Uses of the Kpelegbe Dictionary

 Why am I investing so much time and effort in a Kpelegbe dictionary? 

In this post, I will outline some of the uses of the Kpelegbe dictionary that I am currently in Togo working on. My current goal is to produce a dictionary of around 3,000 words in trilingual format (Kpelegbe, English, French). As of today, I am currently at 1,281 words. I anticipate that I will be able to finish the dictionary during my sabbatical during the academic year 2027-2028 (including publication). I will divide the presentation into “community uses” and “linguistic uses”, since they are rather different.

There are 16 Kpele villages. I intend to make physical copies of the dictionary available to those villages, through schools and through the chiefs. I will also post the dictionary online, so it is freely available. And I will make an effort to distribute it widely to people with smartphones, so that people can freely use it.

The Kpelegbe dictionary has three unique features distinguishing it from other Ewe dictionaries (e.g., Rongier and Westermann). First, it is the first dictionary of an Ewe dialect. All previous Ewe dictionaries focus on standard Ewe, which actually has no native speakers. Second, it is the first Ewe dictionary to systematically transcribe mid-tone, which is usually left out. Even though mid-tone is non-contrastive, one cannot really pronounce the words correctly without transcribing it. Third, it is the first Ewe dictionary that is trilingual (Kpelegbe-English-French), making it accessible to a wide variety of readers.

Community Uses

1. The dictionary will have cultural significance, highlighting the value of the Kpele dialect. The dictionary could play a role in cultural festivals (e.g., eteza “yam festival”), demonstrating the significance of the local language.

2. Kpelegbe is under intense pressure from both standard Ewe and especially Gengbe, the lingua franca of southern Togo. The dictionary will provide a resource to help withstand this pressure. People could use the dictionary as a reference for Kpelegbe words. For example, the word for “peanut” in Kpelegbe is yobosi, but most children nowadays use the word azi, borrowed from Gengbe (or perhaps standard Ewe). 

3. Students at the CEG and Lycee level could use the dictionary to study English. They could look up words in Kpelegbe, and find the translation in English, including example sentences.

4. Similarly, more advanced students could use the dictionary to sharpen their knowledge of French, since every word is translated into French.

5. The dictionary could be a tool to raise meta-linguistic awareness of dialectal variation in Ewe classes at school. The teacher could ask the students to use the dictionary to compare standard Ewe to Kpelegbe. By drawing attention to these differences, the students will become better writers of standard Ewe.

6. The Kpele community has a large diaspora, both in Togo and in other countries. When people move, they raise their children in those places. Because of this, there are many people who consider themselves Kpele people, but do not speak the local dialect. These people could use the dictionary to brush up on their Kpelegbe and reconnect to their origins.

Linguistic Uses

1. All tones are marked in the dictionary. This will allow phonologists interested in tone to use it as an example of an interesting tonal system (e.g., involving the interaction of voicing and tone).

2. Linguists interested in the study of Ewe dialects will be able to compare the lexicon of Kpelegbe to other dialects to study historical relationships and borrowing.

3. The dictionary could be a valuable resource for the creation of an Ewe online dialect map. 

4. Example sentences could provide a source for examples of interesting syntactic constructions in Kpelegbe (e.g., the use of negative indefinites).

5. Lexical entries for grammatical morphemes will provide a resource for linguists interested in the syntax of Ewe dialects.