Catherine Bekunda
9 December 2008
Kampala — A NEW Runyankore-English dictionary has been launched.
Speaking at the launch, the First Lady, Mrs. Janet Museveni, said it was a great innovation that would improve the reading culture, especially among the children and the youth.
"We have lost precious information because it was not documented," Mrs. Museveni said at Protea Hotel in Kampala on Monday.
"My daughter who is a preacher faces problems when she is invited to address congregations in the village because she cannot write her speech in Runyankole. Language is a sure way of tracing ones' origin," she said.
It was written by Dr. Esau Nzaro, a Physician at Mulago Hospital.
Nzaro said he was inspired to write after realising that there was scarcity of reading materials.
"Some of my workmates and grandchildren cannot speak one language without bringing in another. Unless you know both languages, you cannot follow the conversation," he said.
James Tumusiime, the managing director of Fountain Publishers, cited a local saying that when an African elder dies, a library gets burnt. He said Nzaro had done good to share his knowledge with the current and future generations.
This brings to four, the number of Runyankore- English dictionaries. The first was published in 1959 by Taylor Charles.
The others are; A Criminology Dictionary by Tibamanya Mushanga and Kashoborozi y'ORunyankore-Rukiga by Makerere University.
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