AFRILEX
Newsletter 4 – August
1999
(aka Vol. 4, No. 1)
Compiler: M. Alberts
A
hearty welcome to everyone who will be a reader of the AFRILEX Newsletter.
The
outgoing Executive and Board of Afrilex decided at their last meeting on Sunday
the 4th of July 1999, to suggest job descriptions allocated to
specific portfolios to the incoming Board and Executive. According to these job
descriptions accepted by the new Executive and Board, the Secretary needs to co-ordinate and distribute*
a newsletter. It was decided that at least two newsletters would be issued per
year. The aim of the newsletters would be to communicate relevant
lexicographical information to members of Afrilex.
&
EXECUTIVE
& BOARD MEETING: SUNDAY 4 JULY 1999 (OUTGOING)
Prof.
AC Nkabinde, Vice-Chairperson of AFRILEX, acted as chairperson in the absence
of Prof. Rufus Gouws. Prof. Gouws was still in Germany where he was conducting
lexicographic research.
It
was mentioned at the meeting that one of the Board members, Mrs. Penny Silva,
had left for England where she found employment as Deputy Chief Editor at the
Oxford English Dictionary of Oxford University Press. Mrs. Silva was
congratulated in her absence with this achievement and the members expressed
their regret that the South African lexicography practice had to a certain
extent lost her expertise. It was mentioned that her successor at the
Dictionary Unit for South African English (DSAE), Ms. Kathy Kavanagh, would
attend the AFRILEX Conference. The Executive and Board members were looking
forward to meeting Ms. Kavanagh and wished her success in her new job.
Dr.
Dirk van Schalkwyk did not attend the meeting since he had only recently
returned from England where his son Herbie is still hospitalised. Herbie is
very ill due to some viral infection. On behalf of all members of AFRILEX the
Executive and Board wishes Herbie a speedy recovery.
The
meeting discussed various matters of which terminology training received much
attention. Although there is a dire need for lexicography training, no funds
are available for this purpose. The training supplied by experts in the field
of lexicography at SALEX ’97 and AFRILEX-SALEX’98 had been very successful and
the trainers devoted a considerable amount of time to the African languages.
The Executive and Board regretted the fact that no funds were made available
for training purposes. The Pan South African Language Board (PANSALB) would in
future be involved with training. Prof. Gouws would on his return from Germany
give feedback to PANSALB on his research on various matters, inter alia
training. Each year the WAT conducts training at regular intervals, i.e. in
March and September. It was suggested at the meeting that training endeavours
should be co-ordinated and that institutions like PANSALB, DACST and UNESCO be
consulted regarding funding for such co-ordinated training endeavours.
3
Chairperson’s
Annual Report: 1998-1999 – by RH Gouws
& &
4TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
A
very successful 4th International Afrilex Conference was held from 5
to 6 July 1999. A variety of lexicographical topics received attention. There
were two keynote speakers: Prof. AC Nkabinde gave Some hints on the
compilation of a monolingual dictionary in a Bantu language with special
reference to Zulu. Mr. G-M de Schryver from Belgium discussed The
compilation of dictionaries for African languages and the concept of
'Simultaneous Feedback'.
We
saw two new faces at this Conference: Ms. Kathy Kavanagh, the new
Editor-in-Chief at the DSAE, and Dr. Claire Cowie also from DSAE. Dr. Cowie
also read a paper.
One
of the main features of the Conference was that everyone present was very keen
to learn as much as possible. There was also an atmosphere of goodwill amongst
everyone present, with people trying to help less experienced participants. It
was wonderful to see the younger members of AFRILEX not only attending the
Conference but also reading papers. We had several members from other parts of
Africa, such as Botswana and Zimbabwe, attending the Conference. This makes
AFRILEX truly an AFRICAN association.
The
Organiser, Prof. Daan Prinsloo did a very good job of the organisation of this
Conference. The venues were easy to find owing to all the signposts. The
refreshments and lunches were superb. Prof. Prinsloo even managed to present
participants with a special AFRILEX shoulder bag. The Conference dinner was
once again sponsored by the publisher Pharos, and AFRILEX would like to
thank Mr. Büttner and his organisation for the excellent dinner.
In
the Publisher’s session, two of the publishers present shared information
regarding new dictionaries and gave pointers on how to go about when wishing to
publish a dictionary. A special feature at this Conference was the information
and discussion session that was lead by Mr. MB Kumalo.
