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R  N*ZK& 3 > [2]Ernst KotzeWNelson Mandera Metropolitan UniversityX“Linguistic categorization as a determinant in making appropriate choices for the
roomaji component of a Japanese/Afrikaansdictionary”

Event integration in Akan: focussing on non-motion events
Kyoko Koga
1. Introduction
According to Talmy (2000), there are two typological types on the basis of the characteristic
pattern in which the conceptual structure of the macro-event is mapped onto syntactic structure,
namely, satellite-framed languages and verb-framed languages. It is suggested in some following
studies there may be a third type, equipollent-framed languages.
Akan is considered an equipollent-framed language (or symmetrical in Croft et.al.) in theliterature because event integration is typically expressed by serial verb constructions. However,there are cases which suggest these verbs are asymmetric. This paper deals with what patterns
Akan shows in all the five domains of macro events, i.e., motion, state change, realization, temporalcontouring, and action correlating, and in which domains Akan deviates from equipollent framed
pattern.
2.

Basic Information on the Language
Akan belongs to the Kwa sub-family of Niger-Congo. It is spoken in Ghana by over eight million

people. Akan has about ten dialects, the main ones being Asante, Akuapem, and Fante. These three
dialects are recognized as the standard dialects, and each has an orthography. The dialect which isdealt here is Asante. Although Akan is a tone language, tone is not marked in this paper as in theorthography.
Akan typically has a serial verb constructions as many West African languages. Some features ofserialization is࣭all the verbs in the clause have the same subject, and if the subject is a clitic pronoun it occurs
only on the first verb.
࣭verbs are marked for the same tense/aspect (in future or progressive, only the initial verb takethe marker, and non-initial are marked with the serial marker prefix a-).
3. Patterns of Expressing Events in the Five Event Domains in Akan
3.1 Motion (translational motion)
Akan basically shows equipollent framed pattern in expressing motion events. It is expressed byserial verb constructions, in which both V1 and V2 are marked for the same tense-aspect categories.
The word order in serial verb construction is fixed, that is, the verbs in serial verb constructions are
not interchangeable. For Motion events, it is always V2 which expresses the main event as in (1) to(5). The position of verbs are basically determined simply by the order of events’ occurrence. For
example, (5b) is not understandable because coming from the top of a tree takes place before fallingand not vice versa.

1(1) toa=nobottle=thetԑ-ԑnsuo=noani

float-PAST water=thek-

surface go-PAST

amena=nomu

cave=theinside‘The bottle floated into the cave.’(2) =to-obo

3SGSC=throw-PAST stone(manner as a co-event)k-

ni=fiemu (cause as a co-event)go-PAST

3SGPC=houseinside‘She threw a stone into his house.’(3) =fra-akente

3SGSC=wear-PAST kentek-

ayiforo=noase (concomitance as a co-event)go-PAST

party=thebottom‘She wore kente to the party.’(4) o=bie-e

pono=nowura-a3SGSC=open-PAST door=themu (Enablement as a co-event)enter-PAST inside‘He opened the door, and entered.’(5a) o=fi-i
3SGSC=come.from-PAST

dua

so

hwe-e

fam (precursion as a co-event)

tree

top

fall-PAST

ground‘He fell down from a tree.’(5b) ? =hwe-efam

3SGSC=fall-PAST

fi-iground come-from-PAST

dua

so

tree

top

However, there are cases where motion events are expressed in Verb- or Satellite-framed pattern.
First, when two verbs appear successively (without any word in between) in the past tense, only
the second verb is marked for past tense as in (6). On the other hand, in future or progressive, only
the initial verbs take the future or progressive marker, and non-initial are marked with theconsecutive prefix a- as in (7). The former follows the verb-framed pattern and the lattersatellite-framed pattern. These features apply to all the serial verb constructions.
(6) o=huri
3SGSC=jump

fri-i

dan=nomu

come.from-PAST

building=the

inside‘He jumped out of the building.’(7) =-dwane
3SGSC=PROG-run

a-fri

fie

h

CONS-come.out housethere‘He is running out of the house.’
Second, some path verbs which appear as V2 are grammaticalized into preposition marking

2directions. They do not display their verbal properties, namely tense-aspect markers. Not all thepath verbs have gone under such grammaticalization and for those which have, whether it isacceptable depends on tense/ aspect, semantic category of V1, and deixis of the preposition.
For example, k ‘toward (thither)’ , from a verb ‘to go’, is acceptable both in progressive aspect
and perfect aspect as in (8) and (9). But the other prepositions, ba ‘toward (hither)’ (from a verb ‘tocome’), twa ‘across’ (from a verb ‘to cut’), and fa ‘over’ (from a verb ‘take’), as far as I have investigated,
are only used in progressive tense as in (10) to (12).
(8) bl=no
ball=thea-sanekbp=no ase

