Collocations and Grammatical Patterns in a Multilingual Online Term Bank

This article considers the importance of including various types of collocations in a terminological database, with the aim of making this information available to the user via the user interface. We refer specifically to the inclusion of empirical and phraseological collocations, and information on grammatical patterning. Attention is also given to provision of information on semantic prosody and semantic preferences — aspects which have been rather neglected in South African terminological databanks and language for special purposes (LSP) dictionaries. Various strategies for the effective semi-automatic extraction of collocational data from specialized corpora are explored. Possibilities regarding access to and presentation of collocational information to the user are briefly considered. It is argued that users should have direct access to collocational information, and that collocations should not only be accessible via the lemmatic address of the term appearing as part of the collocation. The research is done within the context of the establishment of an Open Access Resource Term Bank, which is developed as a pedagogical tool to support students whose language of learning and teaching is not the L1.Keywords: Collocations, grammatical patterning, multilingual terminology database, semantic prosody, semantic preference, open access resource term bank, corpus-based terminolog

Afrikataalleksikografie: Gister, vandag en môre

Hierdie artikel het ten doel om 'n perspektief te bied op Afrikataalleksikografie se reaksie op ontwikkelings in die internasionale leksikografiepraktyk met betrekking tot nuwe tendense en veranderinge wat hoofsaaklik deur die elektroniese era teweeg gebring word. Die ont-wikkeling van die Afrikataalleksikografie sal met dié van  hoofsaaklik Engelse papier- en elektro-niese woordeboeke vergelyk word. Drie  tydperke van leksikografiese ontwikkeling word onder-skei. Daar word   geargumenteer dat die algehele prentjie vir die ontwikkeling van Afrikataalleksi-kografie minder gunstig is as dié van Engels en tale soos Duits en Frans. Die fokus is op die beskik-baarheid van woordeboeke, leksikografiese gehalte, die gebruik van nuwe beskikbare rekenaarteg-nologieë en die gebruik van inligtingsbronne van die inligtingsera. Daar word tot die gevolgtrek-king gekom dat die leksikografiepraktyk in die Afrikatale in die meeste gevalle nie tred hou met internasionale ontwikkelings in die leksikografie nie en dat die aantal uitdagings vir dié tale toege-neem het. Ten slotte word 'n aantal stukragte geïdentifiseer wat ten goede kan meewerk om die kwaliteit van Afrikataalwoordeboeke te verbeter. Sleutelwoorde: Afrikataalleksikografie, Afrikataalwoordeboeke, Aan-Lyn  Woordeboeke, Gebruikersperspektief, Inligtingsera, Introspeksie, Korpus-Gebaseerde Leksikografie, Lemmaseleksie, Woordeboekkultuur   

Supplying Syntactic Information in a Quadrilingual Explanatory Dictionary of Chemistry (English, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sepedi): A Preliminary Investigation*

