Wine and Words: A Trilingual Wine Dictionary for South Africa

The South African wine industry identified the need for a special-field on-line dictionary on viticulture and oenology in Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa. The dictionary provides information on wine terminology as well as linguistic information on the use of such terminology. The purpose of this article is to give a description of the project. The process of compiling the dictionary is described, from the co-operation between the wine industry and lexicographers to the intended target users and the choice of languages of the dictionary. Functions of the dictionary are discussed, with reference to specific user situations, namely text production, text reception and translation. A system of labels has been designed for the dictionary and its benefit for the user is explained. In assisting the user to make an informed choice of a term, the notion of proscriptiveness has been followed in the presentation of information in the wine dictionary.