No lost words! Doing dictionary development in the Aitape area
24 October, 2012 – Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea – Kate King with Tim Scott (Photos by Luke Warrington)
“I’m so excited to learn about my language!” Most of us don’t get excited about dictionaries and grammar. But imagine that your language has never before been documented in a dictionary and you’re finding out how to change that. It’s definitely something to celebrate. Recently, members of nine language communities in the Aitape area of Sandaun (West Sepik) Province did just that, at a two-week dictionary-making workshop. The workshop was taught by Papua New Guinean translators and literacy workers from the Aitape West translation project who had attended an SIL Lexicography workshop, bringing back new skills and information to share with their colleagues. Preceding the workshop was a week of computer training for literacy workers from the different communities. For all of them this was the first time using computers, but by the end of the week they were proficient in operating netbooks and typing. At the main workshop the participants learned how to write definitions and example sentences, what to do when a word has multiple meanings, and how to identify parts of speech in their language. In the afternoons they combined this theory with their new computer skills to begin to build dictionaries using new software called WeSay, designed by SIL software developers. At the end of the two weeks, participants printed sample pages from their dictionaries, ready for community testing. A highlight of the workshop for the organisers was the participants' enthusiasm for learning about the grammar of their languages. One translator from the Bauni-Pou language said, 'Now I know what is a noun, what is a verb, what is an adjective, and this will help me in my translation work, because now I know parts of speech in my language!' Another workshop is scheduled for 2013 to continue expanding the dictionaries and increasing the participants’ skills. SIL-PNG known as “Summer Institute of Linguistics” in Papua New Guinea is a faith-based non-profit organization committed to serving language communities throughout Papua New Guinea as they build capacity for sustainable language development. PNG Bible Translation Association is a Papua New Guinean organisation committed to translating the Bible into the languages of the country. For more information on this release, contact SIL-PNG, PO BOX 413, EHP 444, Papua New Guinea Phone: 011 + 675 + 537-4431 or Email: DO-CCO@sil.org.pg “Tok Save” is the PNG “Tok Pisin” term for announcement or “For your information”