PERF-climb.down

towardhill=thebottom‘The ball has rolled toward the bottom of the hill.’
cf. bl=no
ball=thea-sanea-kbp=no ase

PERF-climb.down

PERF-gohill=thebottom‘The ball has rolled down the hill (reached the bottom of the hill).”(9) bl=no
ball=theo-sanekbp=noPROG-climb.down

toward hill=theasebottom‘The ball is rolling toward the bottom of the hill.’
cf. bl=no
ball=theo-sanea-kbp=noase

PROG-climb.down

CONS-gohill=thebottom‘The ball is rolling down the hill (to reach the bottom of the hill).’(10) bl=no
ball=theo-munimunibafie=yimu

PROG-roll

toward house=this inside‘The ball is rolling into this house.’cf. *bl=no

a-munimunibaball=thePERF-roll

toward house=this inside(11) o=o-tu
3SGSC=PROG-go

fie=yimu

mmerekatwa

agoframa=nohõ

runningacrossfield=thesurrounding

mmerekatwa

agoframa=nohõ

runningacrossfield=thesurroundingfabɔtan=nosooverrock=theon‘He is running around the field.’cf. *ɔ=a-tu
3SGSC=PERF-go(12) o=o-huri
3SGSC=PROG-jump‘He is jumping over the rock.’cf. *ɔ=a-huri

fa

3SGSC=PERF-jump overbɔtan=nosorock=theon3

In addition, these prepositions are not always accepted in progressive or perfect aspect. kɔ is themost accepted, while the use of other prepositions are very limited. Under what conditions these
prepositions are accepted needs further investigation. For example, kɔ ‘toward (thither)’ is acceptable
when the manner verb is sane ‘to climb down’ as in (9), but not when the manner verb is tɛ ‘to float’ asin (13).
(13) *toa=nobottle=the
cf. toa=nobottle=theo-tɛnsuo=noanikɔamena=no

PROG-float water=thesurface toward cave=the

o-tɛ

ani

nsuo=noPROG-float water=thea-kɔ

surface CONS-go

muinsideamena=nomu

cave=theinside‘The bottle is floating into the cave (to reach inside the cave).’
Likewise, direction marker ba ‘toward (hither)’ is acceptable when the manner verb is munimuni‘to roll’ as in (10), but not when the manner verb is sane ‘to climb down’ (14).
(14) *bɔɔl=no
ball=thecf. bɔɔl=no
ball=theo-sanebabɛpɔ=noPROG-climb.down

toward hill=theo-sanea-ba

PROG-climb.down

CONS-come hill=thebɛpɔ=noasebottomasebottom‘The ball is rolling down the hill (to reach the bottom of the hill).’
The reason why kɔ and ba in the above examples are not acceptable when the manner verb is tɛ
‘to float’ and sane ‘to climb down’ respectively may have to do with an implication of the figure
reaching the goal. When the bottle is floating on water, or the ball is coming down the hill, there is no
way the figure can control where it goes and its reaching the goal is obvious. In such cases, pathverbs with tense/ aspect marker, not prepositions, are naturally used.

Third, grammaticalization has also taken place in motion events where co-event is concomitance(15) or patient (16). de originally comes from a verb ‘take’1, but it never occurs with any tense/aspectmarker nor does it occur in negative or imperative sentences (in negative and imperative, it changes
into suppletive form fa). In addition, de is no more used as a verb, but only as prepositions. Motion
events with de show verb-framed pattern. In the previous case, it was V2 which was
grammaticalized, but in this case, it is V1 which is grammaticalized.
(15) ɔ=de
3SGSC=withhwerԑmaba-afie

whistlecome-PAST house‘He came into the house, whistling.’

1

Christaller 1881, p.67.

4

(16) ɔ=de
3SGSC=with

nsuo

kɔ-ɔ

fie

hɔ

water

go-PAST

house

there

‘He took water to the house.’
3.2 State Change
Akan also shows equipollent framed pattern in expressing state change. The position of verbs areagain determined simply by the order of events’ occurrence.
(17) mframa
wind

bɔ-ɔ

kanea=no

dum=noblow-PAST candle=the extinguish=INANOC‘The candle blew out (lit. wind blew out the candle).’(18) mi=hu-ukanea=no

dum=no

1SGSC=blow-PAST candle=the extinguish=INANOC‘I blew out the candle.’
3.3 Realization
For realization events, equipollent framed pattern may be used as in (19) and (20), and satellite
framed pattern is also used as in (21) to (23).
(19) ye= bu-u

dan=no

1PLSC=break-PAST house=thenyinaa

gu-u

fɔm

whole

be.scattered-PAST

ground‘We broke the whole house down.’(20) me=wɔ-ɔ=no

sekan

kum=noknife

kill.PAST=3SGOC

ataadeԑ=nokamakama

clothes=theclean

1SGSC=stab-PAST=3SGOC‘I stabbed him to death.’(21) mi=si-i
1SGSC=wash-PAST‘I washed the the clothes clean.’(22) me=ka-a

