Kernerman Dictionary News • Number 14 • July 2005
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The foundation
of AFRILEX
1. Background In 1992, the Board of Control of the Bureau of the
Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (BCBWAT) conducted a feasibility study to
determine if there were a need to establish the Southern African Institute
for Lexicography. The purpose of such an institute was to serve to unite the
various local private and governmental bodies involved in dictionary practice
that existed due to historical, cultural and other reasons. The research was
entrusted to Prof. William Branford and myself, and was funded by the Gencor
Development Trust. While initiating the idea, the BCBWAT members realized
that such an institute could not be established without the consent, support
and collaboration of all the players in the Southern African lexicography
scene. At the time, only the official dictionary offices of
Afrikaans and English (the Bureau of the WAT and the Dictionary for South
African English (DSAE), respectively) received funding from the government of
Three research areas were researched: the need for a
Southern African Institute for Lexicography, its structure, and the
collaboration between the various interested parties. The target respondents
included all known individuals, institutions and bodies involved in
lexicography and related professions. They received a cover letter, a
document including information about the purpose of the research, and a
questionnaire. 2. Feasibility
study The study showed that that main concern of the
respondents was the lack of coordination in lexicographic efforts.
Respondents wanted collaboration, training and sharing of knowledge in the
field, but they did not agree that a formal structure such as an institute
was the way to go about it. There was much reservation about introducing a
new administrative controlling system, underlain by the fear that an
institute might hamper private initiatives and activities. Some respondents suggested that a coordinating body, a
clearinghouse or an association, could be established as an interim structure
before deciding to have an institute. An association for lexicography could
reunite interested parties without undermining individual projects, while
offering expertise, training, information, news, etc. The feasibility study
indicated that the time was not ripe for the establishment of an Institute
for Southern African Lexicography, but that a professional association for
Southern African lexicography should be immediately, to address the
communication and coordination needs of the respondents. The association
could initially function under the auspices of the Linguistic Association of
Southern Africa (LSSA). Aims of the professional association The study recommended that the professional association
should, to ensure autonomy, have its own constitution and formulate its own
aims and projects. It was suggested that the association should provide the
following services: ·
establish
a liaison office or clearing house to coordinate projects; ·
set
an email network; ·
issue
a quarterly newsletter; ·
publish
an accredited magazine (e.g. Lexikos
of the AFRILEX series); ·
organize
an annual conference to share professional information; ·
formulate
a national policy regarding lexicography. Funding An association would require less funding than an
institute, yet membership fees alone could not sustain it. Those involved in
planning should look into funding possibilities. An important aspect to take
into consideration was addressing the existing imbalance between public
spending on Afrikaans and English compared to that of African languages. Publishers Lexicography depends to a great extent on publishing
houses. Some have an excellent record of dictionary publication. Others try
to make a profit without taking into consideration the overhead and research
costs involved in the lexicographic process. Publishers should be encouraged
to effectively finance dictionary research and compilation, and to support
the association financially. How to proceed It was suggested that: ·
all
respondents should be informed of the envisaged professional association; ·
respondents
who indicated interest in the association should be contacted to take part in
the process of its planning; ·
all
the respondents and other interested parties should be invited to join the
association and become members; ·
a
meeting should be called as soon as possible to gather interested parties for
the establishment of such a professional association; ·
feedback
regarding the outcomes of the feasibility study should be given to all
respondents; ·
the
report on the feasibility study should be made available to all interested
parties and decision-makers in the field of lexicography. Concluding
remarks The results of the feasibility study indicated a keen
interest in a unifying body among lexicographers and members of related
professions. It was clear that there was not, as yet, a need for an official
institute. It was strongly felt that whatever body is formed, it should not
be bureaucratically structured and should not restrict individual freedom, inter alia with regard to management
and control. Therefore, the research team suggested that a
professional association for lexicography be established to meet the needs of
lexicographers and other related interest groups. The report on the feasibility study was presented to the
BCBWAT in 1992, and Afrikaans and English versions were published in 1993.
Board members were obviously not in full agreement with the conclusions of
the study since they had hoped that the respondents would have agreed on the
establishment of an Institute for Southern African Lexicography. 3. The establishment of AFRILEX In 1995, Daan Prinsloo and
I drafted a questionnaire to test the viability of an association for
lexicography. Over 800 copies were sent to members of ALASA, LSSA,
publishers, government departments, and even political parties. The idea was
greeted by overwhelming enthusiam that left no option but to form an
association. On Dr. Reinhard R.K. Hartmann chaired the inaugural meeting
and facilitated the entire process, including the election of office bearers.
