South Africa's new African language dictionaries and their use for the African speech communities

Abstract

During the last 15 years, the lexicographic scene in South Africa changed drastically as many new dictionaries for the African languages were compiled. The different dictionary types and publication modes discussed in this article are: general dictionaries, restricted dictionaries, printed dictionaries, electronic dictionaries, online and cell phone dictionaries. Although there are different dictionary types, they all have three major uses for the speech communities. Dictionaries are useful tools for language documentation and standardization, as they try to cover and document the general vocabulary (general dictionaries) or the specialized vocabulary (technical dictionaries). They empower the language users because they help to improve communication by providing users with the necessary vocabulary they need. In addition, dictionaries have a high symbolic value for a language. Having dictionaries, and especially technical, online or cell phone dictionaries, is the visible proof that a language is standardized and modern, and can be used in all domains of life.