Thesis (MA (African Languages))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The topic of study is ‘go’ and ‘come’ verbs in Northern Sotho, which can be classified as verbs of state or motion. This study examines the semantics as well as the syntactic analysis of these verbs of state of motion within the framework of Pustejovsky’s Generative Lexicon Theory. This study will explore the polysemy of ‘ya’, as shown in the sentences below: 1. Bana ba ya nokeng. (The children go/are going to the river) 2. Bašimane ba ya šokeng. (The boys go/are going to the bush) The verb ya ‘go’ may end with the suffix –ile to realise the past tense of ya as illustrated in the following examples: 3. Bana ba ile nokeng. (The children went to the river) 4. Bašemane ba ile šokeng. (The boys went to the bush) The study also examines the polysemy of the verb –tla in Northern Sotho. The verb tla ‘come’ semantically denotes motion as shown in the sentences below. 5. Basadi ba tla monyanyeng. (The women come to the party) 6. Banna ba tla kopanong. (Men come/are coming to the meeting) The verb tla may end with the suffix –ile to demonstrate the past tense of –tla, as shown in the following sentences. 7. Ngwana o tlile sekolong. (The child came to school) 8. Mokgalabje o tlile kgorong. (The old man came to the headkraal) This study will demonstrate that the agent argument of the verbs –ya and –tla may regularly occur as complement of the preposition le in Northern Sotho. The range of data examined demonstrate that the verbs –ya and –tla exhibit a wide range of semantic selectional properties as regard to the subject argument and the locative argument. The study also analyses the aspectual properties of the sentences with –ya and –tla with reference to the activity and achievement situation types.

Thesis (Ph. D. (Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2000 / Refer to document

Thesis (M.A. (African Languages)) --University of Limpopo, 2005 / Pictures play a role in dictionaries as they show what a particular object looks like. African languages do not always have readily available translation equivalents for some of the English words, and also, English does not always have translation equivalents for Tshivenda cultural bound words. The study has been undertaken to try to solve the problem of lack of equivalents when English and Tshivenda are used as the treated languages in a bilingual dictionary. The study discovered that lexicographers of Tshivenda-English and English-Tshivenda dictionaries do not always give direct and appropriate translation equivalents for English scientific and technological terms in Tshivenda and translation equivalents for Tshivenda cultural bound words. The study found that these lexicographers end up giving transliteration of scientific and technological terms and even a mere borrowing of Tshivenda cultural terms as translation equivalents. In this case the study recommends that Ostensive addressing be introduced in Tshivenda – English and English – Tshivenda bilingual dictionaries as a solution to the problem of lacking equivalents and that pictures not be used excessively but only where necessary and be given immediately after the lemma in the microstructure of a dictionary.

This research is entitled «A comparative study of Western, Eastern and Southern African surnames as a reflection of African identity" In this study the researcher looked at the historical Origins of surnames in the world, making references of countries including Britain, Scotland, China and India. The researcher then came to the African continent, where she targeted Western, Eastern and Southern Africa as areas of research. The reason for choosing these three parts of Africa is because they fall under the largest language family in the continent i.e. Niger-Kordofanian. The analysis of the findings reveals some similarities between naming practices among Western, Eastern and Southern African Kintu language groups. In the analysis of African surnames, it came out very clear that in these three parts of Africa most surnames are derived from people's names, especially male names; time of the day; animal names; weather condition and from natural phenomenon. Looking at African traditional religion, it came out from the research that in these three parts of Africa there are three categories of religion i.e. Christianity, African religion and Islamic religion. In this particular research religion came through because the findings reveal that religion had an important impact on naming in Western, Eastern and Western Africa and also in other countries in Europe as well. This research gives a proof that Bantu/Kintu languages spoken in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa are related due to common origin from the ancestor language called Proto Bantu. The language relations and the common origin from one ancestor language resulted in similar cultures and similar naming practices among the three parts of Africa. IQOQA Isihloko salolu cwaningo sithi! "Ukuqhathaniswa kwezibongo zaseNtshonalanga-Afrika, eMpumalanga-Afrika, naseMzansi-Afrika njengenkomba yobuzwe obubodwa base-Afrika". Kulolu phando umcwaningi ubheke umlando wokudabuka kwezibongo emhlabeni, ube esegcizelela ukudabuka kwezibongo eBrithani, eScotland, eChina naseNdiya. Umcwaningi ube esebuya eza ezwenikazi i-Afrika lapho eqoke khona ukusebenzisa amazwe aseNtshonalanga-Afrika, eMpumalanga-Afrika naseMzansi-Afrika. Isizathu sokuqoka lezi zizinda ezintathu e-Afrika ngesokuthi amazwe alapha angena ngaphansi komndeni omkhulu e-Afrika obizwa ngokuthi i-Niger-Kordofanian. Uma kuhlaziywa okutholakele ngokocwaningo kuyatholakala ukuthi kukhona ukwefanana ezindleleni ezisetshenziswayo uma kwethiwa amagama nezibongo eNtshonalanga-Afrika, eMpumalanga-Afrika naseMzansi-Afrika. Kutholakale. futhi ukuthi izibongo eziningi zethiwe zisuselwa emagameni abantu, ikakhulukazi emagameni abantu besilisa; esikhathini sosuku, emagameni ezilwane, esimweni seZulu kanye nasezintweni eziyimvelo. Kuthe uma sekubhekwa ngeso lenkolo yase-Afrika kwatholakala ukuthi zintathu izinhlobo zenkolo ezikhona : inkolo yobuKristu, yeSintu neyamaSulumane. Kulolu cwaningo, inkolo ingene ngoba kutholakale ukuthi ineqhaza elikhulu elibambile ekwethiweni kwamagama eNtshonalanga"Afrika, eMpumalanga-Afrika naseMzansi-Afrika kanye nakwamanye amazwe eYurophu. Lolu cwaningo lunikeza isiqiniseko sokuthi izilimi zabantu ezikhulunywa eNtshonalanga-Afrika, eMpumalanga-Afrika naseMzansi-Afrika zihlobene ngenxa yokudabuka kukhokho oyedwa wolimi. Ubuhlobo obudalwe ulimi ngokudabuka ndawonye yilona olungumphumela wamasiko kanye nezindlela zokwetha amagama nezibongo ezifanayo eNtshonalanga-Afriaka eMpumalanga-Afrika, naseMzansi-Afrika. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2001.

