Problems regarding term creation in the South African African Languages, with special reference to Zulu

Abstract

The African languages of South Africa, being developing languages, will necessarily, more than developed languages, experience problems with term creation. Some of the problems that will be discussed and for which possible solutions will be suggested, relate to the issues of time, purity, etc. Some methods of term creation in Zulu will be referred to insofar as they relate to these problems. Furthermore, the African languages have low status and consequently their terminography is underdeveloped. However, this state of affairs can change if action is taken towards standardisation and if coordination in the term-creating activities among the African languages is promoted.