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

  • Deo Kawalya KongoKing Research Group, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; and School of Languages, Literature and Communication, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
  • Gilles-Maurice de Schryver KongoKing Research Group, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; and Department of African Languages, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Keywords: semasiological lexicography, onomasiological lexicog­raphy, thesaurus, thematic dictionary, topic dictionary, synonym dic­tion­ary, picture dictionary, visual dictionary, new lexicographical model, alphaconceptual , 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.
Published
2013-12-19
How to Cite
Kawalya, D., & de Schryver, G.-M. (2013). Introducing a New Lexicographical Model: AlphaConceptual+ (and How it Could Be Applied to Dictionaries for Luganda). Lexikos, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.5788/23-1-1210
Section
Artikels/Articles