dan=nohõfitaa

1SGSC=add-PAST wall=the surface white‘I painted the wall white.’(23) o=di-i
3SGSC=use-PAST

ni=sika=nonyinaa3SGPC=money=the all‘He used up his money.’5

3.4 Temporal Contouring
For temporal contouring events, satellite framed construction is more prevalent than equipollent
framing.
(i) completion/termination
There are a few verbs for completion/termination. Wie ‘to finish’ as V2 in equipollent framing
construction (24) and gyae ‘to stop doing’ as V1 in verb-framed construction (25). Another verb is nya,which expresses the co-event coming to completion ‘at last’ (26). It comes from a verb ‘to obtain’, andathough it inflects like other verbs, it is desemanticized into auxiliary denoting completion, andconsidered to be a satellite.
(24) me=a-nom

apetehyi=no

1SGSC=PERF-drink gin=the

a-wie
PERF-finish‘I finished drinking the gin.’(25) ɔ=gyaetaa

3SGSC=stop

weԑ

tobacco chew.INF‘He quit chewing tobacco.’(26) me=a-nya
1SGSC=PERF-obtaina-nom

apetehyi=no

PERF-drink

gin=the‘I finished drinking gin at last.’(ii) initiation
Initiation is expressed by a verb phrase hyԑ aseԑ ‘to start to do (lit. to lay a foundation)’ as V1 inequipollent framing construction (27). ‘to be about to do’ is expressed by a combination of progressive
prefix V- (copy of the final vowel of the subject) and future prefix be- as in (28).

(27) akoraa=no hy-baby=thelay-PAST

ase

sũ-i

foundation cry-PAST‘The baby started to cry.’(28) akoraa=no
baby=theo-be-sũ
PROG-FUT-cry‘The baby is about to cry.’(iii) continuation
Continuation is expressed by a verb kyԑ ‘to stay long’ as V2 in equipollent framing construction6

(29), or a verb phrase kɔ so ‘to go on doing’ as V1 in equipollent framing construction (30). Present
progressive is expressed by a progressive prefix V- (copy of the final vowel of the subject) in satellite
framed construction (31).

(29) egya=no
fire=the

a-kyԑ

a-hye

PERF-burn PERF-take.long‘The fire lasted for a long time.’(30) ɔ=kɔ-ɔ
3SGSC=go-PASTsokasa-eon talk-PAST‘He talked on.’(31) =-to
3SGSC=PROG-singnnwom seesei
song

now

‘He is singing now.’(iv) habitual action

Habitual is expressed by zero habitual prefix optionally with adverbials like dabiaa‘everyday’, daa ‘everyday, always’, nnawɔtwe biaa ‘every week’, bosome biaa ‘every month’, afebiaa ‘every year’, and so on.
(32) me=nom

mrek

1SGSC=drink.HAB milk

dabiaaeveryday‘I drink milk everyday.’(v) repetition
Repetition can be expressed by a verb san ‘to repeat’ and/ or an adverb bio ‘again’ as in (33) and(34), the former being equipollent framed pattern, and the latter satellite framed pattern. It can also
be expressed by reduplication of the verb as in (35). In this case, repetition is expressedmorphologically by redupulication.

(33) =a-san
3SGSC=PERF-repeata-ka

no-arabio

PERF-speak

that-allagain‘He said the same thing again.’(34) ɔ=bɔ-ɔ
3SGSC=strike-PAST

wa

biem

cough

again

‘He coughed again.’7

(35) wɔn=kasa-kasa-e
3PLSC=talk-talk-PAST‘They talked on and on.’(vi) gradualness
Gradualness is expressed by adverbials like nkakrankakra ‘little by little’ (36), maako maako‘one after another’ (37). Gradualness is also expressed by a satellite ba (38). Ba comes from a verb ‘tocome’, but it doesn’t inflect, and is desemanticized into an adverbial.

(36) esumu
darknessu-bankakrankakra

PROG-comelittle.by.little‘It is getting dark little by little.’(37) anantwie=no
cows=thewuu

maakomaako

die-PAST

one.after.another‘The cows died one after another.’(38) ɔ=ɔ-boba

3SGSC=PROG-get.drunk

gradually‘He is in the process of getting drunk.’(vii) frequency

Frequency is expressed by adverbials like ԑtɔdaa ‘sometimes’ (39), aberebiaa ‘sometimes’ (40).
It is also expressed by a verb taa ‘to do often’ as V1, which always preceeds another verb andnever inflects, thus is seen to be a satellite (41).
(39) ԑtɔdaa

yԑ=kɔ

dwom

sometimes 1PLSC=go market‘We sometimes go to a market.’(40) aberebiaabԑ-sra=me

sometimes ING-visit=1SGOC‘Come and visit me from time to time.’(41) ɔ=taa

ka

akyi

3PSC=do.often remain back‘He is often late.’8

3.5 Action Correlating
Action correlating event is basically expressed by equipollent or satellite framing construction.
(i) concert
Concert is expressed by a verb phrase bɔ mu ‘to be joined’ as V1 in equipollent framing
construction as in (42), or by conjunction ne ‘and’ or adjective ninaa ‘all’ as in (43) and (44).

