https://hdl.handle.net/10646/46 2026-04-09T23:50:44Z 2026-04-09T23:50:44Z Mawema, Moreblessing.B. Chitauro https://hdl.handle.net/10646/470 2025-12-14T01:14:32Z 2003-01-01T00:00:00Z

Mvana and Their Children: The Language of the Shona People as it Relates to Women and Womens’ Space Mawema, Moreblessing.B. Chitauro Research elsewhere, within English and other languages, has shown that linguistic behaviour is one of the keys to understanding the nature and status of women in the attitudes transmitted through language (Frank and Anshen 1983; Cameron 1990; 1998; Coates 1998; Spender 1980; West and Zimmerman 1975 etc.). This article seeks to examine the language of the Shona people as it is related to women and women’s space by examining terminology for mvana [single mothers (…and more)] and their children, conceived out of marriage, to uncover and document explicit and implicit attitudes to women. The terms used in this article were collected through a questionnaire and discussions held in Harare and Mhondoro, especially targeted at the language which people speak, but is never recorded.

2003-01-01T00:00:00Z Mpofu, Nomalanga https://hdl.handle.net/10646/463 2025-12-14T01:14:32Z 2002-01-01T00:00:00Z

Lexicographical Developments in the Shona Language as Reflected in Making of the Duramanzwi Guru reChishona (DGS) Mpofu, Nomalanga This article traces lexicographical developments in Shona, one of the major languages of Zimbabwe, with particular focus on corpus building and the role the corpus has played in Shona lexicography in the past hundred or so years and recent developments as reflected in the making of Duramazwi Guru ReChiShona by the African Languages Research Institute (ALRI) team of the University of Zimbabwe.

2002-01-01T00:00:00Z Mpofu, Nomalanga https://hdl.handle.net/10646/443 2025-10-02T01:13:53Z 2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

Problems of Equivalence in Shona- English Bilingual Dictionaries Mpofu, Nomalanga In compiling bilingual dictionaries, lexicographers are mostly concerned with seman- tic equivalence. As a result, the practice of bilingual dictionary compilers is usually that of giving one-word equivalents. However, this equivalence is at times difficult to arrive at because of the disparities and incommensurability between languages and cultures. According to Sapir (1921) and Whorl (1956), one cannot expect an exact match between two languages that express different cul- tural realities. Given this scenario, compilers of bilingual dictionaries end up bridging the gap between languages by giving translational equivalents rather than relying solely on one-word equivalents. The Shona-English bilingual dictionaries, namely Hannan (1974) and Dale (1981), like other bilingual dictionaries, also display this characteristic. This article will discuss the problems of translation equivalents in Shona-English dictionaries where lexicographers will be dealing with divergent languages and cultures, traditional practices of lexicography and the absence of reliable corpora.

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z Mpofu, Nomalanga Mangoya, Esau https://hdl.handle.net/10646/442 2026-01-06T01:12:51Z 2005-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Compilation of the Shona - English Biomedical Dictionary: Problems and Challenges Mpofu, Nomalanga; Mangoya, Esau The bilingual Shona-English dictionary of biomedical terms, Duramazwi reUrapi neUtano, was compiled with the aim of improving the efficiency of communication between doctor and patient. The dictionary is composed of terms from both modern and traditional medicinal practices. The article seeks tolook at the methods of production of the dictionary, the presentation ot entries in the dictionary and the problems and challenges encountered in the compilation proc- ess, namely, developing Shona medical terminology in the cultural context and especially the as- pect of equivalence between English and Shona biomedical terms. This article is a compilation of two papers presented by the authors at the Eighth International Conference of the African Association for Lexicography, organised by the Department of Germanic and Romance Languages, University of Namibia, Windhoek, 7-9 July 2003

2005-01-01T00:00:00Z