<p>Abstract: In response to a number of recent government publications on the promotion of science and technology training, the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (South African Academy for Science and Art) initiated the compilation of a multilingual explanatory dictionary for chemistry. The need for such a dictionary is especially urgent in learning environments where learners receive tuition through a medium other than their mother tongue. This is particularly relevant for learners whose mother tongue is an African language. Taking into account the target user's fragmented knowledge of the subject field and low second language competence, the planners decided that certain syntactic information should be specified for the isiZulu and Sepedi entries; specifically the part of speech to which a lemma belongs. This poses certain problems for the lexicographer, since the issue of word categorisation is, especially in Sepedi, an unresolved one. A second problem that presents itself to the lexicographer is the lexicographic convention which is used to indicate the word class to which a specific lemma belongs. Abbreviations referring to the parts of speech are normally used for this purpose. No standardised abbreviations for the different parts of speech exist in isiZulu or Sepedi. Principles for the formation of abbreviations have also not been formulated for the official orthographies of these languages. The only solution to this problem is to study existing abbreviations in order to abstract the principles of abbreviation formation. Only then can abbreviations indicating the parts of speech be formulated for use in the dictionary.</p><p>Keywords: SPECIAL FIELD DICTIONARY, CHEMISTRY, ISIZULU, SEPEDI, WORD CATEGORISATION, LEXICOGRAPHICAL CONVENTION, ABBREVIATIONS, MULTILINGUAL DICTIONARY</p><p>Opsomming: Die insluiting van sintaktiese inligting in 'n viertalige verklarendechemiewoordeboek (Engels, Afrikaans, isiZulu, Sepedi): 'n Voorlopigeondersoek. In reaksie op 'n aantal onlangse regeringspublikasies rakende die bevordering vanwetenskap- en tegnologieopleiding, het die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns die inisiatief geneem om 'n viertalige verklarende chemiewoordeboek saam te stel. Die behoefte aan so'n woordeboek is veral dringend in leeromgewings waar leerders onderrig in 'n ander taal as hulmoedertaal ontvang. Dit is veral van toepassing op leerders wat 'n Afrikataal as moedertaal het.Met die teikengebruiker se gefragmenteerde kennis van die studieveld en swak tweedetaalvaardigheidin ag geneem, het die beplanners besluit dat bepaalde sintaktiese inligting ook ten opsigte vandie isiZulu- en Sepedi-inskrywings gespesifiseer moet word; veral die woordklas waartoe 'n lemmabehoort. Dit veroorsaak sekere probleme vir die leksikograaf, aangesien die aangeleentheid vanwoordkategorisering veral in Sepedi, 'n onopgeloste een is. 'n Tweede probleem waarmee die leksikograafgekonfronteer word, is die leksikografiese konvensie wat gebruik word om die woordkategoriewaartoe 'n spesifieke lemma behoort, aan te dui. Afkortings wat na die woordklasse verwys,word normaalweg vir hierdie doel gebruik. In nóg isiZulu, nóg Sepedi bestaan daar egter gestandaardiseerdeafkortings vir die verskillende woordklasse. Geen beginsels vir die vorming vanafkortings is ook nog in die amptelike ortografieë van hierdie tale geformuleer nie. Die enigsteoplossing vir hierdie probleem is om bestaande afkortings te bestudeer ten einde die beginsels virdie vorming van afkortings daaruit te abstraheer. Slegs dan kan afkortings wat die woordklasseaandui, geformuleer word vir gebruik in die woordeboek.</p><p>Sleutelwoorde: SPESIALISWOORDEBOEK, CHEMIE, ISIZULU, SEPEDI, WOORDKATEGORISERING,LEKSIKOGRAFIESE KONVENSIE, AFKORTINGS, VEELTALIGE WOORDEBOEK</p&gt

Corpus-based language teaching: An African language perspective

Abstract: Studies on corpus-based language teaching are notably absent within the South African educational context; more so with regard to the teaching of African languages. This article explores the possibilities offered by the availability of an electronic corpus to enhance language teaching, and more specifically, the teaching of Northern Sotho as a second additional language at first year university level to first-time learners of the language. Particular attention is paid to corpus-based selection and sequencing of learning material, an activity that has hitherto depended on anecdotal evidence and the intuition of the language teacher. A critical evaluation of existing pedagogical material for Northern Sotho reveals that although excellent sources of reference, these works are inadequate for the purpose of teaching Northern Sotho to first-time learners. It is indicated that information gleaned from a corpus provides the language teacher with guidance on both micro and macro level with regard to selection and sequencing of learning content.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2012, 30(3): 377–39

'n Diachroniese perspektief op die identifiserende kopulatief in Bantoe

A diachronic perspective on the identifying copulative in Bantu. Identifying copulative constructions in Bantu can be classified into three broad categories, viz. nominal copulative structures, copulative structures in which invariable copulative prefixes appear as copulas and copulative structures in which copulative verbs function as copulas. In this article the diachronic relation between these three types of identifying copulatives is investigated. It is indicated that nominal copulative structures represent the prototypical copulative structure in Bantu and that it forms the pragmatic starting point from which other copulative constructions developed. It is further indicated that the development of copulative structures forms part of a process of grammaticalisation, according to which discourse structures are reinterpreted as syntactic structures, with accompanying rise of morphological marking strategies. Identifiserende kopulatiewe strukture in Bantoe kan in drie breë kategorieë geklassifiseer word, te wete nominale kopulatiewe strukture, kopulatiewe strukture waarin onveranderlike kopulatiewe prefikse as kopulas verskyn en kopulatiewe strukture waarin kopulatiewe werkwoorde as kopulatiewe elemente funksioneer. In hierdie artikel word die diachroniese verband tussen hierdie drie tipes identifiserende kopulatiewe ondersoek. Daar word aangetoon dat nominale kopulatiewe strukture die prototipiese kopulatiewe struktuur in Bantoe verteenwoordig en dat dit as pragmatiese beginpunt gedien het waaruit ander kopulatiewe strukture ontwikkel het. Daar word verder geargumenteer dat die ontwikkeling van kopulatiewe strukture deel vorm van 'n grammatikaliseringspro-ses waarvolgens diskoersstrukture tot sintaktiese strukture herinterpreteer word, met die gepaardgaande opkoms van morfologiese markeringstrategieë. (S/ern Af Linguistics & Applied Language Stud: 2001 19(1&2): 83-95