Prof.
Nkabinde conducted the closure. Dr Mariëtta Alberts handed an AFRILEX shoulder
bag to Mr. Kumalo and the two keynote speakers each received a pottery AFRILEX
plaque made by her.
& & &
NATIONAL
LEXICOGRAPHY UNITS
Mr.
Kumalo, Chairperson of the Lexicography, Terminology and Place Names Portfolio
of PANSALB – or better known to AFRILEX members as the MINISTER OF
LEXICOGRAPHY, lead a very informative session on the envisaged
establishment of eleven National Lexicography Units for the official languages
of South Africa. He answered all questions posed to him in a very frank and
informative way. Mr. Kumalo explained to members that the PANSALB Act, No. 59
of 1995, was revised and that a new PANSALB Bill was ratified by Parliament
during the last parliamentary session. The Bill would become an Act the moment
it was signed by the President of the Republic of South Africa.
All
National Lexicography Units will, with the promulgation of the Act, immediately
become non-profitable Companies under Section 21 of the Law, similar to the
present Dictionary of South African English (DSAE) (English). The Bureau of the
Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT) (for Afrikaans) that always existed
under its own Act, Act No. 50 of 1973, will then also change to a Section 21
Company. The existing lexicography units (Sepedi at the Universities of
Pretoria and the North; Zulu at the University of Zululand; Xhosa at the Fort
Hare University and Ndebele at the University of Pretoria) would immediately
become units under the new PANSALB Act.
National
Lexicography Units (NLUs) will also be established at this stage for the other
languages that do not have such offices yet.
Mr.
Kumalo indicated that specific meetings would be organised by PANSALB in July
and September 1999 for existing National Lexicography Units to discuss relevant
matters and that the envisaged NLUs would have their turn for discussions in August
and October 1999. PANSALB would keep members informed of these meetings.
Mr.
Kumalo also explained financial implications for NLUs regarding the present and
future scenarios.
& & & &
4TH
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The
AGM was scheduled for 14:00 on Monday 5 July 1999 and it was attended by 50
members. The proposed amendments to the Constitution were dealt with amicably.
The
election of Board members was done by postal ballot. Dr. Rachélle Gauton acted
for the second time as the independent electoral officer for the election of
the AFRILEX Board. She presented a list of 17 names of AFRILEX members who had
received the most votes. Six of these received a draw in the number of votes,
and the meeting decided to appoint everyone elected. The following people were
elected: Prof. DJ Prinsloo, Prof. RH Gouws, Dr. M. Alberts, Prof. AC Nkabinde,
Dr DJ van Schalkwyk, Prof. PH Swanepoel, Dr MM Marggraff, Dr AR Chuwa, Mrs. PM
Silva, Mr. HD Büttner, Mr. MH Mpungose, Prof. SE Bosch, Mr. PM Lubisi, Mr. KJ
Mashamaite, Dr. MJ Mojalefa, Mr. B Schulz, and Mrs. FM Shoba. Drs. Marggraff
and Van Schalkwyk indicated that they would not be available. As the publisher
of the journal Lexikos, the WAT was ex officio member of the
AFRILEX Board and would therefore need to appoint a representative.
Prof.
Gouws’ period as Chairperson lapsed since he had already served for two
consecutive terms. Nominations were made for the position of Chairperson and
Prof. Daan Prinsloo was elected unanimously. The Compiler of this Newsletter
wishes to congratulate Prof. Daan Prinsloo on behalf of AFRILEX!!!
According
to Mr. Willem Botha, representative of the Bureau of the Woordeboek van die
Afrikaanse Taal, the progress on the publication of the next Lexikos was
going according to schedule and it would probably be published in September.
The latest version of the journal, Lexikos 8, was published at a
financial loss. It was therefore decided to bring in a system of page fees.
People who belong to tertiary institutions and who are receiving subsidies for
publishing research papers will in future be singled out to pay R50.00 per page
to publish in Lexikos.
It
was decided that membership fees for the year 2000 would not be increased and
that membership fees should remain at R70.00 for local members and US$25 for
foreign members.
& & & & &
EXECUTIVE
& BOARD MEETING: MONDAY 5 JULY 1999 (INCOMING)
The
newly elected AFRILEX Board convened just after the AGM to elect office bearers
to the Executive. The newly appointed Executive consists of:
Chairperson: Prof. DJ Prinsloo
Vice-chairperson: Prof. AC Nkabinde
Secretary: Dr. M Alberts
Treasurer: Mr. KJ Mashamaite
Organiser: Mr. B Schulz
These
members are congratulated!!!
