The Lexicographic Treatment of Days in Sepedi, or When Mother-Tongue Intuition Fails*

Abstract

Since May 2001 the Sepedi National Lexicography Unit officially started the actual dictionary-writing of a pioneering Explanatory Sepedi Dictionary (PyaSsaL). The compilation is undertaken within the theoretical framework of Simultaneous Feedback, is fully corpus-based, and follows an onomasiological approach to the Sepedi lexicon. In this article the various compilation aspects are examined and illustrated by means of one onomasiological sub-field, namely the days of the week. It is shown how a balanced combination of mother-tongue intuition, data from existing (bilingual) dictionaries, fieldwork results, corpus queries, and grammarians' conjectures can and should lead to a sound lexicographic treatment.Keywords: SEPEDI NATIONAL LEXICOGRAPHY UNIT (NLU), SIMULTANEOUS FEEDBACK (SF), PRETORIA SEPEDI CORPUS (PSC), ONOMASIOLOGICAL APPROACH, DAYS OF THE WEEK, MOTHER-TONGUE INTUITION, FIELDWORK, QUESTIONNAIRES, INTERVIEWS, GRAMMARIANS' CONJECTURES, NOUN CLASSES, REPETITIVE INSERTED TEXTSKakaretšo: Tshekatsheko ya matšatši polelong ya Sesotho sa Leboa go ya kadinyakwa tša go ngwala Pukuntšu, goba ge dikakanyo tša mmoledi wapolelo ye di sa atlege. Go thoma ka Mei 2001 Yuniti ya Bosetšhaba ya Pukuntšu ya Sesotho saLeboa e thomile semmušo go ngwala Pukuntšutlhaloši ya Sesotho sa Leboa (PyaSsaL). Thulaganyoya yona e laolwa ke teori ya Simultaneous Feedback, e theilwe godimo ga sešegontšu (khophase),gape e latela tsela ya go hlaloša manšu a Sesotho sa Leboa go ya ka direrwa tše di fapanego. Motaodišwaneng ye go tsinkelwa mekgwa ya go fapanafapana ya thulaganyo gape mekgwa yeo ešupetšwa ka karolwana e tee ya direrwa tša PyaSsaL, e lego matšatši a beke. Go bontšhwa ka faotekanelo ya kopanyo ya dikakanyo tša mmoledi wa Sesotho sa Leboa, tshedimošo go tšwa go dipukuntšu(tša malemepedi) tšeo di šetšego di le gona, dipoelo tša nyakišišontle, diphatišišo ka garega sešegontšu, le dikakanyo tša borapopapolelo di ka kgonago ebile di swanetše go fihliša tshekatshekongya kgonthe go ya ka dinyakwa tša go ngwala pukuntšu.Mantšu a bohlokwa: YUNITI YA BOSETŠHABA YA PUKUNTŠU YA SESOTHO SALEBOA (YBP), SIMULTANEOUS FEEDBACK (SF), KHOPHASE YA SESOTHO SA LEBOA YA TSHWANE (KST), DIRERWA, MATŠATŠI A BEKE, KAKANYO YA MMOLEDI WA SESOTHOSA LEBOA, NYAKIŠIŠONTLE, MANANEOPOTŠIŠO, DIPOLEDIŠANO, DIKAKANYO TŠA BORAPOPAPOLELO,MAGORO A MAINA, KHII YA GO TSENYWA KA GO BOELETŠWA