Thesis (MPhil (Afrikaans and Dutch))—Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This thesis discusses pertinent issues which should be taken into account in the production of
LSP dictionaries in Ndebele. Special reference is made to a prospective Ndebele Linguistic
and Literary Terms Dictionary, henceforth the NLLTD. The issues discussed include
lexicographic planning, data collection, data processing, lemma selection, the provision of
data categories and the utilisation of dictionary structures. The thesis demonstrates and
emphasises the need for theoretical guidance in the execution of all lexicographic tasks. Two
main theories are used to formulate a theoretical framework for this study. A general theory
of lexicography developed by Herbert Ernst Wiegand is used to affirm the status of
lexicography as separate from linguistics and other fields from which it draws theoretical and
methodological insights. Lexicography is, according to Wiegand (1984), a scientific field
concerned with the production of reference works on language. As a typical reference
product, a dictionary is regarded as a utility tool with a genuine purpose. These two
postulates of the general theory of lexicography enable lexicographers to carry out their tasks
in a systematic and efficient way. The postulates are emphasised in the theory of
lexicographic functions, which was developed by Danish lexicographers of the Aarhus School
of Business, mainly under the direction of Henning Bergenholtz and Sven Tarp. Because of
this, the theories are employed in a complementary way. Since lexicography is regarded by
these theories as a separate discipline, it follows that the production of user-friendly
dictionaries may not be guided exclusively by linguistic theories or other theories developed
in disciplines with which lexicography comes into contact. It is important to reiterate this
regarding terminological theories and special subject field theories in the case of LSP
lexicography. The theory of lexicographic functions requires lexicographers to identify the
target users of their dictionaries, and the situations in which the users may experience
problems that may be addressed by means of lexicographic data. It determines dictionary
typological choices, lemma selection policies, the provision of lexicographic data for
individual lemmata, and the planning and utilisation of dictionary structures in a user-friendly
way. The main motivation for the complementary use of the general theory of lexicography
and the theory of lexicographic functions in this thesis was to ensure that efficiency is
achieved on the part of the lexicographer carrying out his/her various lexicographic tasks and
also on the part of the user consulting the final product. Although this is demonstrated in the
thesis using the prospective NLLTD, the criticism of some published dictionaries indicates
that their quality could have been improved if their production occurred under such a strong
theoretical guidance. An attempt is also made to show that similar theoretical applications are
definitely required in the production of LSP dictionaries other than the NLLTD in Ndebele
and other languages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1954 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Nkomo, Dion |
| Contributors | Gouws, R. H., Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Afrikaans and Dutch. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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