South Sotho is being given a leg-up into political spheres thanks to a newly developed wordlist, compiled by the University of the Free State (UFS), in conjunction with the provincial legislature.
Terms like baemedi ba dipolotiki (meaning ‘political representatives’) are among those featured in a bid to boost the status of the official language by familiarising members of parliament with relevant expressions.
Between 300 and 400 copies are to be published by the end of July and distributed among members of the provincial legislature, which has long been the exclusive domain of English and Afrikaans. Members of the public who have internet access can obtain a copy at http://www.uovs.ac.za/, while hard copies will be available on request.
Kobus Snyman of the UFS’s unit for language facilitation and empowerment says, ‘Two years ago we were approached by the provincial legislature to compile this wordlist for them. We did not hesitate to get involved as we saw this as an opportunity to contribute to the [linguistic] diversity of an institution like the legislature.”
Snyman says one of their aims is to ensure that South Sotho – spoken by the majority of Africans in the Free State -is used on an equal level with English and Afrikaans.
Initial funding for the project came from the European Union.