Abstract

As for many e-dictionaries across the globe, e-dictionaries for African languages embarked on the unfortunate route of being ‘paper dictionaries on computer’ often simply enhanced with additional search features or simply by perpetuating the practice followed in paper dictionaries of compiling e-dictionaries which are just translated word lists. In this article it will be argued that e-dictionaries for African languages should firstly be compiled through maximum utilization of ‘true electronic’ features enabled by the computer era. Secondly, specific attention should be given to the salient features of the Bantu language family, taking Sepedi (Northern Sotho) as a case in point. Thirdly attention is given to the issue of dictionary survival in the information era and how innovative e-support systems can contribute to ensure that future dictionaries will remain the preferred point of departure for users for information retrieval.

中文翻译：

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非洲语言电子词典中显着特征的检测和词典处理1

摘要

对于全球许多电子词典，非洲语言的电子词典走上了不幸的道路，成为了“计算机上的纸质词典”，通常只是通过附加搜索功能加以增强，或者只是使纸质词典中遵循的做法永久化，字典只是翻译的单词列表。在本文中，我们将争辩说，首先应通过最大程度地利用计算机时代带来的“真正电子”功能来编译非洲语言的电子词典。其次，应特别注意班图语系的显着特征，以塞佩迪语（北索托语）为例。