The treatment of culture-bound lexical items in bilingual dictionaries intended for a multilingual environment

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Bilingual dictionaries play an extremely important role in a multilingual society; theycan be perceived as the key instruments in the communication between differentgroups and speech communities. Efficient and active communication betweendifferent cultural groups is essential in the South African environment. Culture-boundlexical items and the way they are treated in bilingual dictionaries can have a greatinfluence on this process of communication. It is evident that the misrepresentation ofculture-bound lexical items in bilingual dictionaries could seriously impedecommunication rather than enhance it. It is of great importance that lexicographersshould provide users of the dictionary with adequate guidance in their treatment ofthese items. In order to equip the user with the necessary skills and knowledge, thetreatment of culture-bound items should go beyond the mere provision of a translationequivalent. Translation equivalents should be supplemented and supported byillustrative markers, labels, glosses, usage notes and pictorial illustrations could be ofuse.The particular needs of a multilingual society imply certain adaptations to thestructure and nature of a bilingual dictionary. The bilingual dictionary should beadapted in terms of form, content as well as structure in order to be able to present andtreat a representative amount of cultural data in a comprehensive manner. Thematerial used for the dictionary basis should be representative of the culture of thespeakers; the linguistic and cultural reality that confronts the speakers daily should bereflected in the dictionary, language contact and change should be acknowledged.Many South African languages still have a strong tradition of oral literature and therelation of oral and written texts should be represented realistically in the dictionarybasis.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University