[Lexicog] polysynthetic languages and dictionaries

[Wayne Leman]

> Wayne,
>
> Good points, though as for number two, pride in the language,
> my experience there is they don't actually use the dictionary.

Bill, the dictionaries we have helped produced are widely used by Cheyennes.
Yesterday I observed a middle-aged Cheyenne student at the reservation
college using our latest work-in-progress CD dictionary--she was not doing
it for my sake; I just happened to come along while she was using the
dictionary on computer. I think what you have said does happen in some
situations. In others, there is a genuine interest in the language and the
native speakers use the dictionaries and other materials used. My own sense
is that one factor may be the extent to which native speakers have been
involved in decisions about how the dictionary was produced.

> When it first comes out they flip through it, very likely,
> depending on personality and politics, complain about the
> writing system (a popular sport and you can't win - no choice is
> correct), and then admire it on the shelf.
>
> My reaction would be that the most important use here, for a
> comprehensive dictionary, would be for the semi-speakers,
> since they may encounter a word of arbitrary complexity that
> they don't know and want to find out about. For checking spelling,
> it seems to me that where the language has a nice phonological
> writing system (as do just about all languages for which the writing
> system was created recently since they haven't had time to get
> messed up), once people learn the system they don't need to
> check the spelling of particular words. In this case, the role
> of the dictionary is not so much as a reference for the relatively
> advanced person who isn't sure of the spelling of an obscure word,
> but as a source of examples of correct spelling for people whose
> literacy skills in the language are fairly limited. The needs
> of people learning to write can therefore be met by a non-comprehensive
> dictionary that contains both lots of common words, so that people
> will find the things that they are trying to write initially and
> can easily find examples, and examples of things that are likely
> to cause difficulty (rare sounds, sounds spelled in a way that is
> confusing because of differences with English or other dominant
> language, phonetically subtle contrasts that some speakers are
> not confident about, maybe complicated clusters). I am wondering
> whether for this purpose this kind smaller dictionary may not be
> better. One reason for producing such a thing separately, even if both
> it and a larger dictionary would in theory serve the need,
> is that such a dictionary, being smaller, could perhaps be made
> pocket-sized so that people could easily carry it around.

Good points. Our first dictionary was called a "student dictionary"
supposedly designed (by the local bilingual ed. staff and a previous
linguist who lef the program just before I arrived--no causal connection)
for use by elementary and high school students. It is relatively small, has
nice line drawings. It has gotten a great deal of use.

We'll see how the new, very extensive, multi-media dictionary does. So far,
it has gotten good reception from the Cheyenne students in my linguistics
and literacy classes. We'll see how it does with the rest of the reservation
population.

Wayne
-----
Wayne Leman
Cheyenne website: http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language

>
> Bill
>
> --
> Bill Poser, Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/HKE4lB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->


Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lexicographylist/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     lexicographylist-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/