M.A. (African Languages) / Various sets of nouns have been established as noun classes in Setswana as well as in other African languages. Generally speaking, a class of nouns is made up of words that have a specific prefix and are in turn linked with a unique set of concords which are morphophonemically related to the prefix. Each class is regarded to contain nouns sharing certain semantic features. However, these semantic characteristics are by no means clear-cut for every class. The purpose of this study is to analyze the semantic characteristics of the noun classes of Setswana. An approach different from that which is customary in describing the semantics of noun classes will be followed, in that I will attempt to establish those semantic features which uniquely characterize each class and distinguish it from other classes rather to list the various types of nouns occurring in it. The concept "core meaning" will be employed in this. regard. (See Section 1.7). In this chapter an overview will be given of the numbering and grouping of noun classes in publications on Setswana (1.2.1) as well as the prefixal morphemes employed (1.2.3). This will be followed by a discussion of the views of different authors on the semantics of the noun classes of Setswana (1.3) and of Bantu languages in general (1.4), the relation between noun classes and number (1.5), and semantic typologies of noun classes that have been suggested (1.6). The chapter will be concluded with a restatement of the aim of the research and of the method followed. The arrangement of the chapters that follow, is eclectic. Where there is a fairly simple singular-plural relation between two semantically similar classes, they will be grouped together for the purpose of discussion. Cf. Chapter 2 (CI 1, Ia, 2 and 2a), Chapter 3 (CI 3 and 4), Chapter 4 (Cl 7 and 8) and Chapter 5 (CI 9 and 10). Classes 5, 11 and 14 are grouped into one chapter (Chapter 6) because of their complex number relation to plural classes. A special chapter (Chapter 7)...

Thesis (M. A. (Translation Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study is an evaluation of language management by the University of Limpopo. It is divided into six chapters which are arranged as follows: Chapter one serves to introduce the study by first giving background to the study and the research problems. The researcher’s aims and objectives as well as the research design, method used to collect and analyse data were discussed. Chapter two deals with literature review that covers the scope of Language Management Theory; the language policy in higher education; the intellectualisation of African languages; the advantages of using African languages in education; the non-implementation of language policies; and the attitudes towards the use of African languages. Chapter three discusses the methodology used in the research. The methodology used in this research is qualitative and the method used to collect data was questionnaires and interviews. Ten students and ten lecturers answered the research questionnaires and furthermore five language practitioners were also consulted for this study. Chapter four of this research compiled a sociolinguistic profile of the University of Limpopo. SWOT analysis of languages was also done to determine the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the official indigenous languages of the University of Limpopo. Chapter five presents the interpretation of results. The data from students, lecturers, and language practitioners were examined separately. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse the data collected through questionnaires and the graphs are shown in chapter four. Content analysis was used as well to analyse the data collected through interviews. And lastly, the summary of the results was presented. Chapter six presents the summary of all the chapters included in this research. It also provides the recommendations of the study.

