This paper traces the historical development of lexicography in Gabon. Gabon, like most African countries, is multilingual. The recent inventories of languages spoken in Gabon are those established by Jacquot (1978) and Kwenzi-Mikala (1998). According to Kwenzi-Mikala (1997), there are 62 speech forms divided into 10 language groups or language-units in Gabon. These speech forms co-exist with French, the official language. In fact, in article 2 of paragraph 8 of the revised Constitution of 1994 the following can be read: "The Gabonese Republic adopts French as the official language. Furthermore, she endeavours to protect and promote the national languages."This constitutional arrangement naturally makes French the language used in education, administration and the media.The survey of lexicography in Gabon that is presented here includes the linguistic situation in and the language policy of Gabon, the lexicographic survey itself, as well as the lexicographic needs of the different speech forms (including languages and dialects). Initially, the pioneers of Gabonese lexicography were missionaries or colonial administrators. Very little was done in this field by the Gabonese themselves. Although credit is to be given to these early works, there are a number of shortcomings regarding the linguistic as well as the metalexicographic contents of dictionaries and lexicons produced during this period. In fact, the main weak point of those studies was the lack of tones in the written transcription of oral productions and orthographic problems.Furthermore, in those contributions, the theory of lexicography is largely unknown and lexicographic works are hardly ever based on authentic data corpora of the languages being described. Keywords: SPEECH FORMS, LANGUAGE GROUP(S),
Abstract:This article is a survey study of lexicographic activities with regards to the French language as it is spoken in Gabon, a French-speaking country in central Africa. The French language as it is spoken in Gabon does not only refer to Gabonisms (mostly items derived from native Gabonese languages), but also to standard French, official French (acrolectal level), common French (mesolectal level) and popular French (basilectal level). All four levels are present in French as it is used in Gabon. In other words, the Gabonese have named the realities of their own environment with lexical items coined on their own soil or borrowed from other languages. This has strengthened and enriched French as it is spoken in Gabon. The modern era of Gabonese lexicography has witnessed the production of various dictionaries focusing on this African variety of French. Before 1999, in Gabon and due to the status of French as the sole official language of the country, French dictionaries used in Gabon were mostly French products. Monolingual French dictionaries produced in Gabon by Gabonese scholars include a very limited number of authors, namely: Dodo Bounguendza (2008), Ditougou (2009) andMoussounda Ibouanga (2011).Despite the fact that these dictionaries were compiled for use by Gabonese, they are differential as they tend to include references of the Parisian standard French. Indeed, a differential dictionary is a dictionary focusing on differences between two language varieties or two similar languages, and current Gabonese French dictionaries are by all means differential. It is this situation, and the ways it can be corrected that this article will focus on. The idea is to produce a complete dictionary of variant B, namely Gabonese French. Such a dictionary will reflect certain emancipation from the French language spoken in France (i.e. Parisian standard French), herein referred to as variant A. Keywords: GABONESE FRENCH, DIFFERENTIAL DICTIONARIES, EMANCIPATION, STANDARD FRENCH, GABONRésumé: Les dictionnaires du français du Gabon: État des lieux et perspectives. Cet article fait le point sur les activités lexicographiques en ce qui concerne la langue française telle qu'elle est parlée au Gabon, un pays francophone de l'Afrique centrale. La langue française telle qu'elle est parlée au Gabon ne fait pas seulement référence aux gabonismes (majoritairement des termes dérivés des langues gabonaises locales), mais également au français standard, au français official (niveau acrolectal), au français commun (niveau mésolectal) et au français populaire (niveau basilectal). Tous les quatre niveaux sont présents dans le français qu'il est utilisé au *
Abstract:A distinction is often drawn between single articles and synopsis articles. A single article is the so-called default article. It does not deviate from the traditional microstructural approach of the dictionary because it presents the minimum data for each lemma sign treated, while a synopsis article gives additional data for each treated lemma. The classical conception of the synopsis article originates with Bergenholtz, Tarp and Wiegand (1999). In their view, synopsis articles which were devised for language for special purposes (LSP) dictionaries have to make provision for the treatment of lemma signs functioning as superordinate terms (general lemmata or topics) as well as their hyponyms. The aim of this article is to present a new lexicographic approach to the study of synopsis articles against the background of a planned trilingual dictionary. It will be shown that synopsis articles have a more general use than its restricted application in LSP dictionaries. In fact, the focus will not be on the treatment of technical or scientific vocabulary but rather on cultural terms. This article also raises among other things, questions about the purpose of the planned dictionary, its target users, different types of microstructures as well as different data categories to be included in synopsis articles. Keywords
A considerable fraction of the vocabulary of Yilumbu is made up of words, which can be regarded as loanwords. This article focuses on morphologic, semantic and lexicographic aspects of borrowing in Yilumbu. As far as morphology is concerned, it is argued that despite the arrival of new words the Yilumbu noun class prefix has not undergone significant changes. Semantic changes are presented, followed by a lexicographic analysis.
