The Boko-English, English-Boko dictionary was compiled by the author
over a period of 35 years, half of which time he lived among the Boko
people in Benin Republic. It forms a trilogy together with the
simultaneously published Bokobaru and Busa dictionaries. This cluster
of languages, of which the grammar was published in 1998 by Lincom
Europa, belongs to the Eastern subdivision of the Mande language
family.
The database is root based, so that any word that begins with a
lexeme root will appear as a subentry under that lexeme. The 7000
head and subwords written in Boko orthography are followed by
phonetic representations, including tones and variants, a part of
speech label and glosses in English and French. Sentences in the
vernacular illustrate the use of the words, followed by a translation
into English.
Etymology, synonyms and variants are given as appropriate, with the
etymology showing significant historical borrowing from Dendi.
Comparison of Boko words with the equivalent words in the Bokobaru
and Busa dictionaries illustrates consonant weakening, elision and
significant changes in the tone systems.
Linguistic Field(s): Language Description; Lexicography
Subject Language(s): Boko (Language Code: BQC)
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