(42) wɔn=bɔ-ɔ
3PLSC=join-PAST

mu kɔ-ɔdwomhɔ

in go-PAST

market there‘They went to the market together.’(43) me

ne no

to-o

nnwom=no

1SGPRON and 3SGPRON sing-PAST song=the‘I sang the song together with him.’(44) wɔnnyinaa kɔ-ɔ

3PLPRON all

dwom

go-PASThɔmarket there‘They went to the market together.’(iii) surpassment
Surpassment is typically expressed by a verb kyԑn ‘to surpass’ as V2 in equipollent framed
construction.

(45) ɔ=dware
3SGSC=swim

kyԑn=nosurpass=3SGOC‘He swims faster than him.’(iv) imitation

Imitation is expressed by a verb sua ‘to learn’ or di akyi ‘to follow’, both as V1 in equipollent
framing construction.
(46) mi=sua-a=no
1SGSC=learn=3SGOC

to-o

nnwom

sing-PAST songs‘I sang songs in imitation of him.’(47) mi=di-i
1SGSC=follow-PASTwɔn=akyi

to-o

3PLPC=backsing-PAST songs‘I followed them and sing’

9

nnwom

(v) demonstration
Demonstration is expressed by a verb kyerԑ ‘to show, teach’as in (48) in verb framed

construction.
(48) me=kyerԑ-ԑ=no
1SGSC=show-PAST=3SGOC

fufuo

di-e

fufu

eat-INF‘I showed him how to eat fufu.’
4. Discussion
As suggested in the literature, Akan typically shows equipollent framed pattern in motion andstate change events. However, in other domains, namely realization and temporal contouring andaction correlation events, Akan shows different pattern or mixed pattern.
First of all, for all the serial verb constructions, tense/ aspect affects the event integration
pattern. In the past tense where two verbs appear successively, only the second verb is marked forpast tense turning the sentence into verb framed pattern. On the other hand, in future andprogressive, only V1 take the future or progressive marker with V2 marked with consecutive prefix,
making it satellite framed pattern.
Although motion and state change events basically follow equipollent framing pattern, in motion
events, some path verbs are grammaticalized into preposition marking directions, making it satellite
framed pattern. This case may indicate that in motion events, Akan is moving toward satellite
framed pattern from equipollent framed pattern. Also, motion events with co-events as concomitanceor patient show verb framed pattern with preposition de ‘with’.
For realization events, a mixed pattern of equipollent pattern and satellite framed pattern areseen, in satellite pattern of which adverbials expressing the fulfillment of the agent’s goal.
For temporal contouring events, satellite framed construction is more prevalent than equipollent
framed construction with auxiliary, prefix, or adverbials expressing the framing events, with just one
case of verb framed pattern the framing event expressed by gyae ‘to stop doing’.
For action correlating events, besides equipollent framing, satellite framing is shown whereconcert is expressed by conjunction or adjective, again with just one case of verb framed patternwhere framing event is expressed by kyerԑ ‘to show, teach’.

10

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Linguistic categorization as a determinant in making appropriate choices forthe roomaji component of a Japanese/Afrikaans dictionary
Ernst Kotzé
Background
Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, thank you for the opportunity to share with you
some aspects of the work on a bi-directional translating dictionary linking two
languages which are typologically, genealogically and geographically as far apart as
could be on this planet, namely Japanese and Afrikaans. I have had the privilege tocooperate with my colleague, Sakurai-sensee, a fluent speaker of Afrikaans, formore than two decades, and we have now entered the final stage of the work.
This dictionary is aimed at first-time as well as intermediate learners of bothlanguages. The intended format is paper-based as well as electronic (i.e. online,
and in the form of a CD-ROM as part of the paper publication) and will beaccompanied by separate introductory grammars of both target languages.
A major part of the work, the selection of appropriate headwords, or lemmas, for
Afrikaans, supplying the translating equivalents and the processing of each lemma
article (i.e. the unit containing all the information relating to the lemma), has now
been done. The next step is completing the Japanese/Afrikaans component, which
is a daunting task at first blush. However, a major part of the groundwork has been
completed, and the inverse translation of the Japanese translating equivalents is inplace, by and large. This text now has to be complemented by Japanese lemmas
which have not been picked up in the translation process and are important toinclude. Contextual examples also have to be supplied and translated, and for eachlemma, a sound bite of the pronunciation by a mother tongue speaker will be
provided.
Regarding the overall structure, there are three components for each language,
namely the front matter, the main text and the annexures. The front matter consistsof the introductory grammar (or so-called mini-grammar) for first-time learners, aswell as specific directions to access information required in the main text, that is, the2!
!

