The User Perspective in Lexicography: The Lemmatisation of Fixed Expressions in "Duramazwi Guru reChiShona"

Abstract

The article discusses the user perspective and information retrieval in relation to the lemmatisation of specific multi-word lexical units, namely fixed expressions, in the Shona mono-lingual dictionary, Duramazwi Guru reChiShona. It shows that the decisions arrived at in lemma-tising fixed expressions were influenced by a user-driven approach. The article gives a comparative analysis of how fixed expressions were treated in previous Shona dictionaries and how they were subsequently dealt with in Duramazwi Guru reChiShona. Previous dictionaries have grappled with the problem of giving fixed expressions as run-on entries. Against the background of the user per-spective, it will be argued that the lemmatisation of fixed expressions in monolingual dictionaries has certain advantages over previously used strategies.

Keywords: fixed expression, headword, idiom, intended user, lemma, lemmatisation, macrostructure, microstructure, multi-word lexical unit, pithy saying, proverb, run-on entry, user, user-friendly, user perspective