Finding Proverbs in Venda Dictionary: Tshivenda -English

By November 17, 2016,
Page 980-990
Author Munzhedzi James Mafela
Title Finding Proverbs in Venda Dictionary: Tshivenda -English
Abstract Since Tshivenḓa was reduced to writing by the Berlin Missionaries in 1872, a dictionary of proverbs has yet to be produced. Only now has the Tshivenḓa National Lexicography Unit begun working on such a dictionary. The only dictionary, although not specifically of proverbs, that has included these in its definition of headwords is the Venḓa Dictionary: Tshivenḓa – English. The proverbs provided in this dictionary have been included as part of its illustrative examples. Only when headwords happen to be key words in proverbs have the latter been provided. Illustrative examples occur at the end of the definition of a headword in many dictionaries. It is often difficult for dictionary users to find specific or relevant proverbs because they do not recognise the order of their arrangement. This is partly because of the absence of information on how to find proverbs in the user’s style guide. The proverbs in this particular dictionary are listed under their key words. A dictionary user must therefore identify the key word in the proverb and look for this word in the dictionary. Information regarding how to find the proverbs in this dictionary could be valuable to dictionary users. The purpose of this paper is to provide important directions to dictionary users to assist them in finding proverbs, and to discuss the importance of finding proverbs in dictionaries such as the Venda Dictionary: Tshivenḓa – English.
Session Posters
Keywords dictionary, proverb, headword, illustrative example, user’s style guide
BibTex 
@InProceedings{ELX12-100,
	   author = {Munzhedzi James Mafela},
	   title = {Finding Proverbs in Venda Dictionary: Tshivenda -English},
	   pages = {980--990},
	   booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th EURALEX International Congress},
	   year = {2012},
	   month = {aug},
	   date = {7-11},
	   address = {Oslo,Norway},
	   editor = {Ruth Vatvedt Fjeld and Julie Matilde Torjusen},
	   publisher = {Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo},
	   isbn = {978-82-303-2228-4},
	}
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