Introducing a New Lexicographical Model: AlphaConceptual+ (and How it Could Be Applied to Dictionaries for Luganda)

Abstract

In this article we explore the possibility of amalgamating the semasiological (i.e. alphabetical), onomasiological (i.e. conceptual) and visual approaches to dictionary compilation, here termed an alphaconceptual+ (i.e. alphaconceptual 'plus') dictionary, using Luganda as a brief case study. Such a dictionary would combine the strong points of alphabetical and conceptual lexicography, with all entries also linked to relevant picture plates. In Section 1 we expound on the history of Luganda lexicography, highlighting the different types of dictionaries in the language since the early 1900s. Section 2 is an exposition of semasiological and onomasiological lexicography. In Sections 3 and 4 we study the actual dictionary market and scholarly lexicographic literature, in Africa and the rest of the world respectively. In Section 5 a case for language-independent alphaconceptual + lexicography is argued, and its proposed compilation approach is sketched out in Section 6, followed by the conclusion in Section 7.

Keywords: semasiological lexicography, onomasiological lexicography, thesaurus, thematic dictionary, topic dictionary, synonym dictionary, picture dictionary, visual dictionary, new lexicographical model, alphaconceptual+, luganda