The Impact of Translation Activities on the Development of African Languages in a Multilingual Society: "Duramazwi reMimhanzi" as a Case-study *

Abstract

The article examines the impact of translation activities on the development of Afri-can languages in the multilingual Zimbabwean society. It analyses Shona musical terms created through translation processes and strategies such as borrowing, coining, compounding and deri-vation. Focus is on the way this ongoing term-creation is contributing to improving or hindering the development of Shona. The importance of such processes and strategies are discussed in the broader context of empowering African languages. The article also offers recommendations on how best to produce systematized terminology in music and other specialized fields.

Keywords: translation, development of african languages, multilin-gual societies, borrowing, coining, compounding, derivation, terminol-ogy, terminography