2006
267 pp.
Text language: German
The present dictionary contains about 15,000 keywords from the domains every day life, politics, economy, culture, and sports as well as a plenitude of phrases and idiomatic proverbs. This vocabulary was supplemented by terms which follow form the natural environmental conditions of the target language.
This dictionary is the first modern publication in the German-speaking region and beyond it. Comparable works are either antiquated or suitable to only a limited extend because of their marginal scale. The basis of a number of the German keywords are pertinent loan translations and transferences, just as they are bruited about in Swahili-speaking material. Own translation variations are not marked, since there is no difference to the usual practised approach of renditions of terms of non-african origin.
The handling of German keywords, which are unknown and whose images have no direct (Swahili) equivalent in the East-African region, caused difficulties. Such keywords belong for example to the European fauna and flora or to winter sports. In such cases it was tried to find a comparable image and its denotation in Swahili, complemented by the corresponding English term.
The number of users of the present dictionary is due to the great relevance of the Swahili language in the whole East- and Central-African region. Thus, the work is applicable for German-speaking people living and/or working in Swahili-speaking areas as well as for Swahili-speaking persons staying in German-speaking countries.