*
Prof.
Rufus Gouws reports: The Theory continues to develop
It
has often been said that lexicography had been established and witnessed its
most important development in a pretheoretical milieu. However, one of the most
characteristic features of modern-day lexicography is the growth and
development of its theoretical component and the interaction between theory and
practice. Good dictionaries display a sound theoretical basis.
The
most productive contribution towards the formulation of a general theory of
lexicography comes from the University of Heidelberg in Germany where Herbert
Ernst Wiegand and his colleagues in the Department of Germanic Studies focus
their research on this topic. It has been my privilege to visit the University
of Heidelberg this year from January to July as part of my study leave. The
purpose of my visit was to work on the development of a theoretically founded
model for the South African National Lexicographic Units. I found Heidelberg an
excellent venue for my research and had great pleasure in working with Prof.
Wiegand. He is not only interested in the South African lexicographic
situation, but since his visit to South Africa in 1996, when he read a keynote
paper at the AFRILEX conference, he is also well aware of the problems, the
challenges and the opportunities.
The
theory developed by Wiegand is often regarded as extremely complex and
abstract. However, Wiegand knows that there is nothing as practical as a good
theory. One of the interesting aspects of my stay was to discuss the numerous
practical applications of his theory, and to direct it at the general South
African lexicographic process. In this regard we came up with a lot of thought
provoking ideas which should lead to the enhancement of our lexicographic
endeavour.
I
also had the opportunity to read a paper at the Heidelberg Lexicographic
Colloquium where the participants showed a keen interest in the complexity of
the South African linguistic and lexicographic situation.
& & & & & &
5th
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
An
invitation was received from Prof. Rufus Gouws to hold the year 2000 Conference
in Stellenbosch. Prof. Gouws invited Prof. Sven Tarp from Aarhus in Denmark as
the international keynote speaker. Prof. Tarp is a renowned scholar on
terminology and terminography. Prof. Gouws also promised to organise a
pre-conference symposium on terminology principles and practice.
It
was therefore decided by the Board that the 5th International
AFRILEX Conference as well as the 5th Annual General Meeting would
be held in 2000 at the University of Stellenbosch. The host, the Department of
Afrikaans and Dutch of the University of Stellenbosch, would supply information
on dates and venues at a later stage. You will be kept informed by the
Organiser, Mr. Bernd Schulz, and via the Newsletter.
& & & & & & &
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION ON THE ESTABLISHMENT AND HISTORY OF AFRILEX
In
1992 Dr. Mariëtta Alberts was requested by the Board of Control of the Bureau
of the WAT to conduct a feasibility study on the viability of an Institute
for Southern African Lexicography. At that stage (as is the present situation)
there were so many established lexicographical interests financed by the state
or privately that the lexicographical practice was fragmented. The different
components originated from particular historical, cultural and organisational
conditions, and consequently had a right to exist for that very reason and were
also maintained for particular reasons. The idea was that an institute could
unify the lexicographical practice and reconcile the different components.
A
needs assessment study was done. According to this assessment there was an
urgent need for co-operation, co-ordination and communication among practising
lexicographers. The most important stakeholders (private lexicographers,
publishers, language bureaux, academics, etc.) however had strong reservations
about the establishment of an institute due to ‘a fear that an institute
would be simply another control board with enforceable powers. While the need
is felt and recognised for a unifying structure, respondents do not want an
authoritarian, bureaucratic body that restricts individual freedom in its
management and control.’ (Alberts, Mariëtta. 1993. Feasibility Study:
Institute for Southern African Lexicography.) Because of the strong
resistance against an institute (‘a dominating force’), the research
team (Dr. Alberts and Prof. WRG Branford) recommended the establishment of an
association for lexicography. Such an association was established on 14 July
1995 in Stellenbosch and is known as the African Association for
Lexicography (AFRILEX).
AFRILEX
has its own newsletter, and own magazine (Lexikos in the AFRILEX series)
and communicates with South African, African, American, European and Asian
stakeholders in the field of Lexicography. AFRILEX is managed by a Board and an
Executive Committee. Annual General Meetings of AFRILEX take place during the
International Conferences annually held by the organisation.
