African WordNet: A Viable Tool for Sense Discrimination in the Indigenous African Languages of South Africa

Stanley Madonsela, Mampaka Lydia Mojapelo, Rose Masubelele, James Mafela


Abstract
In promoting a multilingual South Africa, the government is encouraging people to speak more than one language. In order to comply with this initiative, people choose to learn the languages which they do not speak as home language. The African languages are mostly chosen because they are spoken by the majority of the country’s population. Most words in these languages have many possible senses. This phenomenon tends to pose problems to people who want to learn these languages. This article argues that the African WordNet may the best tool to address the problem of sense discrimination. The focus of the argument will be on the primary sense of the word ‘hand’, which is part of the body, as lexicalized in three indigenous languages spoken in South Africa, namely, Tshivenḓa, Sesotho sa Leboa and isiZulu. A brief historical background of the African WordNet will be provided, followed by the definition of the word ‘hand’ in the three languages and the analysis of the word in context. Lastly, the primary sense of the word ‘hand’ across the three languages will be discussed.
Anthology ID:
2016.gwc-1.29
Volume:
Proceedings of the 8th Global WordNet Conference (GWC)
Month:
27--30 January
Year:
2016
Address:
Bucharest, Romania
Editors:
Christiane Fellbaum, Piek Vossen, Verginica Barbu Mititelu, Corina Forascu
Venue:
GWC
SIG:
SIGLEX
Publisher:
Global Wordnet Association
Note:
Pages:
193–198
Language:
URL:
https://aclanthology.org/2016.gwc-1.29
DOI:
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Stanley Madonsela, Mampaka Lydia Mojapelo, Rose Masubelele, and James Mafela. 2016. African WordNet: A Viable Tool for Sense Discrimination in the Indigenous African Languages of South Africa. In Proceedings of the 8th Global WordNet Conference (GWC), pages 193–198, Bucharest, Romania. Global Wordnet Association.
Cite (Informal):
African WordNet: A Viable Tool for Sense Discrimination in the Indigenous African Languages of South Africa (Madonsela et al., GWC 2016)
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PDF:
https://aclanthology.org/2016.gwc-1.29.pdf