Bilingual dictionary and meaning discrimination in Venda

By November 17, 2016,
Page 501-509
Author Munzhedzi James Mafela
Title Bilingual dictionary and meaning discrimination in Venda
Abstract Venda, one of the minority languages in South Afiica, has few dictionaries. All are translational bilingual dictionaries meant for dictionary users who are non-native speakers of the language. Dictionary users find it difficult to use the Venda bilingual dictionaries because they are confronted with equivalents which they cannot distinguish. In most cases the equivalents of the entry-words are provided without supplying meaning discrimination. Dictionary users are therefore confronted with several equivalents which express different meanings. Without a good command of the Venda language and the provision of meaning discrimination, they find it difficult to make a correct choice of the equivalent for which they are looking. Venda bilingual dictionaries are therefore not helpful for dictionary users who are not speakers of the language. Devices such as definitions of equivalents, provision of illustrative examples and labels in the form of parts of speech could be used to solve the problem of meaning discrimination in Venda bilingual dictionaries. This paper highlights the problem of the absence of meaning discrimination and suggests solutions to future Venda lexicographers in this regard.
Session Bilingual Lexicography
Keywords
BibTex 
@InProceedings{ELX04-056,
	   author = {Munzhedzi James Mafela},
	   title = {Bilingual dictionary and meaning discrimination in Venda },
	   pages = {501-509},
	   booktitle = {Proceedings of the 11th EURALEX International Congress},
	   year = {2004},
	   month = {july},
	   date = {6-10},
	   address = {Lorient, France},
	   editor = {Geoffrey Williams and Sandra Vessier},
	   publisher = {UniversiteĢ de Bretagne-Sud, FaculteĢ des lettres et des sciences humaines},
	   isbn = {29-52245-70-3},
	}
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