Afrilex
undertakes the training of lexicographers. Two successful training sessions
were held during 1997 and 1998 with lexicographers from abroad as well as South
African Lexicographers as trainers, namely the SALEX’97 course at Rhodes
University in Grahamstown organised by the Dictionary Unit for South African
English and the AFRILEX-SALEX'98 course at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria.
SALEX’97 concentrated on the compilation of monolingual dictionaries, while
AFRILEX-SALEX’98 concentrated on the compilation of bilingual dictionaries.
Special emphasis was given to problems relating to the compilation of
dictionaries in the African languages.
The AFRILEX WWW Homepage Address:
http://www.up.ac.za/academic/libarts/afrilang/homelex.html
and snail-mail address:
AFRILEX
Department of African Languages
University of Pretoria
Pretoria 0002
Telephone: (+27 12) 420 2320
Fax: (+27 12) 420 3167
Cell phone: 083 302 32 31
†
DOODSBERIG
PROF
JOHAN COMBRINK
Dit
is met leedwese dat AFRILEX verneem het dat prof. Johan Combrink, voorsitter van
die Taalkommissie en emeritusprofessor aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch,
op Sondagoggend 25 Julie 1999 op Stellenbosch oorlede is. Hy is in die
Stellenbosche Medi-Clinic dood aan komplikasies weens asma nadat hy griep en
toe longontsteking opgedoen het. Hy het die laaste jare hart- en longprobleme
gehad.
Prof.
Combrink was ‘n briljante taalkundige en stimulerende dosent. Ná sy aftrede in
1995 aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch se Departement Afrikaans en
Nederlands was hy in diens van die Stigting vir Afrikaans. Hy was voorsitter
van die Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK) se Taalkommissie
en van die SAAWK se Terminologiekomitee. Vroeër vanjaar is die DF Malan-medalje
van die SAAWK aan hom toegeken vir sy volksopvoeding op Afrikaanse taal-gebied.
Hy het ‘n enorme bydrae gelewer om Afrikaans se beeld as inklusiewe taal op ‘n
oop manier te bevorder en bevestig (Beeld, 1999-07-26:1). Hy was ‘n lid van die
Pleknamekomitee en ‘n stigterslid van die Suid-Afrikaanse Vertalers-instituut.
Prof.
Combrink was ‘n besondere begaafde mens. Hy was nie net as taalkundige bekend
nie, maar hy was ook ‘n kunstenaar in eie reg. Hy het ‘n besondere liefde vir
klippe gehad en het halfedelstene geslyp en in o.a. juwele gemonteer.
Vir
die Afrikaanse taalkunde is sy dood ‘n baie groot verlies. Dié van ons wat
bevoorreg was om nou met hom saam te werk, sal hom besonder baie mis. Sy liefde
en ywer vir Afrikaans sal as voorbeeld dien (E-poshuldeblyk: Prof. Wannie
Carstens).
Die
lede van AFRILEX wil hiermee hul meegevoel betuig teenoor sy vrou, Dr Louise
Combrink, Prof. Combrink se ses kinders en vyf kleinkinders, vriende en
kollegas. ONS AS TAALKUNDIGES EER SY NAGEDAGTENIS!
(English
abstract: Prof. Johan Combrink died on 25 July 1999 at the age of 60 years
as the result of complications from pneumonia and heart failure. Prof. Combrink
was an excellent linguist with the gift of bringing the wonders of the
Afrikaans language to academics as well as lay people. AFRILEX wishes to convey
its condolences to the bereaved family, friends and colleagues.)
:
What
to give to the person who has everything? Give the gift of words. Here is a
gift that keeps on giving. Prof. Johan Combrink shared his love of words with
me (M Alberts) by sending me a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day (AWAD). To
enter a gift subscription of AWAD, please visit:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html
To subscribe yourself, use:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/subscribe.html
☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻
NEW
MEMBERS
Kathy
Kavanagh, the Director of the Dictionary Unit for South African English, is
from Britain. She arrived in South Africa on Election Day.
She
read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and later did a M.Sc. in Library
and Information Studies. She also has a TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages) Certificate. She has been involved in ELT dictionaries. She
began her lexicographical career at Collins Cobuild based at the University of
Birmingham. She worked on the first edition of the Cobuild Dictionary.
