Considering a lexicographic plan for Gabon within the Gabonese language landscape

This article raises a number of questions that should be dealt with in drawing up a lexicographic plan for Gabon. For which of the Gabonese languages should lexicographic units be established? This question entrains the issue of inventorying the Gabonese languages and their standardization as well as the issue of language planning for Gabon. What is the status of those foreign languages widely spoken in Gabon? What about French? Should Gabon keep importing its French dictionaries from France, or should the Gabonese compile their own French dictionaries, including French words and expressions exclusively used in Gabon? Finally, after trying to answer these questions, a number of suggestions are made for the establishment of a lexicographic plan for Gabon

Vowel duration issue in Civili

The main goal of this article is to define the problem of vowel duration in Civili (H12a). It shows that the so-called Civili vowel-length desperately needs to be re-examined, because previous works on the sound system of this language hardly explain a number of phonological phenomena, such as vowel lengthening, on the basis of data at hand. Demonstrating the problem in question, the author first reviews previous works that all identify a vowel lengthening in Civili. From different analyses the complexity of the phenomenon is found out by observing differences from an analysis to another, and by regarding difficulties the different phonologists came up against. Then, the problem is also seen through the weakness of each analysis results. This eventually shows more aspects of the vowel duration issue, and leads the author to make a clear distinction between vowel length and vowel lengthening that can be all regarded as only vowel duration. Finally, the article shares a possible way for a solution through an experimental approach of the Civili sound system

English in french-speaking african countries: the case of Gabon

A number of historically French-speaking countries have adopted English as second or one of the official languages. This does not only pose a problem of multilingualism at State level as well as at social level, but it also questions the actual status of English as a language at both levels. In fact, English does not only have to compete with French, but also with native African languages. This article gives an insight into the status of English in Gabon – a French-speaking country in western central Africa. Gabon has not (yet) adopted English as one of the official languages, but the status of the language needs to be investigated from a sociolinguistic perspective. The paper retraced the story of English in Gabon by outlining three periods of contact between the English language and the populations of Gabon. The presence of English throughout the three periods is then linguistically attested through an empirical study of English loanwords in the general vocabulary of Gabonese native languages. The second topic that the article covers is the contemporary situation of the language in the country whose policy refers to it as foreign language. Meanwhile, the influence of the American lifestyle and music, the education system and the elites that were educated in English-speaking countries produce a different social view on the language. This growing social status may signal prominent new developments in the future. This leads the author to set perspectives of the language as it is spoken in Gabon

Politique linguistique et education au Gabon ; un etat des lieux

De nombreux auteurs ont plaidé aussi bien pour une intégration des langues locales gabonaises dans le système éducatif que pour une éducation multilingue au Gabon. Cependant, la politique linguistique du Gabon, quasiment inexistante, et son corollaire dans l’enseignement ne font aucune mention de ces langues locales, dites langues maternelles, reléguées aux activités religieuses et ethno-culturelles. Le but de cet article est de faire l’état des lieux de la politique linguistique dans le système éducatif gabonais. Il analyse successivement (i) la politique linguistique du Gabon, (ii) le paysage linguistique gabonais et (iii) le statut des langues de ce paysage dans le système éducatif. La présente communication suggère fortement la mise en place d’une planification linguistique qui va déterminer à la fois la politique linguistique et l’usage des langues dans le système éducatif

The representation of vowel duration in Civili dictionaries

CITATION: Ndinga-Koumba-Binza, H. S. & Roux, J. C. 2009. The representation of vowel duration in Civili dictionaries. Lexikos, 19:197-206, doi:10.5788/19-0-435.The original publication is available at http://lexikos.journals.ac.zaCivili is a developing language spoken in Gabon and in a few neighbouring countries. This article focuses on the representation of vowel duration in Civili dictionaries. The representation in these dictionaries is inconsistent. In the article, it is argued that this inconsistency stems from a twofold phonetic-phonological issue, which has implications for the word writing system of the language. The article provides an assessment of the existing orthography proposals for Civili and offers materials for a new proposal that takes the vowel duration issue into account. Subsequently, it is recommended that vowel duration be represented by a diaeresis above the vowel for both the orthography and the lemmatization in reference works such as dictionaries and school and religious textbooks.La représentation de la durée vocalique dans les dictionnaires du civili. Le civili est une langue en développement parlée au Gabon et dans quelques pays voisins. Cet article traite de la représentation de la durée vocalique dans les dictionnaires du civili. La représentation est inconsistante dans ces dictionnaires. Dans l'article, il est soutenu que cette in-consistance trouve son origine dans le double problème phonético-phonologique qui a une impli-cation dans le système d'écriture des mots de la langue. L'article fournit une évaluation des propo-sitions d'orthographe existantes pour le civili et présente des éléments pour une nouvelle proposi-tion qui prend en compte la question de la durée vocalique. Ensuite, il y est recommandé que la durée vocalique soit représentée par un tréma au dessus de la voyelle aussi bien pour l'orthogra-phe que pour la lemmatisation dans les travaux de référence tels que les dictionnaires et les manuels scolaires et religieux.http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/435Publisher's versio

Towards a comprehensive dictionary of Gabonese french

The present article reports on the conceptualization of the Dictionnaire Général du Français Gabonais. The dictionary project is a first of its kind in Gabonese lexicography. As an outcome of the inception of Gabonese French lexicography, the dictionary project arose from a discussion on the definition of Gabonese French, which Gabonese French lexicography should account for. In this article, the project background as well as the interests for the planned dictionary are presented. The article also deals with two key aspects of the dictionary conceptualization plan, i.e., lexicographic processes and the dictionary basis

What French for Gabonese French lexicography?

