Corpus-based Activities versus Intuition-based Compilations by Lexicographers, the Sepedi Lemma-Sign as a Case in Point

Abstract

The authors of this article firmly believe in the advantages of utilising a corpus for lemma-sign list creation. However, one should not overreact and assume that alternative methods for the creation of a dictionary's macrostructure have no virtues, or that alternative methods are in principle per definition marred by inconsistencies. What is called for is a perspective on corpus-based activities versus intuition-based compilations by lexicographers. Therefore, while the supremacy of a corpus remains undisputed in compiling a lemma-sign list, this article also intends to show that a well-planned combination of a variety of existing lists that were assembled manually, results in a lemma-sign list with a remarkable internal consistency. Hence, the aim of this article is twofold. Besides a brief illustration of typical macrostructural inconsistencies, the main focus will be on a series of consistencies encountered in the compilation of lemma-sign lists for different sub-dictionaries at various stages of the Sepedi Dictionary Project (SeDiPro). Some attention will also be devoted to the so-called Miraculous Consistency Ratio '(x 1.25)4 = x 2.4' - being a sequence of four 25 % increases which result from a collation of five manually compiled Sepedi lemma-sign lists.