For
the last 6½ years before coming here she worked for Oxford University Press in
Oxford. She worked in the ELT Dictionaries Department and, with Jonathan
Crowther, edited the 5th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
(1995). She also edited with Jonathan Crowther the recently published Oxford
Guide to British and American Life and Culture. This covers people, places,
institutions, the arts, sport and all aspects of daily life in the two
countries. She wrote the extended articles and notes, which deal with topics
such as education, industry, humour, and manners. Intended as a companion
volume to the OALD, covering material not suitable for inclusion in a lexical
dictionary but useful for learners of the language. She also worked on an
English-Modern Greek dictionary for learners of English.
She
has also worked as Music Librarian for the English Chamber Orchestra and as a
Librarian / Information Officer for the National Council for Educational
Technology. She spent 4 years at the Natural History Museum in London and was
involved in editing several joint papers, doing botanical fieldwork and writing
species descriptions in Latin!!! Very esoteric!
Kathy
lived for extended periods in Zambia and Tanzania in the 1980s/90s. She is
interested in everything, especially natural history, hiking and opera!
You
can contact Kathy Kavanagh at:
Tel.
& Fax: (+27 46) 603-8107, E-mail: kathy@aardvark.ru.ac.za
☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺
Dr
Claire Cowie is a UCT graduate. She recently completed her doctorate in English
Historical Linguistics at the University of Cambridge. Her work has been
concerned with word-formation and approaches to morphological productivity. Her
doctoral thesis compared nominalisation across different registers. She aims to
promote the study of neologising from a sociolinguistic perspective, through a
range of different sources from slang to terminology creation. She is interested
in varieties of South African English, and borrowings from African languages.
She is currently studying Xhosa at Rhodes University. You can contact her at:
Dictionary Unit for SA English
Rhodes University
P.O. Box 94
Grahamstown 6140
Tel. & Fax: (+27 46) 603-8107
J K L
"The
world is a looking glass and gives back to every man (woman) the reflection of
his (her) own face" – William Thackeray
. . . . . . . .
PANSALB
NEWS
The
Pan South African Language Board (Pansalb) was established in October 1995 in
line with the Pan South African Language Board Act No. 59 of 1995. The Board is
composed of 13 members. The members were inaugurated on the 26th
April 1996. The members held a strategic planning session and developed
strategies that will assist Pansalb to carry out its mandate. These members
also developed the mission and vision to guide the Board’s task of redressing
the linguistic imbalances and anomalies of the past.
In
terms of section 8(8)(a) and (b), of the PANSALB Act, 1995, nine (9) provincial
language Committees and fourteen (14) National Language Bodies have to be
established respectively. The language Committees of the Eastern Cape,
Mpumalanga and the Northern Provinces have already been established.
The
Pan South African Language Board Act No. 59 of 1995 was revised during 1998 and
1999. The Bill was debated and passed in the National Assembly on 23 February
1999. This debate took place after discussions were held between Pansalb, DACST
and the Portfolio Committee on Arts, Culture and Language, Science and
Technology on the amendment of the Pan South African Language Board Act No. 59
of 1995. The Bill was passed and the Act will come into operation on a date
still to be determined by the President by proclamation in the Gazette.
The
amendments encompass the composition of the Pansalb and the procedure for the
appointment of members, and to adjust the provisions relating to its powers and
functions, the appointment of its staff, the duties of the Chief Executive
Officer as that of the Boards’ accounting officer and contracts with experts
for obtaining their specialised or technical services, to regulate the
financing of the Board and the application of its funds, and prescribe
accounting and auditing requirements and procedures, to regulate copyright in
the products of the Board, to make the provisions of the Act binding to the
State, to effect consequential and technical amendments by the supersedence of
the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1993, by the Constitution of
South Africa, 1996, and to provide for incidental matters (Pansalb News, March
1999).
?
Man
was born free, and everywhere he is in chains. – Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
TTT
TERMINOLOGY
NEWS
QUID
NOVI? (What’s new? Nuwe nuus? Ndi zwifhio zwiswa? Tse ntjha ke dife? Ke eng se
se mpšha? Yintoni entsha? Incini xintshwa? Yini entsha? Yini lensha? Khuyini
okutjha? Ke eng se sešwa?)
