At its Meeting 140, EPC approved subdividing Table 6 notation for Nilo-Saharan languages. The Nilo-Saharan languages constitute the last major group of African languages to be subdivided in DDC. According to Ethnologue, there are 207 Nilo-Saharan languages. There is literary warrant for subdividing T6—965 Nilo-Saharan languages, and literary warrant for separate numbers for subgroups of Nilo-Saharan languages, e.g., T6—9658 Songhai languages. However, most of the individual languages have little literary warrant. Only two specific languages now have their own numbers:
T6—9655226 Maasai
T6—9655842 Dholuo (Luo of Kenya and Tanzania)
At 496.5 Nilo-Saharan languages are instructions to build schedule numbers for Nilo-Saharan languages and linguistics. Here are the Hierarchy box and the Notes box for 496.5:
As the add note at 496.5 shows, all the new subdivisions of notation T6—965 can be used to build language and linguistics numbers, but notation from Table 4 can be added only for the two languages that have their own numbers.
Similarly, all the new subdivisions of notation T6—965 can be used to build literature numbers according to the add note at 896 African literatures, but notation from Table 3 can be added only for the two languages that have their own numbers.
Here are examples of languages and linguistics works for which the new numbers for Nilo-Saharan languages can be used:
496.556 Kalenjin languages
[built with base number 496.5 plus 56 from T6—96556 Kalenjin languages]
Bilingual Dholuo-English dictionary, Kenya
496.55842321 Dholuo (Luo of Kenya and Tanzania)—bilingual dictionaries—English
[built with base number 496.5 plus 5842 from T6—9655842 Dholuo (Luo of Kenya and Tanzania) plus T4—3 Dictionaries of the standard form of the language plus T6—21 English as instructed at T4—32-39 Bilingual dictionaries. This dictionary has entry words in both English and Dholuo, but it is aimed at speakers of English, because the introduction and explanatory apparatus are only in English; the note at T4—32-39 indicates that such a dictionary should be classed with the language other than English, hence Dholuo. A Dholuo-English dictionary with entry words only in Dholuo is also classed in 496.55842321, e.g., Dholuo-English dictionary]
At T5—965 Peoples who speak, or whose ancestors spoke, Nilo-Saharan languages are instructions to build numbers for Nilo-Saharan peoples. Here are the Hierarchy box and the Notes box for T5—965:
Here are examples of works for which the new numbers for Nilo-Saharan peoples can be used:
305.8965522 Ethnic and national groups—Turkana (African people)
[built with base number 305.8 Ethnic and national groups plus notation T5—965522 as instructed at 305.81-305.89 Specific ethnic and national groups. Notation T5—965522 is built with base number T5—965 plus 522 from T6—965522 Lotuxo-Teso languages as instructed at T5—965. Notation T5—965522 has the Relative Index entry “Turkana (African people).” Notation T6—965522 has the including note: “Including Teso-Turkana languages” and the Relative Index entry “Turkana language.”]
Broken spears: A Maasai journey
305.89655226 Ethnic and national groups—Maasai (African people)
[built with base number 305.8 Ethnic and national groups plus notation T5—9655226 as instructed at 305.81-305.89 Specific ethnic and national groups. Notation T5—9655226 Maasai (African people) is built with base number T5—965 plus 5226 from T6—9655226 Maasai as instructed at T5—965.]
The updates for Nilo-Saharan languages and Nilo-Saharan peoples can be found in PDF form on the Dewey Services update page.
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