Natural science and technology terminology in the sesotho sa leboa monolingual dictionary

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to make a comparative analysis of the structural and the lexical differences between coinage and transliteration, as methods for the acquisition of foreign natural science and technology lexical items, which are meant for inclusion in the Sesotho sa Leboa comprehensive monolingual dictionary, Pukuntšutlhaloši ya Sesotho sa Leboa. With the exception of the multilingual glossaries ('dictionaries' as they are called), which are compiled by the National Language Service of the Department of Arts and Culture, the Sesotho sa Leboa National Lexicography Unit does not at present have any monolingual dictionary specializing in specific subjects like natural science and technology. As a start, the Lexicography Unit decided to include this specialized terminology in the second edition of its comprehensive monolingual dictionary. The main purpose for lemmatizing the natural science and technology terminology is to give these lexical items comprehensive definitions in Sesotho sa Leboa, instead of 'a one word translation definition' as is the case in the bilingual and multilingual dictionaries.

Keywords: transliteration, coinage, coined lexical item, loan word, adoptive, foreign word, lexicography, sothoized word, indigenous word, natural science, technology, compound word, ambiguity