The commitment of language

[Nat Quinn]

Language jokes are often made with the word thesaurus that evokes a picture of a kind of dinosaur that devours words. Fortunately, a thesaurus is not an extinct animal – in fact it is still young and alive.

The Thesaurus is a special kind of dictionary and on Thesaurus Day (18 January) the value of this is celebrated. It is celebrated on that day because it is the birthday of the lexicographer and father of the thesaurus, Peter Mark Roget. His Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases first came to light in 1852.

The word “thesaurus” means in Greek storeroom or treasure. Before 1852, the word thesaurus generally referred to dictionaries, but it now refers to those dictionaries that focus on the relationship that exists between words.

In connection with Akademia’s year theme of commitment, it may make sense to reflect on the connection of ideas and concepts as well. Among other things, we make use of language as a tool to express the connection between each other and our community and we want to do it as nuanced as possible. For that, we need the right language tools, an NP van Wyk Louw chit. For that, we need the right language tools, an NP van Wyk Louw chit.

For example, in Afrikaans’s Language tools, there is the thesaurus of Afrikaans by Leon and Amanda de Stadler and the synonyms and related Words Guide compiled by the Bureau of the Dictionary of the Afrikaans Language (WAT). These sources lead the user to find the right word in every context. The advantage of this is that not only synonyms are given to the keyword, but also other words that are otherwise related to one another, e.g. commitment, relationship, coherence, interwoven, bound, participate in, engage.

In the digital era, there is also extension to another source of reference, a word net (based on WordNet), which is a lexical database that indicates the relationships between words. This database differs from a traditional dictionary, because the purpose of a dictionary is mainly to explain and translate words. By contrast, a word net is mainly used for research purposes and natural language processing (NLP – Natural Language Processing). It consists of synonym sets (also known as Synsets) that refer to a group of synonyms (in the same word class) that together represent one context, e.g. Car (specific word) is a type of vehicle (general word). Definitions, sample sentences and domain icets (eg philosophy) are provided in a synonym set.

The commitment in and through language is more than just a philosophical reflection. It connects people and brings communities together. Lexicographers and language practitioners work together to make this language tool available to linguistic communities, but it is in the hands of these communities to use it.

 

source:Die verbondenheid van taal – Pretoria FM

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