Abstract
The publication of a dictionary is regarded as the result of a lexicographic process. Three subtypes of a lexicographic process have been noted, namely the primary comprehensive, the secondary comprehensive and the dictionary specific lexicographic processes. In South Africa, the three lexicography processes correspond to the respective mandates of the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), the National Lexicography Units (NLUs) and the editorial teams involved in the compilation of the specific dictionaries. This hierarchical arrangement of the lexicographic practice is supported by the government within the country's national multilingual policy which was lauded in linguistic and lexicographic circles as a triumph for cultural democracy. It is almost a decade since these planned lexicographic processes have been in place. It seems the right time to consider the products of these South African lexicographic processes which are envied by many foreign lexicographers, especially in Africa. Accordingly, the article evaluates these lexicographic processes with special reference to the Tshivenda–English Thalusamaipfi/Dictionary. Specifically, it addresses the question: To what extent does this dictionary represent lexicographic development in the indigenous South African languages which were marginalised before the establishment of the NLUs? A few insights are drawn from modern lexicographic theories for the general improvement of future lexicographic practice in languages with limited lexicographic tools such as Venda. Keywords: Lexicographic Process, Lexicographic Planning, Pansalb, National Lexicography Units, Lexicographic Practice, Metalexicography, Dictionary, Bilingual Dictionary, Macrostructure, Microstructure
Highlights
Gouws and Prinsloo (2005: 9) write: The publication of any dictionary should be the result of the preceding compilation activities but it has to be regarded as the culmination of a much more comprehensive set of activities, the so-called lexicographic process
Albeit along the line function that was determined by Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) for all the National Lexicography Units (NLUs), the Tshivend√a National Lexicography Unit (TNLU) should have taken into account the following in their formulation of the dictionary concept and compilation of the TETD:
Within the theory of lexicographic functions, attention is given to the relations existing between specific groups of users, the problems they encounter in certain situations, their information needs for solving the respective problems, and the kinds of information that may be retrieved from the data types available in a dictionary (Bergenholz and Tarp 1995, 2003; and Tarp 2008)
Summary
Gouws and Prinsloo (2005: 9) write: The publication of any dictionary should be the result of the preceding compilation activities but it has to be regarded as the culmination of a much more comprehensive set of activities, the so-called lexicographic process. Metalexicography has identified the primary, the secondary and the dictionary-specific lexicographic processes as the three subtypes of a lexicographic process (Gouws 2001, 2003; and Gouws and Prinsloo 2005) Since these have been comprehensively discussed in the cited works, this article mainly focuses on the Tshivend√a–English T√halusamaipfi/Dictionary ( TETD) as a product of such processes in South Africa. It is inevitable and necessary for background information to discuss the agents of lexicographic processes in the country. The analysis of the TETD in this article, as well as reference to pre-NLUs and other dictionaries, gives another angle to the entire picture
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