Compiling a bidirectional dictionary bridging English and the Sotho languages: a viability study

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate the viability of the compilation of a single bidirectional dictionary with a single lemma list for the Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana and Sesotho → English side and a simultaneous treatment of the three Sotho languages in the articles of the English lemmas in the English → Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana and Sesotho side of the dictionary. Specific attention will be given to selected macrostructural and microstructural aspects of such a compilation.

Keywords: sotho languages, nguni languages, bilingual dictionaries, communicative equivalence, corpora, user perspective