Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2138957
P. Chimbunde, Maserole Christina Kgari-Masondo
Abstract In this article, we draw inspiration from the learners’ movement witnessed at the University of Cape Town in 2015, which raised concerns similar to those raised at the Malaysia Conference in 2011 and at University College London in 2014. These concerns focused on the quest for non-Eurocentric paradigms in education. This article evaluates the progress made thus far to decolonise the use of African languages to fight linguicide. Thus, the article seeks to identify, describe, and evaluate what has been done in Southern African countries to answer the decolonial call and its challenges through discussing the prevailing problems of decolonising language policies. Using the decolonisation lens and document analysis, we use South Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies to check the urgency of the effort and then propose tentative actions that go beyond the rhetoric and writings of the decolonisation agenda.
{"title":"The Decolonisation of African Languages: Insights from Southern Africa","authors":"P. Chimbunde, Maserole Christina Kgari-Masondo","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2138957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2138957","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this article, we draw inspiration from the learners’ movement witnessed at the University of Cape Town in 2015, which raised concerns similar to those raised at the Malaysia Conference in 2011 and at University College London in 2014. These concerns focused on the quest for non-Eurocentric paradigms in education. This article evaluates the progress made thus far to decolonise the use of African languages to fight linguicide. Thus, the article seeks to identify, describe, and evaluate what has been done in Southern African countries to answer the decolonial call and its challenges through discussing the prevailing problems of decolonising language policies. Using the decolonisation lens and document analysis, we use South Africa and Zimbabwe as case studies to check the urgency of the effort and then propose tentative actions that go beyond the rhetoric and writings of the decolonisation agenda.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"5 - 24"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44083113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2126582
Theodorus du Plessis
Abstract The Constitutional Review Committee's 2017 recommendation that the South African Constitution be amended to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as one of South Africa's official languages gives rise to the question: What gains will such a step bring for the Deaf community, given the special status this language already enjoys? This question is answered by undertaking a comparative study on language officialisation in South Africa from a language rights and language planning perspective. The impact of national officialisation in 1994 on the historically marginalised indigenous South African languages alongside English and Afrikaans and the officialisation of SASL is considered in comparison to the advance of SASL as a unique minority language of South Africa since 1996. The study identifies some anomalies regarding the relation between the officialisation of the historically marginalised indigenous languages and their current status in different language domains and proposes a strategy to overcome the structural limitations regarding language officialisation in South Africa.
{"title":"The Officialisation of South African Sign Language—What Is There to Gain?","authors":"Theodorus du Plessis","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2126582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2126582","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Constitutional Review Committee's 2017 recommendation that the South African Constitution be amended to include South African Sign Language (SASL) as one of South Africa's official languages gives rise to the question: What gains will such a step bring for the Deaf community, given the special status this language already enjoys? This question is answered by undertaking a comparative study on language officialisation in South Africa from a language rights and language planning perspective. The impact of national officialisation in 1994 on the historically marginalised indigenous South African languages alongside English and Afrikaans and the officialisation of SASL is considered in comparison to the advance of SASL as a unique minority language of South Africa since 1996. The study identifies some anomalies regarding the relation between the officialisation of the historically marginalised indigenous languages and their current status in different language domains and proposes a strategy to overcome the structural limitations regarding language officialisation in South Africa.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"47 - 71"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45626387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2127855
S. Madlome, Crous Hlungwani
Abstract Tsonga is a cross-border language spoken in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini. This article focuses on variations of Tsonga spoken in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The aim of this article is to discuss the phonological and semantic differences between Tsonga spoken in South Africa and Zimbabwe using a comparative approach. Interviews were conducted among 20 Tsonga first language speakers from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Document analysis was also used. Labov's (1972) variation theory, which points out that there is variation in any given language, was employed. The article discusses differences in places of articulation of consonants found in certain lexical items, highlighting phonological processes such as labialisation versus palatalisation, velarisation versus labialisation, nasalisation versus non- nasalisation, and aspiration versus non-aspiration. Semantic variations are also discussed. It was found that there are phonological and semantic similarities and differences between Tsonga spoken in Zimbabwe and South Africa.
