ADVERTISEMENT:

 
 

Mr MM Marhanele, photographed with the first ever comprehensive Xitsonga dictionary, Tihlungu ta Rixaka.

First Xitsonga dictionary on the shelves

 

The first comprehensive Xitsonga dictionary, Tihlungu ta Rixaka, was launched during the Polokwane Literary Fair a fortnight ago.

The dictionary was compiled by MM Marhanele and Vonani Bila, and it is published by Timbila Publishing and Bila Publishers and Communications and comprises a robust 920 pages.

Tihlungu ta Rixaka is a user-friendly, monolingual Xitsonga dictionary and the first of its kind,” Bila said. “Unlike earlier dictionaries and reference works written by missionaries and sometimes second-language speakers to serve very narrow interests, Tihlungu ta Rixaka is written and developed by speakers, cultural practitioners and reputable scholars of the Xitsonga language with the ultimate purpose of cultural restoration, nation building and social transformation.”

According to generic national statistics, Xitsonga is spoken by over two million people in South Africa's Limpopo province as well as Gauteng, Mpumalanga, North West and parts of northern KwaZulu-Natal. There are over 15 million people in Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi and Zimbabwe whose first language is Xitsonga (Xichangani).

“The concentration of Vatsonga/Machangani in different parts of southern Africa poses a challenge of language standardisation,” Bila stated. “In the making up of Tihlungu ta Rixaka, we’ve tried to follow recent discussions on language and take stock of what is currently being published in Xitsonga. We’ve also been listening carefully to variants of the language as manifested in Xitsonga, Xitshwa, Xirhonga, Xibila, Xinkuna, Xinhlanganu, Xigwamba, Xin’walungu, Xidzonga, Xihlave/Xihlengwe, and related languages such as Xindawu.”

He added that, for purposes of a uniform style, orthography and approach, "the authors were biased towards the latest South African Xitsonga orthography as set out by the Pan South African Language Board. We are aware that language building and standardisation is a large scope that requires more passion, resources and energy,” Bila said. “In the long term, we see the impact of this dictionary extending to a Xitsonga language practice in Africa, thus stimulating scholarly work based on the dynamism of Xitsonga and all its sociological determinants.”

Tihlungu ta Rixaka stresses the intrinsic social value of culture and use of language. With the advancement of Xitsonga in the form of a dictionary and accompanying linguistic resources, Timbila Publishing and Bila Publishers believe that Xitsonga will one day be recognised as one of the powerful official and functional languages in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Swaziland. “This only means that Xitsonga will be a living language of power, commerce, law, education, and more,” he said.

Some of the features of this dictionary include telling the reader how words are spelt and pronounced. It gives the different meanings of word and illustrates the examples of how the words are used within their respective contexts.

“It gives the reader the plurals of nouns and it tells whether a noun is countable or not,” he said. “It provides synonyms and antonyms of words. It gives the reader words derived from the same root or family and the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives.”

The dictionary also provides the reader with the past tense and participle forms of verbs and tells them which the syllable of a word to stress.

“It further tells you the origin of some foreign or borrowed words,” he said. “Lastly, it tells you whether a certain word is slang, taboo, a formal, informal, archaic word or a colloquial expression.”

Tihlungu ta Rixaka is available at R600 (excluding postage or delivery). Those interested in Tihlungu ta Rixaka can email Bila at [email protected].

Mr Vonani Bila.

 

Date:03 October 2016

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Read: 23295

 

ADVERTISEMENT

 

ADVERTISEMENT:

ADVERTISEMENT:

 

Recent Articles

ADVERTISEMENT

 

Popular Articles