The issue of terminology in African languages: some observations

1. The issue of terminology in African languages: some observations Prof. Elsabé Taljard Department of African Languageselsabe.taljard@up.ac.za Presentation made at a seminar presented by CentRePoL, IFAS & Umalusi

2. Why terminology is important • Terminology is not an end in itself, but addresses specific social needs, and • attempts to facilitate and optimize communication within a specific subject field. • Primary aim is knowledge transfer within scientific community

3. It’s not about the term (only) • Terms are labels representing abstract concepts • Terms can be learnt without understanding the underlying concept – rote learning • The underlying concept should be explained in a language which is understood by the user of the term

4. Terminological definitions (1) • Terminology practice in SA is often limited to finding / provision of translation equivalents in African languages for English source terms. • Terminological definition, which is the link between the term and the concept, is often neglected.

5. Terminological definitions (2) • ‘When I use a term, it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.‘ (With apologies to Humpty Dumpty and Lewis Carrol) • Function of the definition is to fix the intention / reference of the term, to delimit the exact meaning of the term

6. When it is indeed about the term When term creation takes place, cognisance needs to be taken of the full spectrum of available term formation strategies: • Language internal word formation processes • Semantic transfer • Paraphrase • Compounding • Borrowing • Loan words / foreign words • Transliterations / adoptives

7. Transliterations: friend or foe? • Definition: when a term is taken over from a source language and phonologically adapted to the target language: • Example: Source term: documentation • Xitsonga: tidokhumente • Tshivenda: dzidokhumennde • Sepedi: ditokumente

8. Transliterations: pros and cons • Pros: • easy shortcut, • keep the visual link between ST and TE • Cons: • resistance in especially academic community against their use • give no clue as to the conceptual meaning which underlies the term

9. Challenges for terminology in SA • Standardization of terminology • Effective dissemination of terminology

10. Standardization • Purpose of standardization: • fixation of meaning by means of terminological definition • choice from amongst competing terms • standardization of spelling

11. Proliferation of terms

12. Dissemination of terminology • Accessibility • Target users of terminology must have access to standardizes terminology • Awareness • Target users must be made aware of the existence of standardized terminology

13. Role of PanSALB & NLS • National Language Bodies are PanSALB structures, responsible for the validation of terms • Final standardization body is NLS, who is also responsible for the dissemination of terminology.

14. Terminological wish list • First prize: • electronic multilingual terminological database, • containing not only terms, but also definitions, which is • available online, • with an option of simultaneous feedback by users

16. Terminological wish list (2) • Second first prize: • Compilation of lexicographically sound, good quality LSP dictionaries in and for the African languages, and • Textbooks in the African languages, with glossaries, containing the core terms of the subject field, accompanied by sound terminological definitions

17. Multilingual LSP dictionaries