All the works in Mazuna lexicography have a common denominator: they are translation dictionaries biased towards French and were compiled by Catholic and Protestant missionaries or colonial administrators. These dictionaries have both strong and weak points. The macrostructure although it does not display features of sophistication, i.e. the use of niching and nesting procedures, tends to survey the full lexicon of the language which make these dictionaries real reservoirs of knowledge. The microstructure contains a lot of useful entries. However, no metalexicographic discussion is provided in the user's guide to make it accessible to the target reader. There are also some shortcomings especially in the areas of suprasegmental phonology (absence of tonal indications) and orthography. Keywords: MACROSTRUCTURE, MICROSTRUCTURE, TARGET USERS, SPECIAL-FIELD TERMS, LEXICOGRAPHIC DATA, PROBLEM OF SOURCES, USERS' GUIDE, RESERVOIRS OF KNOWLEDGE, FAN. Abstrait: Les problèmes macro-et microstructurels dans la lexicographieMazuna. Tous les travaux en lexicographie Mazuna ont un dénominateur commun: ce sont des dictionnaires de traduction centrés sur le français et compilés par les missionnaires catholiques et protestants ou les administrateurs coloniaux. Ces dictionnaires ont à la fois des avantages et des inconvénients. Bien que ne présentant pas de caractéristiques de sophistication, par exemple l'usage de procédures de nichification et de nidification, la macrostructure tend à donner une vue d'ensemble du lexique de la langue, ce qui fait de ces dictionnaires de véritables réservoirs de connaissance. La microstructure contient de nombreuses entrées utiles. Mais aucune discussion méta-lexicographique n'est présentée dans le guide aux usagers pour les leurs rendre accessible. Il y a également des manquements, spécialement dans le domaine de la phonologie suprasegmentale (absence d'indications tonales) et de l'orthographe.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, photographic or mechanical means, including photocopying and recording on record, tape or laser disk, on microfilm, via the Internet, by e-mail, or by any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission by the publisher. Nous adressons nos sincères remerciements au Prof Rufus H. Gouws qui a bien voulu nous honorer en rédigeant la préface de cet ouvrage.Nous sommes très reconnaissants à Hugues Steve Ndinga-Koumba-Binza dont le travail de prospection, de coordination et de correction a été une contribution significative à la réalisation de ce projet. Nous partageons avec lui l'idéal de cet ouvrage.À mon épouse Marina Carmelle pour tous les sacrifices consentis.À mes enfants Valence, Paul Timothée, Paul Arsène et Paule Eunice Nora pour me rappeler à chaque fois qu'en dehors de mes travaux de recherche, il y a la famille. 1 PRÉFACEDictionaries play an important role as authoritative sources of linguistic and pragmatic help. However, users do not only rely on dictionaries as containers of linguistic knowledge but they consult dictionaries to get guidance regarding cultural and encyclopaedic issues. This is especially true in multilingual and multicultural environments where dictionaries are used to translate from one language to another but also to ensure a better understanding of the culture of the speech communities of the languages represented in the dictionary. As utility instruments, dictionaries should be compiled in such a way that the intended target user is in the position to achieve a successful dictionary consultation procedure by managing an optimal retrieval of information. A prerequisite for this success is that a dictionary needs to have a sound theoretical basis.Recent metalexicographic research has not only focused on the contents of dictionaries but also on their structure and the way in which lexicographers could and should work towards user-driven dictionaries. In this regard the research of Dr. Paul Achille Mavoungou makes an important contribution to the metalexicographic literature.In this book Dr. Mavoungou focuses on dictionary making in Gabon, but he does it within a clearly-defined theoretical framework. His outline of the Yilumbu language and the lexicographic activities in Gabon serves as a valuable background for the discussion that follows. And his account of the theoretical framework and basic elements of lexicography can be regarded as a very useful introduction to core aspects of metalexicography.The most important contribution of this work is the way in which he leads the reader into the sphere of theoretical lexicography and then confronts that reader with the practical lexicographic issues of Yilumbu with a model for the compilation of dictionaries directed at the specific needs and reference skills of a well-identified target user group. Although the focus is on Yilumbu, many of the theoretical proposals made by Dr. Mavoungou are not of a language-specific natu...
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