list of lemma articles. Annexures will contain paradigms such as counter suffixes forJapanese, names of countries, etc.
As mentioned, the work extended over two decades, interrupted by “normal life” fromtime to time. Two extensive visits to Japan totalling fourteen months made intensive
and continuous research possible. In this regard I wish to express my gratitude forthe support and hospitality of Prof Kaji representing ILCAA at this university, andsubsequently the Graduate School of Asian and African Areas Studies (ASAFAS) at
the University of Kyoto.
Let us now firstly have a re-look at the brief abstract you have hopefully had achance to look at in advance. I quote:While syntactic and morphological categories in Japanese operate almost invisibly atthe orthographical level because of the absence of intrasentential spacing in kanakanji, it is an important factor in Afrikaans, a language which has a phoneticallybased Roman orthography.
Compare the format of this sentence:=====do^)-/+'.(Qc%4
Ek gebruik ’n Powerpoint-aanbieding vir my voordrag.
=====Because the transliteration of Japanese in roomaji is also dependent on a phonetic
understanding of individual lexical and grammatical units in Japanese, the spacing
between such units plays an important role in facilitating the acquisition of Japaneseby speakers of Afrikaans. For this purpose, certain adjustments to the writing inroomaji of complex lexical items in Japanese were necessary for a dictionary linking
Japanese and Afrikaans, possibly the first of its kind in this format. In thispresentation, a number of motivated examples will be discussed, which will at thesame time reveal important differences in linguistic categorization between the two
languages.

3!
!

Particular challenges
In my presentation I would like to highlight particular challenges for the lexicographic
project involving these two languages as these have come to the fore in the courseof the work. The challenges could mostly be attributed to the nature of thedifferences between the two languages, differences which could be categorised asfollows:(a) Typological differences (Japanese as agglutinating language, as against thesemi-inflectional, analytic nature of Afrikaans)(b) Morphological differences (as a corollary of the typological differences)(c) Phonological differences (opposite complexities regarding vocalism andconsonantism)(d) Orthographic differences (An alphabetic/phonological system in Afrikaans vs.
a combination of ideogrammatic and syllabic/moraic systems in the case ofJapanese)(a) Typological differences
As regards the typological differences, the combination with agglutinating languages
in lexicography is not uncommon for Afrikaans – e.g. Bantu languages in SA, forwhich a range of bilingual dictionaries have been produced. What simplifies the
combination with these languages, especially with the Nguni languages, is the factthat a common orthography is utilised, which facilitates access to both languages ofthe dyad to a large extent. One illustrative example from an Afrikaans-Zulu
dictionary, of which I was a co-author, should give an indication of the orthographic
similarity in the presentation of lemmas and translation equivalents, in this case theheadword, or lemma aandeel, or share in English (kabu in Japanese):aandeel$(=dele)!n.!isheya!(share)$Hy$het$baie$aandele$in$die$maatskappy.!Unamasheya!amaningi!
enkampanini.!(He)has)many)shares)in)the)company.))

From the perspective of language typology, then, differences between the relevant
languages, which are mostly syntactic and morphological in nature, should not havean adverse influence on the lexicographic handling of lemmas in either language,especially if both utilise a common orthography. In the case of the combination of
Afrikaans and Japanese, however, the orthographical differences, which aresubstantial, play an important role, as we shall see presently.

4!
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(b) Morphological differences
Word formation processes could roughly be divided between derivation andcompounding, involving the expansion of lexical morphemes by affixing grammaticalmorphemes in the first case, and the fusion of different lexical morphemes to form
new words in the second. In linguistic terms, we can distiguish here between
complex words and compound words. However, typologically different languages
could often be distinguised from each other through the use of different syntactic
categories to achieve the same or similar purposes, and in other cases, such
categories are simply non-existent in the particular language. In the dictionary underdiscussion, certain particles in Japanese and articles (definite and indefinite) in
Afrikaans are two such categories which have to be described and demonstrated in
the translation entries of the relevant lemmas.
(c) Phonological differences
I will confine myself to segmental phonology for the purpose of this presentation at
this stage, since prosodic characteristics are normally not reflected in normal texts ineither kana or roomaji as far as Japanese is concerned, while also in the case of
Afrikaans, stress accent is only marginally accounted for by means of diacritics, suchas the acute accent, in some words. I will, however, point to attempt in certain
dictionaries incorporating a roomaji component to reflect prosodic characteristics ofpronunciation in the lemmatic entries, or simply put, in the spelling of the lemma.
The main differences which have a bearing on the orthographic presentation of thetwo languages in this dictionary concern the moraic nature of Japanese vowels andconsonants which is reflected in various ways in both the kana and the roomaji,
whether Nihon-shiki, Kunree-shiki or Hepburn (Hebon-shiki, original and revised).
Doubling of a mora (or lengthening of a vowel) can be indicated by doubling thevowel letter,kankyoo (environment)seesan (production)
shoyuu (possession)5!
!

