African Language Grammar Portal

The African Language Grammar Portal (ALGraP) is an ongoing interactive online resource focusing on the nine official African languages of the Republic of South Africa. Given that some of these languages are in fact cross-border languages the scope extends to a wider range of countries in Southern Africa, whilst simultaneously introducing the linguistic richness of these languages to the international community.

Phase 1: Setswana and isiXhosa

The African Language Grammar Portal (ALGraP) is an interactive knowledge base about languages spoken in Southern Africa based on the Taalportaal model initially developed by the Dutch Language Union. The portal is being developed in various phases. Phase 1 focuses on Setswana, a Sotho language spoken in South Africa and Botswana and isiXhosa, a Nguni language, also spoken in South Africa. ALGraP provides access to a comprehensive scientific grammar for these two languages with a focus on the phonology, morphology and syntax of these languages.

Aim

Considering the need for authoritative scientifically based descriptions of the grammars of these African languages applicable at different educational levels, as well as for scientific interest in the broadest sense, ALGraP is a conscious and much needed attempt to transfer these languages into the digital domain, on a website which can be viewed on mobile or desktop. The fact that many classic grammar books are often out of print necessitates the availability of new knowledge on a digital platform. This vision furthermore implies updating contents on a regular basis creating an organic knowledge base. Although the contents are aimed at academic use, these digital grammars are also suitable for use by language editors, language advisors as well as teachers developing teaching materials. Apart from descriptions of various linguistic aspects, sound files are presented for each language as examples which can be reused in classroom environments.

ALGraP (Phase 1) is a joint project of the Dutch Language Union and the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR), which hosts and curates this portal.