The following item from the Nairobi paper, East African Standard, was
seen on its site at
http://www.eastandard.net/archives/index.php?mnu=details&id=1143968506&catid=291&PHPSESSID=5f87544580444cf86af9fb1ed898b3eb
. It is also accessible on AllAfrica.com at
http://allafrica.com/stories/200705140558.html . It concerns John
Harun Mwau's recently published Kikamba Dictionary... Don
Dictionary: A shot for local languages
Published on May 13, 2007, 12:00 am
By Nicholas Asego
Ngugi wa Thingo is probably one of the most vocal advocates for the
use of African language in literature. Some of his strongest
sentiments on the matter are best captured in his collection of
essays, Decolonising the Mind.
Ngugi says language performs two critical functions: It's an agent
that enables us to communicate in the struggle to find the means of
survival. Language is also a repository for history and culture.
With the interaction between Africans and colonialists, the African
languages were never given any democratic chance. On the contrary they
were suppressed as evil products of the Tower of Babel. Their rich
history and culture were trashed.
English, the colonial language, was elevated. Its mastery became the
most sought after academic feat, and was equated to intellectualism.
The assumption was that the heaviest and the longest words signified
more learning. The French called this process assimilation while the
sophisticated English called it `education.' Unfortunately this
reasoning has persisted.
Many will recall how children were punished if they were caught
speaking their vernacular language and even Kiswahili. Ngugi himself a
victim, recalls these torrid times, when he was forced to carry
plaques inscribed the words "I am stupid," or "I am an ass." The
result was a generation that did not appreciate local languages. Even
today few young people can boast of their fluency in vernacular languages.
But there has been concerted efforts by scholars majority of them
being Africans to reclaim the place of honour for these vernacular
languages. Indeed one of the ways in which these scholars have gone
about this is in publishing of books in the vernacular languages.
Ngugi has been at the forefront in writing in Kikuyu, the same way
Asenath Bole Odaga has done in Dholuo and Maillu in Kikamba. Among
this writings are dictionaries, which are an important resource in the
preservation of culture, literature and history.
John Harun Mwau's Kikamba Dictionary, just released, is a positive
step for culture and history.
"I believe the African Agenda will remain incomplete without
indigenous languages, Kikamba included," Mwau writes in the foreword.
The text is divided into three parts: Kikamba-English, Kikamba-Kikamba
and English-Kikamba. He ends with popular Kamba proverbs.
"My objective is to present the clearest, most accurate, and most
representative meanings," he writes Mwau who is known more as a
businessman with international connections.
Mwau's feat follows others works that have targeted other vernacular
languages. These include The Kikuyu-English Dictionary edited by T.G
Benson and Dholuo- English Dictionary jointly done by John Gray and
Joy Adhiambo Gwendo. Other common dictionaries are the Kiswahili-
English Dictionary.
Local languages, be they Meru, Kalenjin or Kisii are our common
heritage and should be treated with the same honour. In Ngugi's
analogy, a world of many languages should be used seen as a field of
flowers of different colours.
"There is no flower which becomes more of a flower on account of its
colour or shape," he writes in a chapter entitled Imperialism of
Language in Decolonising the Mind.
Vernacular languages should be encouraged. The languages should be
allowed to talk to one another through the medium of interpretation
and translation.
In the immortal words of Ngugi, "
a language (read English) should not
be planted in the graveyard of other languages (read vernacular)
within one country or in the world."
Mwau's Kikamba Dictionary, which is exceptionally and stylishly
packaged, is intended for library, home, school, business, and any
other activity where mastery of Kikamba is a prerequisite. Above all
it is a call for other scholars to follow suit and produce similar
dictionaries in other vernaculars.
Copyright © MMVI . The Standard Group
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