as in Kenkyusha’s Japanese-English Learner’s Dictionary, published in collaboration
with Merriam-Webster (Springfield, Mass.),

adding an i or u to the particular syllabic character or single vowel, following the
hiragana systemkankyou – &! (`;)
seisan –  & (ab)as in the Sanseido Rōmaji (sic) English-Japanese Japanese-English Dictionary,or placing a macron on the relevant vowel, in particular o and u.
kankyō
shoyū
as in the Random House Japanese-English English-Japanese Dictionary.
As regards the consonants, doubling of the relevant roomaji character seems to be
standard practice throughout.

In Afrikaans, the doubling of vowel letters and consonants has different functions inrelation to the phonology of the language.

Vowel length in Afrikaans is only distinctive in the case of one vowel, namely /a/ (e.g.
mat vs maat, but mate in open syllables), while doubling of consonants is not
moraic, but indicates the value of the vowel in the preceding closed syllable (e.g.
matte / mate, bosse / bose). A further potential problem is the comparatively more
complex nature of the Afrikaans vocalism, which includes rounded front vowels(such as /y/ and /œ/) and diphthongs (e.g. /œi/ and /ø/, /!i/ and /!u/). These factors
had an important influence in choosing an appropriate roomaji system from among
the existing options.

6!
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(d) Orthographic differences
Before touching on the function and form of the roomaji orthography for Japanese inthis dictionary, it has to be acknowledged that the hybrid nature of normal written
Japanese, in which knowledge of (or competence in) the phonetic values of words
written in kanji is combined with an explicit reflection of pronunciation in the kanasyllabary, is probably the most difficult aspect of learning Japanese to gaikokujin
who have had only experience of an alphabetic/phonological system of orthography.
Basis of roomaji transliteration
The functional value of the roomaji system is often seen as that of a bridge between
the ortographies of Japanese on the one hand and that of Western, Indo-European
languages, predominantly English, on the other. One could go so far as to assume
a strategy of learner-friendliness towards those wishing to come to grips withJapanese and would like to have access to the language in an orthographicallyrecognisable form before grappling with a new form of writing as a last phase oflearning the language. This consideration also formed the basis for the utilisation ofa roomaji component in the Afrikaans-Japanese dictionary.
However, there are, as you might be be well aware, certain problems to beaddressed at least as far as the phonological and morphological levels of description
are concerned. Because the roomaji orthography functions as a system oftransliteration, the phonetic representation is at best an approximation of the soundsof Japanese, and cannot be regarded as a consistent, reliable writing version of thepronunciation. I will come back to this point when discussing the strategies adopted.

At the level of morphology, the different functions of isomorphic elements such as na
or ni in Japanese (which could act as derivational morphemes, postpositions andparticles, amongst others) will determine whether such elements are written
separately from, or joined to, an adjoining lexical morpheme in a roomaji text. Now,
in Japanese-English dictionaries compiled for English-speaking users (nichiee-jiten),decisions on how derivational and inflectional forms are presented in roomaji areoften based on the word status of the translation equivalent in English, as in7!
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genjitsuka for realist, or gengaku-teki for pedantic (although not always, as in thecase of many verbs which contain the lexeme suru in Japanese).
Because of the genealogical and typological similarity between English and
Afrikaans, this problem would also apply to the interpretation of such units from theperspective of Afrikaans users of a bilingual dictionary, and obviously of Afrikaanslearners of Japanese. I will shortly refer to some examples.

However, an additional morphological problem is the fact that the word-forming
category of compounding of lexical morphemes is not dealt with very consistently inEnglish as far as their orthograpical form is concerned:

Compare the ways in which lexical words (i.e. nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.) are
combined to form compounds:
doorknob and oxtail
butroom service and post officeand thengrass-roots, sight-read, small-scale.
Words likeaircrew (air-crew, air crew),playgroup (play-group, play group) andchatroom (chat-room, chat room)
may be written as one word, separate words or hyphenated.1

In Afrikaans, on the other hand, as in German, such compounds are written as one
word by default, while hyphens are only used in such cases when a compound
written as one word would cause problems of pronunciation, or in certain othercases. Some examples:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1!Cf.!http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/hyphen!

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management consultant
ondernemingsadviseur
Unternehmensberater

first-year student
eerstejaarstudent
Studienanfänger

long term planning
langtermynbeplanningLangfristplanung

The following examples require hyphens in Afrikaans on account of considerationsof pronunciation:
sea duck (scoter)see-eend
Trauerente

Daewoo chassis
Daewoo-onderstel
Daewoochassis

What we are dealing with here, then, is in essence the question of word status in
Japanese, and how it is demarcated in the roomaji representation aimed at speakersof Afrikaans, who would generally expect Japanese compounds to be expressed as
one word, either with or without hyphens.

