Science nomenclature in Africa: Physics in Nguni

Abstract

In the future, African universities will be required to use mother languages as the languages of instruction in teaching all courses, including science and technology. This will necessitate the creation of a modern scientific vocabulary in the various African languages. In this article I will propose and show that the best way of creating such vocabulary is to give scientific meaning to generally accessible words that are explanatory of the concepts, rather than borrowing from European languages by phonetic transcription. I will suggest ways of constructing a Nguni nomenclature for physics. It is hoped that the same approach will be adopted for the other African languages. The significance of developing a mother language nomenclature for science and technology education in sub-Saharan Africa is examined. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 321–331, 1999

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