Mistranslation of culture-specific terms in Kropf's Kafir-English dictionary

Abstract

This article aims at correcting some errors of mistranslation as well as giving a full explanation of some culture-specific terms which are found in Kropf's (1899) Xhosa-English dictionary. Some of the entries have been given wrong meanings, whilst others have not been described fully. Users who are not first-language speakers are misled and could be confused by some of the meanings supplied by Kropf. The focus is mainly on culture-specific terms because this is the area where Kropf experienced most problems as the terms expressed concepts of Xhosa culture which were unknown to him.