Paperback: ISBN: 389586837X Pages: 212 Price: Europe EURO 68
Abstract:
The Busa-English, English-Busa dictionary was compiled by the author
in Nigeria over a 12 year period while translating the Bible into
Busa. It forms a trilogy together with the simultaneously published
Boko and Bokobaru dictionaries. This cluster of languages, of which
the grammar was published by Lincom Europa in 1998, 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 6600 head and
subwords are written in bold Busa orthography, followed by phonetic
representations, including tones and variants, a part of speech label
and glosses in English.
Etymology, synonyms and variants
are given as appropriate, with the etymology showing significant
historical borrowing from Dendi. Comparison of Busa words with the
equivalent words in the Boko and Bokobaru dictionaries illustrates
consonant weakening, elision, and significant changes in the tone
systems.
Linguistic Field(s):
Language Description
Lexicography
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