The nature and origin of acronyms in Kiswahili and Setswana
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Date
2017
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
This study examines how this mechanism has been used in two major
regional languages, namely Kiswahili, spoken in eastern Africa, and
Setswana, extensively used in southern Africa. The main aim of the
article is to investigate how these two regional languages have dealt
with the influx of acronyms which have become important word
forms in African languages, as the use of these languages expands
to higher domains. The study uses primary and secondary data to
demonstrate the efforts which have been made in the development
of acronyms in both languages, and the challenges which have been
experienced. The study findings are very revealing in that they show
that, although most African dictionaries do not include acronyms as
part of their entries, they are found most often in the higher domains
and appear in many forms. The main conclusion of the paper is
that African countries need full-fledged language institutions and
supportive language policies in order to spearhead the process of
lexical expansion and intellectualization of the indigenous African
languages by using all strategies of term development.
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Keywords
Kiswahili, Setswana
Citation
Matlhaku, K., & Batibo, H.M. (2017). The nature and origin of acronyms in Kiswahili and Setswana. JULACE: Journal of University of Namibia Language Centre, 2(2), 68-82.