Prof. Rufus Gouws was elected Chairperson, Ms. Irene Dippenaar and Prof.
Sizwe Satyo were elected as Vice-Chairpersons, Dr. Mariëtta Alberts as
Secretary-Treasurer, and Prof. Daan Prinsloo as Organiser. Mr. Pieter
Harteveld, as Editor of Lexikos, was
co-opted to the Board. The Bureau of the WAT granted permission to the
association to adopt the name AFRILEX, and its publication, Lexikos, became the official mouthpiece of the African Association
for Lexicography. A related issue concerns the establishment of the Pan
South African Language Board (PanSALB) with eleven National Lexicography
Units (NLUs). The NLUs function under the auspices and financial backing of
PanSALB. Each NLU is managed by an Editor-in-Chief. The Bureau of the WAT and
the DSAE became the NLUs for Afrikaans and English, respectively, and
remained in their locations of Stellenbosch and Grahamstown, respectively.
Nine African language NLUs were established and they are hosted at tertiary
institutions in the geo-linguistic area where their majority native language
speakers live. Employees of the NLUs are members of AFRILEX and participate
regularly in its activities. 4. Present situation AFRILEX promotes and coordinates the research, study and
teaching of lexicography in AFRILEX is managed by a
Board that is elected biannually by postal ballots and holds annual general
meetings during the international conferences. The first Board drafted a
constitution that was adopted at the first meeting. Over the years, some
amendments were made to the constitution in order to keep it updated and
relevant. Each Board member has an allocated task to fulfill: ·
President: oversees
the activities of the association and its liaison with other associations; ·
Vice-President: performs
the responsibilities of the President when the President cannot do so; ·
Secretary: writes
minutes and letters, and liaises with Board members and general members; ·
Registrar: updates
address lists, manages and maintains the database; ·
Treasurer: responsible
for the change of signatories,
processing membership fees and preparation of auditor’s report; ·
Organiser: organizes
seminars, tutorials and the annual conference, and liaises with other
associations; ·
Webmaster: maintains
the website. The Board coordinates conference dates with those of
other local linguistic associations such as ALASA and LSSA. It cooperates
with international lexicography associations such as Euralex, Asialex, AUSTRALEX, the DSNA (Dictionary Society of
North America), etc, and its members attend conferences of these associations
whenever possible. AFRILEX holds its international conferences by
invitation at tertiary or lexicographic institutions. The tenth anniversary
of the association was celebrated at the 2005 conference hosted by the Sesiu
Sesotho Dictionary Unit at the University of the Certificates of merit in recognition of contribution to
AFRILEX were presented to three members so far: Dr. Johan du Plessis, Editor
of Lexikos, and two previous chairpersons, Prof. Rufus Gouws and Prof.
Daan Prinsloo. There is also one honorary member, Prof. A.C. Nkabinde. AFRILEX is fortunate to have an accredited magazine such
as Lexikos, which is published by
the Bureau of the WAT and serves to promote lexicography in its broadest
sense. The editor, Dr. Johan du Plessis, has retired from his position as the
final editor at the Bureau, but keeps his post as editor of Lexikos. AFRILEX shares responsibility
for the future existence of Lexikos
with the Bureau of the WAT. The Lexikos
encouragement prize for scholarly writing was intiated in 2005. This prize
aims to encourage students in lexicography and young lexicographers to
conduct significant research in their field of study, and to raise the
standard of scholarly writing in the field of lexicography. Contenders to the
prize submit articles dealing with lexicographical or metalexicographical
aspects of languages used in 5. Conclusion The membership of AFRILEX is comprised of dictionary
compilers, members of the lexicography teams of the eleven NLUs, compilers of
terminology lists or technical dictionaries for Language for Special
Purposes, directors and members of various language boards and advisory
bodies, lecturers and students of metalexicography and terminology, and other
language practitioners such as translators, editors, interpreters, teachers
and journalists. The members of AFRILEX have a responsibility towards the
various speech communities they serve, helping to preserve African languages and
develop them into functional languages in all spheres of life, while
encouraging all of the various language communities to stretch out their
communication skills to the fullest. Alberts, M. 1993. Feasibility
Study: Institute for Southern African Lexicography/ Lewensvatbaarheidstudie:
Instituut vir Suider-Afrikaanse Leksikografie. Bureau of the WAT,
Stellenbosch. LEXIKOS In 1991 the Bureau of the WAT
started publishing a journal of lexicography called Lexikos in a publication series called AFRILEX, an acronym for lexicography in and for http://afrilex.africanlanguages.com
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