isiXhosa lexicography up to the present
This is in addition to the Kafir–English Dictionary (KED), the Oxford English–Xhosa Dictionary (OEXD), and a medium-sized monolingual dictionary, Isichazi-magama SesiXhosa (ISX), and many other dictionaries that are enumerated without detailed discussion in this article
Given that the National Lexicography Units (NLUs) constitute the core of South African lexicography and serve as a testimony of the government's commitment towards lexicography, it should always be borne in mind that they are a vital part of the official language planning efforts in the country
Summary
This article presents a panoramic overview of isiXhosa lexicography up to the present. A strategic approach is required that does not consider the line function of the NLUs as diametrically opposed to periodic and regular publication of other types of dictionaries which address some immediate lexicographic needs in the linguistic community, while contributing to the intellectualisation of a particular language in the long term. For this to happen, practical lexicography needs to catch up with recent theoretical developments in lexicography in order to address some challenges that are faced in the actual compilation of the dictionaries, thereby addressing the needs of isiXhosa speakers and learners in a user-friendly way
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