This paper is a response to Mavoungou (2013a) who has pleaded for the production of a dictionary of Gabonese French as variant B of the French language. The paper intends to comprehend the concept of "Gabonese French". It gives an outline of the situation of French within the language diversity of Gabon as a contribution to the theoretical perspective toward the inception of Gabonese French lexicography. Answers are given to the following questions: What French is described in existing Gabonese French studies? What French is and should be presented in Gabonese French dictionary production?DHE

Considering a lexicographic plan for Gabon within the Gabonese language landscape

CITATION: Ndinga-Koumba-Binze, H. S. 2005. Considering a lexicographic plan for Gabon within the Gabonese language landscape. Lexikos, 15:132-150, doi:10.5788/15-0-9.The original publication is available at http://lexikos.journals.ac.zaThis article raises a number of questions that should be dealt with in drawing up a lexicographic plan for Gabon. For which of the Gabonese languages should lexicographic units be established? This question entrains the issue of inventorying the Gabonese languages and their standardization as well as the issue of language planning for Gabon. What is the status of those foreign languages widely spoken in Gabon? What about French? Should Gabon keep importing its French dictionaries from France, or should the Gabonese compile their own French dictionaries, including French words and expressions exclusively used in Gabon? Finally, after trying to answer these questions, a number of suggestions are made for the establishment of a lexicographic plan for Gabon.Die oorweging van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen binne die Gaboenese taallandskap. Hierdie artikel bring 'n aantal vrae ter sprake waaraan aan-dag gegee moet word by die opstel van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen. Vir watter Gaboenese tale moet leksikografiese eenhede gestig word? Hierdie vraag bring die kwessie van die inventari-sering van die Gaboenese tale en hul standaardisering ter sprake, asook die kwessie van taalbe-planning vir Gaboen. Wat is die status van daardie vreemde tale wat algemeen in Gaboen gepraat word? Wat van Frans? Moet Gaboen voortgaan om sy Franse woordeboeke uit Frankryk in te voer, of moet hy sy eie Franse woordeboeke saamstel, met insluiting van Franse woorde en uitdrukkings wat uitsluitlik in Gaboen gebruik word? Ten slotte, nadat geprobeer is om hierdie vrae te beant-woord, word 'n aantal voorstelle gemaak vir die totstandbrenging van 'n leksikografiese plan vir Gaboen.http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/9Publisher's versio

Gabonese Language Landscape: Survey and perspectives

Several authors have described the language situation of Gabon with regard mainly to native languages, as one of language diversity. In this article, we portray this language situation with regard to both foreign and native languages, and introduce the concept of a Gabonese Language Landscape, which we contrast with a concept of a language situation. The concept is introduced in comparison to that of a language situation. Based on observations, we present an inventory of both foreign and native languages in an attempt to display the language situation of Gabon in a realistic way. The article also examines the status of the various languages used in Gabon as well as Gabon’s language policy.S.Afr.J.Afr.Lang.,2007,

Lexique Pove-Francais/Francais-Pove, Mickala Manfoumbi : a second review

CITATION: Ndinga-Koumba-Binza, H. S. 2006. Lexique Pove-Francais/Francais-Pove, Mickala Manfoumbi : a second review. Lexikos, 16:293-308, doi:10.5788/16-0-665.The original publication is available at http://lexikos.journals.ac.zaThis article is a follow-up to a review of the Lexique Pove-Français/Français-Pove (Mickala Manfoumbi 2004) by Mavoungou (2005). Apart from reservations on purely lexicographical issues, the work of Mickala Manfoumbi gives rise to interesting questions which exceed the limited field of metalexicography. These relate to matters such as the context of publication, the format structure, as well as the positioning of the publication within the strategic planning of Gabonese lexicography. These questions lead to the placing of the Pove lexicon within the framework of Gabonese linguistics as well as the emerging Gabonese lexicography. This article aims at supplementing the review by Mavoungou (2005) concerning these matters.Cet article fait suite au compte-rendu de lecture du Lexique Pove–Français/Français–Pove (Mickala Manfoumbi 2004) fait par Mavoungou (2005). En dehors des réserves sur les questionspurement lexicographiques, l'ouvrage de Mickala Manfoumbi suscite des interrogations intéressantesqui dépassent le cadre seul de la métalexicographie. Il s'agit des questions sur le contextede parution, sur la forme ainsi que la situation de l'ouvrage dans le cadre de la planification stratégiquede la lexicographie gabonaise. Ces questions amènent à situer le lexique pove dans le cadregénéral aussi bien de la linguistique gabonaise que de l'émergente lexicographie gabonaise. Cetarticle se fixe l'objectif d'apporter un complément au compte-rendu de lecture de Mavoungou(2005) sur ces différentes questions.http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/665Publisher's versio