Optimising Data Utilisation in Lexicography: The Case of the Khoekhoegowab Dictionary

Despite of rapid progress in Southern Africa in the direction of multifunctionality of lexical databases through the advent of generic lexicographic software, a considerable number of lexicographic projects — especially in Khoe and Saan languages — still use or have recently used a word processor with the sole objective of compiling a printed dictionary. Hence the present paper expounds on the case of the Khoekhoegowab Dictionary Project, how in the early 1990s some off-theshelf DOS-based database software was configured as part of a "home-grown" custom-made dictionary writing system. It is demonstrated in a non-technical way that the use of a structured database with fully-fledged retrieval facilities allows for the far-reaching elimination of human error in a dictionary, for the automatisation of processes like language reversal and sorting, and, finally, for the significantly enhanced usability of the data for purposes other than fixed media dictionary compilation. Compiling a dictionary without extensive query facilities as offered by tabular databases, is argued to be a lost opportunity, as it should be possible to utilise lexicographic data for more than just lexicography. By 2010 the data was accommodated in open source software to ensure its optimal survival in digital form for future use. Keywords: Automatisation, Compilation Software, Data Retrieval, Database Configuration, Database Report, Flat-File Database, Form, Information Generation, Khoekhoe, Khoesaan Dictionaries, Lexicography, Lookup Facilities, Multifunctionality, Query Facilities, Retrieval Facilities, Software, Tone

Lexical borrowing by Khoekhoegowab from Cape Dutch and Afrikaans

The present article instantiates types of lexical borrowing from Afrikaans and Dutch in Namibian  Khoekhoegowab (also known as “Nama”/“Damara”), but occasionally also refers to borrowings in the opposite   direction. Where evidence allows, loans are traced back beyond Afrikaans to the era of Cape Dutch and   contemporary interethnic contacts. Various categories ranging from adoptions to phonologically integrated   loans, hybrids and calques are presented and, where possible, historical inferences are offered. The high   degree of translational equivalence between Khoekhoe serial verbs and Afrikaans compound verbs leads to the consideration of some grammatical aspects including replication and relexification. Finally, reference is made to a parallel between Afrikaans and “Khoekhoe Afrikaans” syntax pointed out by den Besten (2013): Afrikaans circumlocutions like ek / sy wat Anna is (Khoekhoe: Anna.ta / Anna.s) are literal equivalents of the underlying phrasal structures of Khoekhoe surface nouns #STEM.PGN# in first, second or third person, as accounted for by the “desentential hypothesis” (Haacke 2006).Keywords: kinship terms, phonological nativisation, epenthesis, hybrids, calque