Zimbabwe, China relations grow stronger with the introduction of Shona- Chinese dictionary
The first ever Chinese – Shona dictionary has been launched in the country’s oldest institution of higher learning as it seeks to grow intercultural exchanges between the two nations.
University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Linguistics produced the “Shona –Chinese, Chinese – Shona Dictionary” in partnership with the Confucius Institute.
Shona – Chinese section of the dictionary has 1500 frequently used Shona headwords, while the second section has about 1250 Chinese words that are main head words.
The dictionary aims to assist in the dissemination of Chinese knowledge and culture plus help Zimbabweans who want to learn Chinese and Chinese who want to learn Shona. Shona is one of the main language in Zimbabwe and neighbouring nations.
According to the Confucius Institute director who is also one of the dictionary’s editors, Pedzisai Mashiri, the institute saw the best way to strengthen bilateral relations between Zimbabwe and China was to create a mutual cultural exchange.
“The tendency has been to emphasize us learning Chinese without paying attention to the Chinese themselves learning our local languages and so because of the amount of investment and amount of interaction that is taking place between us and the Chinese, it will be productive and wise for them to start learning local languages and Shona being the major languages in Zimbabwe this dictionary will act as a vehicle for promoting that cultural exchange,” said Pedzisai Mashiri
The dictionary’s purpose to enhance cultural interaction between the people of the two countries was also a sentiment that the University’s top heads agree with.
“We want to promote this important interaction between the two cultures and there is nothing better than focusing on the vehicle that carries the culture of a people and this is the language,” said University of Zimbabwe Vice Chancellor Levi Nyagura
The government couldn’t agree less
“The history of the Sino-Zimbabwe political and economic ties would not be complete without the peoples of these great countries reaching deeper into their recesses of each other’s cultures that are deeply embedded in these countries’ common languages,” said Martha Muguti, the director of higher education programs in the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education