In the last part of this presentation, I will then focus on instances of motivatedchoices to adopt a particular way of writing Japanese words in roomaji. The
considerations that apply for each case will briefly be discussed at the same time,and it is hoped that the differences between the two languages highlighted in the
aforegoing discussion will form a basis of understanding for the relevant choices.

Strategies applied to address problems of pronunciation
A comparison between different Japanese-English dictionaries revealed that boththe phonetic and morphological aspects of Japanese are dealt with in diverse ways,
as the examples from the dictionaries mentioned show:

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Kenkyushakan̄ kyoo
seesanshoyuuSanseido
kankyouseisanshoyuuRandom House
kankyō
seisanshoyū

Kenkyusha
Sanseido
attoo-teki (~na, ni) attouteki
chuuka-ryoori
Chuuka-ryouriben̄ kyoo (o) suru benkyousuru

Random Houseattō-teki (na)chūkaryōri
benkyō (o) suru

In the Afrikaans-Japanese dictionary, the choice was made for the duplication of thevowel, because the combination of o+u and e+i represent diphthongs in Afrikaans,and could therefore be misleading to learners when interpreting the pronunciation.
(~e) ryuukoo ]k Jongmense volg altyd die jongste gier.
Wakai hito wa itsumo saishin no ryuukoo o ou. i3WT
]k%q

gier n.

Obviously, when u and i do represent a new syllable, as in omou, it is written as
such, since the second vowel in the sequence does in fact represent the soundpresent in the diphthong. An example from the text:
form. (het ~) omou J Ek ~ dit as belangrik. Watashi wasore wa juuyoo-da to omou. d$tlJ
sug1 n. (~te) tameiki K ŉ ~ van verligting slaak ando no tameiki otsuku >:K%
beskou v.

The use of the macron is a viable alternative, but it is also problematic for application
to languages in which the macron does not form part of the diacritic marks available
to the user, for instance on computer keyboards; and secondly, in alphabetic
arrangement or sorting in electronic texts, vowels with macrons are handled as asingle vowel, but following the vowel without it. An example of this phenomenon:
ootoo
oto
ōtōsan

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otto
The user therefore has to adapt to this convention in looking up such words in adictionary.

In some dictionaries, attempts to reflect the prosody (e.g. pitch accent) in roomajiorthography are made to assist the learner. In addition to the macron-n in the
Kenkyusha examples above (to indicate its pronunciation as an independent syllable,
or mora) in the lemma, sublemmas and text examples, the lemma also contains up
and down brackets (almost as used in the kana-kanji script) to indicate pitch
movement, for example in the lemmajo˹kyo˺oju!!

(8SN) n. assistant professor

Another nichiee dictionary, the English Romanized Japanese Dictionary for practicalconversation, which makes use only of roomaji, attempts to indicate pitch accent bymeans of capital letters. Here are the entries for let and phone:let L- me see. Eee. I Let's go. iKIMASHO o. I Let's do that . soOSHIYOo. I Let'sgo over the lesson again. SAa koNO KA o fuKUSHUU SHIMASHOo. I Lme have a look at your book. aNAta no hon o Mlsete kudasai. I Will you
please -me off there? aSOKO DE o ROshite kudasai. I L- the dog go. soNOINU o haNAshite yarinasai. I L-in fresh air. shiNSENNA KUuki o irenasai.
phone (1) deNWA. P- call for you. oDEnwa desu yo. I Please give me a call. waTASHI Nl deNWA SHITE KUDASAi. I Will you answer the -?
CHOTto deNWA Nl DEte kudasai. I He 's on the ·-. He wants to talk toyou. KAre ga deNWA Nl DEte imasu. aNAta ni oHANASHI SHITAI SOodesu. I I'll call you on the - tomorrow morning. aSU NO Asa aNAta ni
deNWA SHIMAsu. I Let me know by - deNWA DE SHIRASETEKUDASAi.
While this method can serve a useful purpose in terms of prosodic guidance tolearners of Japanese by pointing out which parts of a word are pronounced with high11!
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pitch accent, capitalisation has totally different functions and well-defined uses inalphabetic orthograpies, and is quite difficult to read in integrated texts, and the text
as a whole also appears abnormal. The use of diacritic symbols (Sanseido employs
acute accents on vowels to indicate rise in pitch, while acute accent marks in
English, and Afrikaans, are used to indicate stress accent), has a similar effect onreadability. This method is restricted to the lemmas, however, and seems to be atemporary part of the orthography of such entries.