This thesis presents a detailed description and analysis of several topics in the grammar of Bago, a Gur language spoken in the central-eastern region of Togo. It covers areas in the phonology, syntax, and semantics of the language. The first chapter provides background information about the history and culture of the Bago people prior to giving an overview of the geographical location and classification of the language, previous literature, data collection, and the methodology used in this thesis. The second chapter describes the sound system and syllable structure of the language. It also analyzes the vowel harmony and tonal patterns in Bago nouns and verbs. Chapter three gives a brief overview of the grammar of Bago, and chapter four describes number suffixes, semantics and phonological processes observed in the five classes of nouns. The fifth chapter is concerned with personal pronouns, as well as the question of how to encode reflexivity and reciprocity. A discussion of (in)definiteness encoding is presented in chapter six, which also contains a description of the demonstrative morphemes in the language. Chapter seven deals with nominal modification expressed in the language by means of adjectival roots, predicative nominals, and intransitive verbs. In chapter eight, we investigate the distribution of the copular verbs and the distinction between dynamic and stative verbs. A preliminary description and analysis of the factative and the imperfective aspects are presented in chapter nine, while the following chapter aims to describe modality and conditionality. Chapter eleven is concerned with clausal and constituent negation. The final chapter examines lexical, morphological, and syntactic causative constructions in Bago.

African Languages / M.A. (Bantoetale)

Abstract in English / The aim of this study was to find out what constituted in Zulu the phenumenon which in the Bantu languages is generally known as the Causative. A corpus of 50 arbitrarily chosen sentences was gleaned :from two Zulu novels. Most of these sentences contained a verb which displayed formatives that are usually considered to be those which bring about the causative derivation. To complete the corpus verbs containing other formatives were also included, mainly on the grounds of a hunch by the author that they might be causative derivations. These verbs and sentences were then put to a threefold test: morphological,syntactical and semantic. In each case a criterion was first worked out and then the verbs in the corpus were one by one measured against the respective yardstick. Morphologically the criterion consists in large parts of a ·transcription forrnula which is :made up of the subject concord of the doer-substantive plus the superordinate of all Zulu verbs i.e. -enza, plus the conjuctive-noun 'to be' i.e. ukuba plus the second concord of the done to-substantive plus subjunctive stem of the base form of the verb under test. Syntactically the criterion needed a newly-introduced subtantive replacing the subject of the basic sentence to become the object of the derived sentence. The state or process contained in the basic verb must however still be ascribed to the now new object of the derived sentence, whereas the derived verb must still be ascribed to the new subject. Semantically the criterion calls for a verb which is inherently a state or a process to be changed into an action-process. Verbs which are action-processes from the outset naturally do not fit the criterion. Of importance here was also the semantic features of agent, patient etc. which substantatives have, and the relation in which such nouns have with the verb. The outcome of these 3 tests, in each case led to the same 32 verbs being pointed out as causatives. A significant conclusion reached was that only intransitive verbs could be be made, causative by means of a derivative formative. A further conclusion was that there are no exclusively causative formatives in Zulu. The causative is determined by a special semantic-syntactic interrelationship between the derived verb and the substantitives in the sentence , A causative sentence must contain an agent, a agent as object and a derived verb which has been changed into an action-process from a base form which was inherently a state or a process / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

The main preoccupation in this thesis is to illustrate that, although there is no doubt that the missionaries deserve all the praise that they have been showered with, for their role in the development of Xhosa literature, there is a sense in which they can be said to have contributed as much also to its underdevelopment. It is my view that Xhosa literature has had a very unfortunate history, because of having an origin that is located in the history of Christianization. This history has haunted Xhosa literary creativity from its early beginnings to the present. The success of the mission to convert them to Christianity was anchored on the principle of total alienation of the Xhosa from their world-view: from their culture, from their religion, from their chiefs, from their literary art, and even from their homes. The intention was to turn them into new beings - Christian and loyal subjects of the British Crown - and to make them not only reject, but also despise their past. Therefore Western-style education for the Blacks in South Africa did not come out of any sense of altruism on the part of those by whom it was introduced. It was the interests of its initiators and their country that had to be served by the education of the Blacks. It was in this context that Xhosa literature was born. It was produced to promote the interests of the Christian church and therefore those of the British Crown. Its production was controlled by the missionaries, the owners of the publishing houses, but it was produced by the Christian and literate Xhosa most of whom had studied in mission schools. It was produced to crush the past and any aspirations that were in conflict with those of the Christian church and the British imperial designs. In short, it was a literature against its people. However, the Christian and literate Xhosa was never accepted as the equal of the other British subjects who were White. He was excluded from all law-making mechanisms and was affected by the many Native Laws that were passed, as badly as his non-Christian brothers and sisters. He witnessed land dispossession and all the other atrocities perpetrated by White rulers. His literary art had been harnessed to legitimize and perpetrate this situation and he dared not use his art to change it. It is in the light of this context that this thesis contends that Xhosa literature is between two worlds. It is argued that Xhosa literature, because of the writers' dilemma created by their position between these two conflicting universes, has been forced to be mute in the face of the Black people's experiences of oppression, and therefore to be indifferent to the Black people's struggles to resist colonization and to liberate themselves from this oppression. It is however, pointed out that some works are characterised by the writers' attempts to grapple with this dilemma. Finally this thesis advocates complete liberation of literary artists from state control, indirect though it may be, and also a change in the teaching and analysis of Xhosa literature.