Enhanced dictionary

NIAS has been awarded a SURFfoundation grant to produce a so-called ‘Enhanced Publication’ in collaboration with DANS. NIAS is proud to announce this grant as we feel this is a prime example of NIAS’s mission to provide excellent researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences with an inspiring creative environment and the facilities necessary to produce high quality and innovative research outcomes.

In 2011, Professor Harry Stroomer, currently NIAS Fellow and Professor of Afroasiatic Languages of Arabia and Ethiopia at Leiden University, will build an internet prototype of an ‘enhanced’ version of selected parts of Professor Stroomer’s Tashelhiyt Berber-French dictionary, the first of its kind. The enhanced publication, which will augment the yet to be published traditional dictionary, should prove to be an invaluable source of online information to members of the Berber community.

The Tashelhiyt Berber dictionary project is one of the six granted projects that aim to produce an enhanced publication in 2011.

Blog 1 - 24 February 2011

On the 8th of  February a small group attended the kick-off of the NIAS project “Enhanced Tashelhiyt Berber-French dictionary”. We chose one Berber word to start with: Agadir (city and fortified granary).
Two student assistents will help Prof. Harry Stroomer to collect relevant material and translate texts while Paula Witkamp from DANS will start structuring  a website.
During our second meeting we selected 4 more words :

• Argan (tree)
• Atay (tea)
• Rays (music)
• Anẓar (rain ritual)

On the 3rd of March there will be a seminar on ‘Enhanced publications’ at NIAS from 11-12.30 for the NIAS fellows. Harry Stroomer, John Doove from SURF foundation & Paula Witkamp from DANS will describe what the project entails.