("Quid
Novi?" is the Internal Newsletter of the National Language Service
(NLS))
TTT &
The
Terminology and Place Names Division of the National Language Service,
Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST) is planning to
disseminate terminology information currently available in the National
Termbank via the Internet. People interested in visiting the Department’s
homepage may do so at:
TTT & &
As
a member of the Terminology Committee of the Suid-Afrikaanse Akademie
vir Wetenskap en Kuns (SAAWK), Dr. Mariëtta Alberts has been invited to
assist the Arts Commission of the SAAWK with the revision of Art
Terms/Kunsterme. The present term list was published in 1967. The
project was commissioned by the SAAWK and was carried out under the
auspices of the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology’s
predecessor, namely the Department of Education, Arts and Science. The
planned revised version will be expanded to incorporate the latest art terminology.
The terms will be defined and it will be a multilingual dictionary (Quid novi?
1999:1(1)).
TTT & & &
Dr.
NO Mkhulisi, Director National Language Service (NLS), attended the International
Colloquium on Multilingualism and Government in Antwerp, Belgium, from
23 – 25 June. The aim of the colloquium was primarily to formulate suggestions
regarding the further realisation of multilingualism in government in South
Africa. This colloquium, the first of a series of three, is part of a project
on Multilingualism, Informatics and Development that was started
on 1 January 1999 and will run until 31 December 2001. Five partners are
involved: The Province and University of Antwerp (Flanders, Belgium), the
Province and University of the Free State (South Africa) and the Flemish
Informatics company CIPAL. With this initiative, funded by the Province of
Antwerp, they wish to contribute to the development of a democratic,
multilingual society in South Africa (Quid novi? 1999:1(2)). For more
information, contact:
Dr NO Mkhulisi
National Language Service
Private Bag X195
G G G G
On
2 July 1999 the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria
hosted the Conference and Workshop on Plain legal Language. On this
occasion Dr. Mariëtta Alberts read a paper titled Plain language in a
multilingual country. The aim of the conference was to consider how to
make South African law more understandable to the layperson (Quid novi?
1999:1(2)).
Dr.
Alberts was invited to read a paper at this Conference since she is a founder
member and the secretary of the Centre for Legal Terminology in African
Languages (CLTAL). Other AFRILEX members who are also
members of CLTAL are: Prof. Daan Prinsloo, Dr. Jerry Mojalefa, Ms. Judi de
Beer, and Mrs. Rika Koekemoer. The CLTAL plans to publish its first
trilingual explanatory dictionary on Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and
Law of Evidence at the end of the year or early next year. The recent
project contains terms and definitions in English and term equivalents and
definitions in Afrikaans and Sepedi. The CLTAL already established a
committee to work on the Sesotho terms. A number of legal terms is also
available in Siswati. Any language group interested in supplying the legal term
equivalents and definitions in its own language is free to establish a
committee under the auspices of CLTAL. Interested persons may contact CLTAL at:
P
O Box 27913, SUNNYSIDE 0132
E A
A
Two
of the African Language terminologists working at the NLS, who started their
terminology careers on the same day in 1995, got married on the 10th
of July 1999 (Quid novi? 1999:1(1)). The members of AFRILEX wish Bukelwa Mlamla
and Trueman Kubeka a very happy life together!
. . . . . .
On
19th July 1999 an overjoyed Milde Barnard-Weiss, an Assistant
Director at the Terminology and Place Names Division, NLS, received the news
that her doctoral thesis was accepted and that she has passed her D. Phil
examination. The title of her thesis is: Die vrou in die Nederduitsch Hervormde
kerk van Afrika: Haar beeld en kerklike rol, 1940 – 1983. Milde did her
doctoral studies under the leadership of Prof. JS Bergh of the History
Department, University of Pretoria. A hearty congratulation from all AFRILEX
members to Dr. Barnard-Weiss – we are extremely proud of you!!!
?
"If
you don’t learn to laugh at troubles, you won’t have anything to laugh at when
you grow old" – Ed Howe
TTT & & & &
TERMINOLOGY
ACCREDITATION
A
system of accreditation was introduced by the South African Translators’ institute
(SATI) late in 1990 in an effort to improve the standing of translators in the
community and to assure clients of a certain level of competence in the
translator they employ. The system began with translation and has been expanded
as required. Accreditation is available only to members of SATI and should
membership of the Institute lapse, accreditation lapses as well. Persons
applying for accreditation thus implicitly agree to remain members of the
Institute. Accreditation is currently available for translation, for purposes
of becoming a sworn translator, for language editing, for interpreting, for
terminology and for pioneer Bible translation.