{"title":"Phonological and Semantic Variations in Tsonga Spoken in Zimbabwe and South Africa","authors":"S. Madlome, Crous Hlungwani","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2127855","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2127855","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Tsonga is a cross-border language spoken in South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini. This article focuses on variations of Tsonga spoken in Zimbabwe and South Africa. The aim of this article is to discuss the phonological and semantic differences between Tsonga spoken in South Africa and Zimbabwe using a comparative approach. Interviews were conducted among 20 Tsonga first language speakers from Zimbabwe and South Africa. Document analysis was also used. Labov's (1972) variation theory, which points out that there is variation in any given language, was employed. The article discusses differences in places of articulation of consonants found in certain lexical items, highlighting phonological processes such as labialisation versus palatalisation, velarisation versus labialisation, nasalisation versus non- nasalisation, and aspiration versus non-aspiration. Semantic variations are also discussed. It was found that there are phonological and semantic similarities and differences between Tsonga spoken in Zimbabwe and South Africa.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"154 - 170"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46643497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2141829
Victor Chikaipa
Abstract This article analyses slogans and mottos inscribed on bicycle taxis operating in Malawi. It examines how they become platforms where texts are transformed for expanded production and consumption of meaning. Specifically, bicycle taxis are a microcosm of the everyday mode of transport and their slogans represent underlying socio-cultural meanings. The study collected 150 unique slogans from bicycle taxis situated at different ranks throughout Malawi. It also used in-depth interviews to collect data from taxi owners, and a qualitative thematic method for analysis. The findings reveal that slogans and mottos are syncretic creative socio-cultural symbols and styles which the operators use to express their innermost feelings and ideologically link their identities to specific cultures. The article argues that slogans on bicycle taxis are a larger linguistic landscape of varied transformed meanings revolving around salient topics of lifetime experiences, the sociopolitical economy, and linguistic diversity in Malawi.
{"title":"Riding on Slogans and Mottos: Bicycle Taxis as Mobile Bodies of Meaning in Malawi","authors":"Victor Chikaipa","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2141829","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2141829","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article analyses slogans and mottos inscribed on bicycle taxis operating in Malawi. It examines how they become platforms where texts are transformed for expanded production and consumption of meaning. Specifically, bicycle taxis are a microcosm of the everyday mode of transport and their slogans represent underlying socio-cultural meanings. The study collected 150 unique slogans from bicycle taxis situated at different ranks throughout Malawi. It also used in-depth interviews to collect data from taxi owners, and a qualitative thematic method for analysis. The findings reveal that slogans and mottos are syncretic creative socio-cultural symbols and styles which the operators use to express their innermost feelings and ideologically link their identities to specific cultures. The article argues that slogans on bicycle taxis are a larger linguistic landscape of varied transformed meanings revolving around salient topics of lifetime experiences, the sociopolitical economy, and linguistic diversity in Malawi.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"133 - 153"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46328798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-30DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2113912
P. Ngidi, M. Cekiso, Peter Mandende
Abstract This study examined how the former South African president, Nelson Mandela, used language to present his political ideologies and the persuasion techniques he used to convince his audience of the state's achievements and challenges when delivering two State of the Nation addresses (1994 and 1999). The study was qualitative in nature and followed a case study design. Two speeches presented by former President Mandela provided the data for the study. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that former President Mandela used the restoration of human dignity for all South Africans, freedom of the individual, taking care of the poor, caring for vulnerable groups, overcoming fear, unity, and a better life for all as his ideologies.
{"title":"A Critical Discourse Analysis of Former President Nelson Mandela's Two State of the Nation Addresses (1994 and 1999)","authors":"P. Ngidi, M. Cekiso, Peter Mandende","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2113912","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2113912","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study examined how the former South African president, Nelson Mandela, used language to present his political ideologies and the persuasion techniques he used to convince his audience of the state's achievements and challenges when delivering two State of the Nation addresses (1994 and 1999). The study was qualitative in nature and followed a case study design. Two speeches presented by former President Mandela provided the data for the study. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that former President Mandela used the restoration of human dignity for all South Africans, freedom of the individual, taking care of the poor, caring for vulnerable groups, overcoming fear, unity, and a better life for all as his ideologies.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"72 - 90"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47971355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2089719
Devet Goodness
Abstract This study investigates the language styles used by automotive mechanics in Dar es Salaam to communicate mechanical information. It is guided by conceptual metaphor theory and translanguaging. Data was obtained from interviews with 20 participants, observation, and social media, specifically Jamii Forums and Facebook. The findings of the study show that automotive mechanics employ a variety of strategies to communicate messages to their clients when giving instructions, advising, explaining mechanical processes, and recommending spare parts to them. These strategies include using loan words, translanguaging, and assigning the names of body parts and human actions to car parts and mechanical processes respectively. Other strategies include the metaphorical use of body parts and personification. The study shows that automotive mechanics use these strategies not only because of their incompetence in using English or Swahili to communicate technical issues but also as a matter of style.
{"title":"Language Styles of Automotive Mechanics in Selected Garages in Dar es Salaam","authors":"Devet Goodness","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2089719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2089719","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study investigates the language styles used by automotive mechanics in Dar es Salaam to communicate mechanical information. It is guided by conceptual metaphor theory and translanguaging. Data was obtained from interviews with 20 participants, observation, and social media, specifically Jamii Forums and Facebook. The findings of the study show that automotive mechanics employ a variety of strategies to communicate messages to their clients when giving instructions, advising, explaining mechanical processes, and recommending spare parts to them. These strategies include using loan words, translanguaging, and assigning the names of body parts and human actions to car parts and mechanical processes respectively. Other strategies include the metaphorical use of body parts and personification. The study shows that automotive mechanics use these strategies not only because of their incompetence in using English or Swahili to communicate technical issues but also as a matter of style.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"68 - 84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45050150","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2089718
Tambawoga Muchena, Ernest Jakaza
Abstract The discussion on whether endangered languages should be preserved or not is still a contested one. Language nationalists have likened people losing their language to a people that have become unclothed, as they would have lost their culture, ubuntu, and identity. However, another group argues that language loss is not as catastrophic as linguistic nationalists would like people to believe; just like culture, it should be allowed to evolve naturally. The paper revisits the debate, focusing on the Shona-speaking people who arrived in Kenya in 1960. The paper uses secondary data to explore the sociolinguistic complexities of this Kenyan Shona language. Arguing within Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital, the paper contends that whilst there is no problem with documenting the language, attempting to preserve and maintain it is retrogressive and may result in disrupting the way of living of a people.