To sum up, although these strategies could enhance the learner’s understanding ofindividual headwords as encountered in a particular dictionary, the format, if appliedconsistently, makes for rather intensive reading and a busy text. Because theselection is restricted to a small percentage of the vocabulary that a learner would
encounter in everyday use, it would be difficult to extrapolate the prosodic patterns
to a wider spectrum of vocabulary. This leads one to the conclusion that thepresentation of lemmas in this format is intended to combine elements of the IPA
alphabet with the spelling of individual words. However, the effectiveness of therelatively complex format still has to be determined, especially since spelling is bydefinition a segmented representation of a particular word. Therefore it would
appear that the kana orthography, which does not contain such prosodic indicators,
is more transparent in reflecting individual speech sounds from a segmental
perspective. For this reason, it was decided not to use prosody markers, but tosupplement the orthographic representation of all Japanese lemmas with a soundbite in which the lemma is pronounced by a mother tongue speaker. The oral
association with the orthographic form is thus linked to the visual form. This principle
is already well established in online dictionaries and in printed dictionaries with a
CD-ROM component.

Strategies applied to address problems of morphology
I would like to complete my part of the discussion by returning to the title, and inparticular the concept of linguistic categorisation. While categorisation can be widely
understood to refer to various levels of description, both micro and macro, and is12!
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investigated over a wide spectrum of applications by John Taylor in his book with thesame title, I would like to restrict my application to the morphological categorisationof words in the language pair represented in this publication. In so doing, I would liketo demonstrate some ways in which the morphological processes of derivation andcompounding could be reflected in roomaji orthography, and refer to, where
necessary, to the considerations which determined decisions in this regard in the
Afrikaans-Japanese dictionary under construction.

Because verb forms in Japanese which are derived from nouns (or possibly
adjectives) by means of suru and its derivatives are equivalent to a single complex
verb in Afrikaans, the Japanese verb is treated as a single, compound verb, andjoined to the conjunct by means of a hyphen.
Some examples:
aanbeveel v. (het ~) suisen-suru Pj#
aanwys v. (~ge~) shiji-suru Mc# Hy is aangewys om die rol te speel.
Kare wa yakuwari o enjiru yoo ni shiji-sareta. HG7%^ #"Mc$abba v. (ge~) onbu-suru &# Sy ~ die baba op haar rug. Kanojo wa

akachan o senaka ni onbu-shimasu.
When adjectival or adverbial derivations are formed in Japanese by suffixing na or ni,
these are likewise represented in the roomaji as one hyphenated word, as in theseexamples:absoluut ad. (..lute) (1) kanzen (-na/-ni) ?6 Die eksperiment was ’nabsolute mislukking. Jikken wa kanzen-ni shippai datta. @w?6<R {! totaal} (2) zettai-ni eB Dit is ~ waar. Sore wa zettai-ni
hontoo desu. $eBYF
bekwaam2 ad. (bekwame) yuunoo (-na/-ni) Xg Sy is ŉ bekwame dosent.
Kanojo wa yuunoo-na kooshi desu. H=XgoDHowever, when such items perform the function of a postposition, the words are
separated from the lexical item with which it is joined (coinciding with a similar use of
prepositions in Afrikaans):

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algemeen1 n.

(~) ippan 0h In die ~ werk Japanners te hard. Ippan ni
Nihonjin wa hataraki-suigimasu. 0hVY35r

In the case of compounds, the principle is likewise adopted that such items inJapanese, when not joined by means of the particle no, represent single words,
which are mostly linked by means of a hyphen:akkommodasie n. (~) shukuhaku-shisetsu A\Um Ons benodig ~ vir twee
nagte. Watashi-tachi wa ni-haku no shukuhaku-shisetsu ga hitsuyoo desu.
d2\A\UmIl
beroepspeler n. (~s) puro-senshu *,sL

but(~s) setsuzoku (1_)Of (1) trein-aansluiting densha nosetsuzoku upOf {! koppeling} (2) vlug-aansluiting hikooki no
setsuzoku vk[Ofaandelemark n. (~te) kabushiki-shijoo ZEC9
aansluiting n.

Another morphological consideration is the indication of honorific prefixes to nouns,
which is an unusual morpheme for Afrikaans learners of Japanese, and hence would
require the use of a hyphen, as in
geluk3 tw. omedetoo  Baie ~ met jou verjaardag. O-tanjoobi omedetoo
gozaimasu. naV


I have touched on just a few instances where orthograpical decisions were based on
the categorisation of morphemes in view of a comparison between the two
languages involved in this bilingual dictionary, and the list of guidelines followed isby no means exhaustive. Factors such as the use of apostrophes as syllabic
boundaries and the roomaji representation of numbers have not been discussed.
However, in dealing with some selected categories, I hope to have applied anelement of linguistic rigour in approaching an important area in the process ofcompiling a dictionary in which a common orthography is used for the purpose of
facilitating access to an important language such as Japanese.