Meaning discrimination in bilingual Venda dictionaries

M Mafela

doi:10.4314/lex.v15i1.51464

Abstract

Venda, one of the minority languages in South Africa, has few dictionaries. All are translational bilingual dictionaries meant for dictionary users who are non-native speakers of the language. Dictionary users find it difficult to use the bilingual Venda dictionaries because they are confronted with equivalents which they cannot distinguish. In most cases, the equivalents of the entry-words are provided without giving meaning discrimination. Without a good command of Venda and the provision of meaning discrimination, users will find it difficult to make a correct choice of the equivalent for which they are looking. Bilingual Venda dictionaries are therefore not helpful for dictionary users who are non-native speakers of the language. Devices such as giving illustrative examples, indicating parts of speech and adding etymology could be used to solve the problem of meaning discrimination in bilingual Venda dictionaries. This article highlights the problem of the absence of meaning discrimination and suggests solutions to future Venda lexico-graphers in this regard. Keywords: bilingual dictionary, meaning discrimination, equivalence, entry-word, lexicography, culture, translation, source language, tar-get language, synonym, polysemy

Highlights

A bilingual dictionary entails the description of two cultures because it deals with the translation of entry-words from the source language to the target language
When a target language speaker wants to comprehend a foreign language he/she will consult a bilingual dictionary, and when a source language speaker wants to express him-/herself in a foreign language, he/she will consult a bilingual dictionary
Gouws (2000: 102) writes that this problem is a direct result of the traditional approach which sees a bilingual dictionary as a monofunctional product in which the treatment is restricted to the mere listing of a number of translation equivalents

Summary

Introduction

A bilingual dictionary entails the description of two cultures because it deals with the translation of entry-words from the source language to the target language. According to Zgusta (1971: 294), the basic purpose of a bilingual dictionary is to co-ordinate the lexical units of one language with those of another language which are equivalent in lexical meaning In many instances such co-ordinations are accompanied by problems on the part of dictionary users, especially if they are not native speakers of the target language. The objective of this article is to highlight the problem of the absence of meaning discrimination for the equivalents of the entry-words in the target language and the effect this has on dictionary users with reference to bilingual dictionaries in Venda. Suggestions about devices which can help solve this problem will be provided in the concluding remarks of the article

The choice of equivalents and equivalence discrimination

Possible solutions

Conclusion