{"title":"Language Preservation, Evolution, and Loss: The Case of the Shona Language Spoken in Kenya","authors":"Tambawoga Muchena, Ernest Jakaza","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2089718","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2089718","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The discussion on whether endangered languages should be preserved or not is still a contested one. Language nationalists have likened people losing their language to a people that have become unclothed, as they would have lost their culture, ubuntu, and identity. However, another group argues that language loss is not as catastrophic as linguistic nationalists would like people to believe; just like culture, it should be allowed to evolve naturally. The paper revisits the debate, focusing on the Shona-speaking people who arrived in Kenya in 1960. The paper uses secondary data to explore the sociolinguistic complexities of this Kenyan Shona language. Arguing within Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital, the paper contends that whilst there is no problem with documenting the language, attempting to preserve and maintain it is retrogressive and may result in disrupting the way of living of a people.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"23 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43582565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2069846
Nadezhda Makeeva, I. Ryabova
Abstract This article presents an overview of the Dawida noun class system, which consists of 15 classes and 4 subclasses. Each of the 15 main classes is a set of nouns that take the same nominal prefix and have common agreement paradigms. Subclasses trigger the same agreement as the main classes they refer to, but have different nominal prefixes. The opposition between singularity and plurality in Dawida only occurs in the system of noun classes. Among 11 attested class correlations between singular and plural nouns, 9 correlations are the most widespread Bantu number pairings or so-called genders. From a syntactic point of view, two types of agreement exist in the language: (a) agreement of modifiers with the head noun of the noun phrase, and (b) agreement of verb forms with the subject/object noun phrase. Morphologically, the noun prefixes and 5 series of dependent prefixes are distinguished.
{"title":"Noun Classes and Agreement in Dawida","authors":"Nadezhda Makeeva, I. Ryabova","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2069846","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2069846","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article presents an overview of the Dawida noun class system, which consists of 15 classes and 4 subclasses. Each of the 15 main classes is a set of nouns that take the same nominal prefix and have common agreement paradigms. Subclasses trigger the same agreement as the main classes they refer to, but have different nominal prefixes. The opposition between singularity and plurality in Dawida only occurs in the system of noun classes. Among 11 attested class correlations between singular and plural nouns, 9 correlations are the most widespread Bantu number pairings or so-called genders. From a syntactic point of view, two types of agreement exist in the language: (a) agreement of modifiers with the head noun of the noun phrase, and (b) agreement of verb forms with the subject/object noun phrase. Morphologically, the noun prefixes and 5 series of dependent prefixes are distinguished.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"37 - 67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42848272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2022.2093951
Temidayo Akinrinlola, T. Ajayi
Abstract Existing studies on police interrogation have revealed that investigating police officers (IPOs) often resort to the use of physical force in extracting confessional statements from suspects. However, we maintain that IPOs do not usually subject suspects to torture in a bid to obtain a confession. We therefore examine how IPOs use tactics to achieve confessions in police-suspect interactions (PSIs). Data comprise nine interactions between IPOs and suspects tape-recorded at the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Ìyágankú, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Drawing on Bateson’s framing theory, the study reveals that participants in PSIs resort to accentuation of crime, blaming of a third party, minimisation of crime, deployment of objections, use of alternative questions, avoidance of questions, oblique references, deliberate false statements, and resistance to achieve their respective goals. The study demonstrates that PSIs in Nigeria do not always involve the use of physical force by IPOs.
{"title":"Discourse Tactic(s) in Police-Suspect Interactions in Ibadan, Nigeria","authors":"Temidayo Akinrinlola, T. Ajayi","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2022.2093951","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2022.2093951","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Existing studies on police interrogation have revealed that investigating police officers (IPOs) often resort to the use of physical force in extracting confessional statements from suspects. However, we maintain that IPOs do not usually subject suspects to torture in a bid to obtain a confession. We therefore examine how IPOs use tactics to achieve confessions in police-suspect interactions (PSIs). Data comprise nine interactions between IPOs and suspects tape-recorded at the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Ìyágankú, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Drawing on Bateson’s framing theory, the study reveals that participants in PSIs resort to accentuation of crime, blaming of a third party, minimisation of crime, deployment of objections, use of alternative questions, avoidance of questions, oblique references, deliberate false statements, and resistance to achieve their respective goals. The study demonstrates that PSIs in Nigeria do not always involve the use of physical force by IPOs.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"53 1","pages":"110 - 126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42428746","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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