Ikalanga writing faces challenges � Chebane

Patricia Edwin | Friday July 11, 2014 15:32

Professor Andy Chebane was speaking at the Reviewers and Translators Orthography Workshop held in Francistown this week pertaining to the translation of the Bible into Ikalanga.

He said that Bakalanga do not know how to write the language because they have never been schooled for it.

“One of the reasons why Ikalanga spelling is unpredictable is because its writers never learnt it at school.  We are literate in other languages with differing orthography and we confuse matters,” he said.

Chebane said that understanding the nature, the language and the basis of the choices that were adopted for the writing is important to help spell the words correctly.

He further said that if you read Facebook you will find that ambitious young Bakalanga butcher the language.

“Our children just assassinate the Ikalanga language because they do not know,” he said.

He further added that what has made the Facebook situation worse is that young people are also politically conscious and they have now decided to mix the two issues, which turns the whole matter into a disaster.

“They politicise everything and that is not right for this kind of work.

Language development should not have anything to do with politics.  It should be just to develop the language,” he said.

He said that if people want to know the language of Ikalanga, especially to write they should first of all want to know the Ikalanga alphabet.

Chebane further stated that in any language, spelling is not a reliable index of intelligence.

“Many intelligent people struggle with English spelling while others find it comparatively easy to master.  Learning to spell correctly requires remembering numerous unusual and peculiar spelling forms,” he said.

Meanwhile, translations of the New Testament and Psalms into iKalanga have been completed and the translation team is now working on the Old Testament.