Shanga dictionary

The Shanga dictionary, with English finderlist, was compiled in Nigeria over a seven year period. It forms a trilogy together with the simultaneously published Illo-Busa and Kyanga dictionaries. This cluster of languages belongs to the Eastern sub-division of the Mande language family. Dictionaries of the other three languages of this cluster, Boko, Bokobaru and Busa/Bisã, also compiled by the author, were published in 2004 by Lincom Europa. The database is stem based so that any word that begins with a lexeme stem will appear as a sub-entry under that lexeme. The 5000+ head and subwords are written in Shanga orthography, followed by phonetic representations, including tones, a part of speech label and glosses in English. Borrowed words, etymology, synonyms and variants are given as appropriate, with extensive borrowings from Hausa and English. Shanga is a break-away from Kyanga but exhibits extensive variation. The 48 page introduction includes an historical survey and a summary of Shanga phonology and grammar. The author’s PhD thesis, the Boko/Busa Language Cluster, describing the grammar of Boko, Bokobaru and Bisã, was published by Lincom Europa in 1998. ISBN 9783862888078. Languages of the World/Dictionaries 67. 213pp. 2017