Terminology
accreditation involves the compilation of a mini bilingual, bi-directional
technical dictionary in the subject field of candidates’ choice, e.g. natural
sciences, biological sciences, human sciences, social sciences, commercial
sciences, life sciences, engineering, technology, sport and recreation.
Documentation in the subject field will be provided and candidates will have to
excerpt the terms from this. The mini dictionary should include appropriate
front matter with indications on how the dictionary was compiled and problems
encountered while compiling it, and also back matter (i.e. bibliography, names
of subject specialists, linguists consulted, etc.). An indication of how the
dictionary user should use the dictionary should also be given. At this stage
only two candidates were accredited in Terminology, namely Mrs. Irene Dippenaar
(a former Vice-Chairperson of AFRILEX) and Dr Mariëtta Alberts (Secretary of
AFRILEX). There are several terminologists at the NLS who are either busy with
the terminology accreditation or interested in doing it.
The
current cost for the various types of accreditation is as follows:
Fees
are subject to change and should be confirmed when applying for accreditation.
Candidates who do not pass an examination may try again after a year.
People
interested in becoming members of SATI can contact:
The Registrar (Mrs. Irene Dippenaar)
SATI, PO Box 27711
SUNNYSIDE 0132
Telefax: (+27 12) 343-0730
E-mail: sati@intekom.co.za
SATI
members wishing to apply for accreditation should contact:
The Chairperson: Examinations Committee
(Prof. AL Combrink), Department of English
Potchefstroom University for CHE
Private Bag X6001
POTCHEFSTROOM 2520
Tel.: (+27 18) 299-1560
Fax: (+27 18) 299-1562
* + , - . / + *
16th
TERMINOLOGY SUMMER SCHOOL 1999 – AUSTRIA
After
15 successive and successful events, the Terminology Summer School, organised
by the International Institute for Terminology Research (IITF), in
co-operation with the International Network for Terminology (TermNet)
and the International Information Centre for Terminology (Infoterm), has
become a kind of annual fixture. It is a much appreciated meeting for those
within the terminology community and beyond who value efforts to share
experiences in the field of terminology and see it as a route towards upgrading
the level of terminology experts as well as improving the status of the field
as a whole.
The
16th Terminology Summer School will be held at Danube University,
Krems (Austria) from 5–8 August 1999.
Three
modules will be offered this year: Terminology Teaching and Training –
Training of Trainers with Profs. Gerhard Budin, Heribert Picht and Sue
Ellen Wright as tutors; Hands-on Experience: Computer-Based Terminology
Manage-ment with Profs. Gerhard Budin, Klaus-Dirk Schmitz and Sue Ellen
Wright as tutors; and Terminology Standardisation Project Management
with Profs. Chris Cox, Klaus-Dirk Schmitz and Christian Galinski as tutors.
More
information can be obtained from:
TermNet
Simmeringer Hauptstrasse 24
A-1110 Vienna AUSTRIA
Fax: +43 1 740 40 281
E-mail: rkrahe@termnet.at
J K L J K L J K L J K L J K L
The
Unofficial Smiley Dictionary
Using
e-mail has the drawback that remarks may be misunderstood due to the absence of
voice tone. The solution is to use a smiley. This little
"face", also called an emoticon, is formed by the creative use
of punctuation marks and adds emotion to your messages. For instance, put :-)
after a joking statement, or ;-) if you say it with a wink! (A kind of
"Don’t hit me for what I have just said" message).
The
Unofficial Smiley Dictionary is one of the smiley lists available on the Web at
http://www.eff.org (Quid novi? 1999:1(2)).
~
* NEW NEWS UP
The
task of the editor of the newsletter is to co-ordinate and distribute a newsletter.
It is impossible to write a newsletter without news. You are therefore
cordially requested to supply the editor with relevant lexicographical or
terminographical information you would like to see distributed to members of
Afrilex. With your help, we can publish this newsletter at regular intervals.
We would appreciate your ideas or comments on the frequency and contents of the
newsletter. Let us make it a team effort! You can provide news in any of the
official South African languages. Please supply an abstract in English to
assist our readers without a knowledge of Afrikaans and the indigenous African
languages to retrieve the relevant information. You can e-mail, phone, fax or
post information to Mariëtta Alberts at:
Tel.: (+27 12) 337-8166
Fax: (+27 12) 324-2119
Address:
National Language Service
Private Bag X894
PRETORIA 0001
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