Cattle and their colours: A synchronic investigation of cattle colour terminology in Northern Sotho

In Northern Sotho, a separate colour lexicon is distinguished, containing terms which are believed to be used exclusively as colour terms to describe not only the colours, but also the colour patterning found among domestic animals, particularly cattle. According to current literature, the use of these terms is restricted to the description of cattle and/or other domestic animals. This study, which is corpus-based, investigates the metaphorical extension of these terms which widens their descriptive scope to include objects other than cattle. It is furthermore argued that these terms have unique grammatical features, found nowhere else in the grammatical system of Northern Sotho. Lastly, the metaphoric link between these colour and colour-pattern terms and similar sounding words designating other animals, birds or everyday objects is investigated. It is concluded that this particular colour lexicon is of an ambivalent nature: on the one hand it is an indigenous knowledge system which is clearly in decline, mostly due to non linguistic factors, but simultaneously, its ability to be extended to the description of other objects points towards a certain measure of vitality

African Language Dictionaries for Children — A Neglected Genre: Afrikataalwoordeboeke vir kinders — 'n miskende genre

Children's dictionaries are instrumental in establishing a dictionary culture and are the gateway to sustained and informed dictionary use. It is therefore surprising that very little attention is paid to these dictionaries in scholarly research. In this article we reflect on the design of two series of dictionaries and one free-standing dictionary, all presumably aimed at first-time dictionary users, specifically looking at how selected design elements are aligned with the lexicographic needs of the target users. We argue that the conceptualization of children's dictionaries for African-language-speaking children should be a bottom-up process, and that an Afrocentric approach, taking the target user's Frame of Reference as the point of departure, is preferable to a Eurocentric approach, which often leads to a mismatch between conceptual relationships and linguistic form and function in African language dictionaries. Kin-derwoordeboeke speel 'n belangrike rol in die vestiging van 'n woordeboekkultuur en gee toegang tot volgehoue en kundige woordeboekgebruik. Dis is daarom vreemd dat daar min aandag gegee word aan hierdie tipe woordeboeke in akademiese navorsing. In hierdie artikel besin ons oor die ontwerp van twee woordeboekreekse en 'n vrystaande woordeboek, wat almal oënskynlik gemik is op beginnergebruikers van woordeboeke. Ons kyk spesifiek na die belyning van die ontwerp-aspekte van die woordeboeke met die gebruikers se leksikografiese behoeftes. Ons dui aan dat die konseptualisering van kinderwoordeboeke vir sprekers van Afrikatale op grondvlak behoort te begin, en dat 'n Afrosentriese benadering verkieslik is bo 'n Eurosentriese benadering. Laasge-noemde benadering lei dikwels tot 'n mispassing tussen konseptuele verhoudings, en linguistiese vorm en funksie in Afrikataalwoordeboeke

Management and Internal Standardization of Chemistry Terminology: A Northern Sotho Case Study Bestuur en interne standaardisering van chemieterminologie: 'n Noord-Sotho gevallestudie.

&lt;p class="AP"&gt;One of the many implications of the process of language democratization which started post-1994 in South Africa is the empowerment of the previously marginalized South African Bantu languages to become languages of higher functions, i.e. languages of learning and teaching, and also of scientific discourse. This in turn implies the development, consolidation and especially standardization of terminology for each of these languages, and the compilation of LSP dictionaries. This article describes the terminological processing of a technical source text prior to translation, which formed part of the compilation of a &lt;em&gt;Quadrilingual Explanatory Dictionary of Chemistry&lt;/em&gt;. It reports on the model of terminology management that was utilized and explores strategies for the internal standardization of terms in the absence of readily available, standardized chemistry terminology.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;<br>&lt;p&gt;Een van die talle implikasies van die proses van taaldemokratisering wat na 1994 in Suid-Afrika plaasgevind het, is die bemagtiging van die voorheen benadeelde Suid-Afrikaanse Bantoetale om ook tale van hoër funksies te word, dit wil sê tale van onderrig en leer, en ook tale van wetenskaplike diskoers. Dit impliseer die ontwikkeling, konsolidasie en veral standaardisering van terminologie vir elkeen van hierdie tale, asook die saamstel van vakwoordeboeke. Hierdie artikel beskryf die terminologiese prosessering van 'n tegniese teks voor die vertaling daarvan. Die vertaling vorm deel van die samestelling van 'n &lt;em&gt;Viertalige Verklarende Chemiewoordeboek&lt;/em&gt;. Die artikel lewer verslag oor die model van terminologiebestuur wat gebruik is en verken strategieë vir die interne standaardisering van terme in die afwesigheid van algemeen-beskikbare, gestandaardiseerde chemieterme.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt