Lemmatization of reflexives in Northern Sotho

The aim of this article is to evaluate current strategies in the lemmatization of reflexives in Northern Sotho. In particular the so-called "traditional" approach according to which reflexives are lemmatized randomly, as well as the more "rule orientated" alternative, will be critically evaluated mainly against the background of principles such as user friendliness, avoidance/tolerance of redundancy, constant application of rules versus ad hoc decisions, and practical versus linguistic/scientific considerations. The scope is furthermore narrowed down to learners' dictionaries with the target user defined as a mother tongue speaker of English or Afrikaans who studies Northern Sotho. Special attention is given to those cases where sound changes and or semantic shift occur in the formation of the reflexive. The importance or relevance of the category "reflexives", the scope, nature and amount of sound changes, and the viability of an in-depth frequency study on reflexives will be determined from the output of a recently conducted frequency study on 15 randomly selected Northern Sotho books and magazines. It will be concluded that due to serious shortcomings in both the traditional and rule-orientated approaches, reflexives should be lemmatized on the basis of frequency of use, which in turn will require extended studies on considerably enlarged data corpora.Keywords: lemmatization, reflexives, lexicography, northern sotho, word frequency study, user friendly, practical dictionaries, learners' dictionaries, rule-oriented approach, ad hoc decision

The Lemmatisation of adverbs in northern Sotho

To date Northern Sotho metalexicographers have focused their attention on lemma-tisation problems in respect of the so-called main or primary part of speech categories, viz. nouns and verbs. See, for example, Prinsloo and De Schryver (1999) and Prinsloo and Gouws (1996). No attention has been given to the lemmatisation of adverbs. The latter are regarded by Ziervogel and Mokgokong (1975: 114, Introduction) as a "secondary part of speech". The treatment of adverbs in Northern Sotho dictionaries is marred by inconsistencies such as omissions from the macrostruc-ture, insufficient and inconsistent labelling, inferior treatment in the microstructure, under-utiliza-tion of the mediostructure and outer texts, and reflects a lack of a strategy of selection of items for lemmatisation. Linguistic descriptions of adverbs in currently available grammars vary substan-tially and therefore confuse learners of the language and inexperienced lexicographers1. The aim of this article is to offer solutions to the lemmatisation problems regarding adverbs in Northern Sotho and to propose guiding entries for paper and electronic dictionaries which could serve as models for future dictionaries. The treatment of adverbs in Northern Sotho dictionaries will also be criti-cally evaluated, especially in terms of frequency of use and target users' needs. Keywords: lexicography, lemmatisation, adverbs, information retriev-al, electronic dictionary, macrostructure, microstructure, cross-refer-encing, mediostructure, dictionary, african languages, back matter, northern soth

A critical analysis of multilingual dictionaries

This article evaluates the lexicographic value of multilingual dictionaries. Dictionaries covering three or more languages spoken in South Africa are taken as a case in point. An attempt will be made to reflect on their merits and shortcomings as reference works and learning tools but the focus will be on presumed shortcomings in the macro and micro structures of such dictionaries with special attention to the lemmatisation of common words, quality of the dictionary articles and consistency in presentation.Keywords: Multilingual dictionaries, Macro structure, Micro structure, African languages, Thematic ordering, Alphabetic orderin

Lemmatisation of adjectives in Sepedi

One of the great challenges to compiling better dictionaries for the African languages is to develop sound strategies and procedures for planning the structure of the dictionaries. In this regard all the structural components of a dictionary, including the macrostructure, microstructure, mediostructure and access structure, come into play. Most dictionaries for African languages, including Sepedi dictionaries, fail even at this level. In this article the planning of especially the macrostructure in respect of one lexical category which has been unsatisfactorily treated in Sepedi dictionaries, namely the adjective, will be attempted. Secondly the lemmatisation of adjectives in six Sepedi dictionaries will be critically evaluated. This will be done with the emphasis on various metalexicographical aspects.Keywords: lemmatisation; adjectives; sepedi; macrostructure; user-perspectiv

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   

Cross-referencing as a lexicographic device

The mediostructure, that is the system of cross-referencing, is a lexicographic device that can be used to establish relations among different components of a dictionary. This paper focuses on different mediostructural strategies and their practical application in general synchronic dictionaries. The structure of dictionaries is discussed from a metalexicographic perspective in order to explain the system of cross-referencing. It is shown how textual cohesion, achieved by the interaction of the various structural components, is promoted by the use of a system of cross-referencing and improved by an innovative approach towards a mediostructure-orientated lexicography. Keywords: cross-referencing; mediostructure; lexicography; dictionary; metalexicography; reference entry; reference relation; reference address; african language

Direct user guidance in e-dictionaries for text production and text reception — The verbal relative in Sepedi as a case study

This article introduces a prototype of a writing (and learning) assistant for verbal relative clauses of the African language Sepedi, accessible from within a dictionary or from a word processor. It is an example of how a user support tool for complicated grammatical structures in a scarcely resourced language can be compiled. We describe a dynamic light-weight tool aimed at combining user-knowledge with text production support, i.e., user-involved interactive text pro-duction of the complicated verbal relative in Sepedi. In this article, the focus is on access in a dic-tionary use situation. Although the tool is intended as a writing assistant to support users in text production; it also satisfies text reception and cognitive needs, but its focus is on solving text pro-duction issues related with the interaction between lexical items and complex grammatical structures in the African (Bantu) languages and for learning by users and/or training users in this interaction.Keywords:Writing Tools, User-Guidance, User Support, Text Production, E-Dictionaries, African Languages, Sepedi, Complex Grammatical Struc Tures, Relative Constructio

Review of WordSmith Tools

National Foreign Language Resource Cente

A writing assistant en route to a full computational grammar for Sepedi

A detailed user study and observations by lecturers indicate that the correct compilation of sentences in the eight verbal moods as well as for a number of similar grammatically complicated constructions in Sepedi poses a challenge in any text production situation. Feedback from target users indicated that there is a need for a computational writing assistant for the compilation and verification of correct  constructions. To address this need, an extended computational sentence builder for verbal moods, adjectives and possessive  constructions in Sepedi was designed and built to assist in text production and to serve as a model for other African languages. This article introduces a prototype of such an extended computational sentence builder for verbal moods, adjectives and possessive constructions in Sepedi. The emphasis throughout is on the grammatical complexity of Sepedi and how the Sepedi Helper can assist users to produce correct sentences. In contrast to typical traditional grammars of Sepedi, the tool also provides the required cognitive information through basic clickable help screens. The Sepedi Helper is a dynamic lightweight tool aimed at combining user knowledge with a text production tool, i.e. user-involved, step-by-step production of Sepedi phrases. The emphasis in the design is on simplicity

Lexicographic Treatment of Negation in Sepedi Paper Dictionaries: Leksikografiese bewerking van negatiefvorming in Sepedi papierwoordeboeke.

Negation in Sepedi is a complex matter — a variety of negative morphemes are used across complicated verbal and copulative structures and these morphemes are not interchangeable. Dictionary users in a text production situation need to be guided to the correct compilation of negative constructions. In most cases negative morphemes are not lemmatised in Sepedi paper dictionaries or if they are, the lexicographic treatment is inadequate. This paper provides an inventory of negation from which an abstraction of the negative morphemes is given. This is followed by a critical evaluation of Sepedi dictionaries and suggested model entries for lexicographic treatment of negative morphemes. Negatiefvorming in Sepedi is kompleks — 'n verskeidenheid negatiewe morfeme word in ingewikkelde verbale en kopulatiewe strukture gebruik, en hierdie morfeme is nie uitruilbaar nie. Woordeboekgebruikers in 'n teksproduksiesituasie moet gelei word om nega-tiewe konstruksies korrek te kan saamstel. In die meeste gevalle word negatiewe morfeme nie in Sepedi-papierwoordeboeke gelemmatiseer nie, of is die leksikografiese behandeling daarvan onvoldoende. Hierdie artikel bevat 'n inventaris van negatiefvorming waaruit 'n abstraksie van die negatiewe morfeme gegee word. Dit word gevolg deur 'n kritiese evaluering van Sepedi woorde-boeke en voorgestelde modelinskrywings vir leksikografiese behandeling van negatiewe morfeme