No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal,Durban, 2003.

Abstract not available. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2000.

MA (Xitsonga) / Senthara ya M. E. R. Mathivha ya Tindzimi ta Afrika, Vutshila na Ndhavuko / See the attached abstract below

MA (Xitsonga) / Ehansi ka Senthara ya M.E.R. Mathivha ya Tindzimi ta Afrika, Vutshila na Mfuwo / Ndzavisiso lowu wu lava ku kombisa nkucetelo lowu Xilungu xi nga na wona eka mathyelo ya mavito ya vanhu eka Xitsonga. Ku thyiwa ka mavito ya munhu ku na ntikelo lowukulu eka vanhu hikuva ku komba ndhavuko, matitwelo, mitolovelo, maendlelo, ku navela na ripfumelo ra vanhu va rixaka ro karhi. Hi xitalo mavito ya tisa hungu ro karhi endyangwini, emugangeni kumbe etikweni; hileswaku hungu leri ri nga eka vito ri nga kongomisiwa eka n’wini wa vito kumbe eka vanhu van’wana erixakeni. EAfrika mavito a ya thyiwi ntsenantsena kambe ya thyiwa hikuva ya ri na nhlamuselo yo karhi. Ndzavisiso lowu wu kombisile switandzhaku swo biha leswi va ka kona loko Vatsonga va nga tirhisi mavito ya Xitsonga ku thya vana va vona. Ndzavisiso wu ta tlherile wu languta swivangelo leswi endlaka leswaku Vatsonga va thya vana mavito ya Xilungu. Xo hetelela, ndzavisiso wu langutile tindlela leti nga tirhisiwa ku endla leswaku Vatsonga va tirhisa mavito ya Xitsonga ematshan’wini ya Xilungu. / NRF

This dissertation examines the uses, functions, and meaningfulness of traditional personal names and naming practices in Niitsitapi (Blackfoot Indian) culture. The current study indicates that Niitsitapi personal names appear to play a major role in capturing and conveying various aspects of traditional Niitsitapi sociocultural knowledge. Niitsitapi personal names thus appear to form an integral part of Niitsitapi oral tradition, and also seem to play a powerful role in establishing and maintaining Niitsitapi conceptualisations of individual, as well as social and cultural, identity. This dissertation supports the position that, in addition to their nominative function, names contain and communicate sociocultural meaning, based on their associations with a wide range of non-linguistic factors which form part of the sociocultural environment within which they are used. The methodological approach stresses the importance of studying personal names in cultural context and strongly emphasises the use of indigenous knowledge as a means of explaining personal naming phenomena from a native cultural perspective. / Linguistics / M. A. (Sociolinguistics)

Given names, amongst the Shona people, are an occurrence of language use for specific purposes. This multidisciplinary ethnographic 1890-2006 study explores how insights from pragmatics, semiotics, semantics, among others, can be used to glean the intended and implied meaning(s) of various first names. Six sources namely, twenty seven NADA sources (1931-1977), one hundred and twenty five Shona novels and plays (1957-1998), four newspapers (2005), thirty one graduation booklets (1987-2006), five hundred questionnaires and two hundred and fifty semi-structured interviews were used to gather ten thousand personal names predominantly from seven Shona speaking provinces of Zimbabwe. The study recognizes current dominant given name categories and established eleven broad factors behind the use of given names. It went on to identify twenty-four broad based theme-oriented categories, envisaged naming trends and name categories. Furthermore, popular Shona male and female first names, interesting personal names and those people have reservations with have been recognized. The variety and nature of names Shona people prefer and their favoured address forms were also noted. The study reckons that Shona first names came as a result of unparallel anthroponomastic and linguistic innovation exuded by the Shona people in their bid to tame their reality. The study uses an anthroponym-pragma-semio-semantic decompositional theory, approximation model, contextualized implicature, maxims of brevity and tactfulness as the best approaches for explaining the varied meanings personal names embody. The study argues that it has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge in disciplines such as semantics, semiotics, pragmatics, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, history, geography, religion, education, philology, morphology and syntax, among others. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The Vhavenḓa are a conservative society and although they admire and follow other people’s cultures, they do not do this at the expense of their own traditions. Most Vhavenḓa are found in the far north of South Africa. The second largest group of Vhavenḓa is found in Gauteng Province. Vhavenḓa first met with the Europeans in the 19th century. The greatest influence on Tshivenḓa culture was brought about by the missionaries, who came with the aim of colonizing Africa and discouraging Africans from following their own culture and traditions, which the missionaries regarded as paganism. They forced Africans to change their African personal names and replace them with European ones, especially if they wanted to attend mission schools or when they sought employment. Traditionally, Tshivenḓa personal names were chosen by the male grandparent or another senior male person, or the role was played by the father of the child. The mother of the child did not have any say in the selection or bestowal of a personal name (Herbert, 1986; Moyo, 1996; Nkumane, 1999; Ndimande, 1998). Whenever Africans choose a personal name, it bears a particular meaning or it is the name of a deceased member of the family (Raper, 1983; Stayt, 1931; Thipa, 1986; Yanga, 1978). They do this in order to pacify the deceased. Africans believe that there are always connections between the living and the dead and that the dead have great influence on the lives of the living. Vhavenḓa practice teknonymy. The parents and the grandparents are addressed by the personal names of their children and grandchildren respectively. The name that is commonly used in this instance is the name of the firstborn. It happens that at times the personal names of the parents and grandparents are never used: some members of the community might never know these people by their real names (Arensen, 1988; Thipa, 1987). African personal names should all have meanings. They are used as a short history of the family or the community. Whenever personal names are used in communication, friction between people is minimized. Morphologically, Tshivenḓa personal names are derived from various Tshivenḓa word categories. They are formed using different morphemes that are available in the language. These morphemes assign meaning to the personal name. / African languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African languages)

Given names, amongst the Shona people, are an occurrence of language use for specific purposes. This multidisciplinary ethnographic 1890-2006 study explores how insights from pragmatics, semiotics, semantics, among others, can be used to glean the intended and implied meaning(s) of various first names. Six sources namely, twenty seven NADA sources (1931-1977), one hundred and twenty five Shona novels and plays (1957-1998), four newspapers (2005), thirty one graduation booklets (1987-2006), five hundred questionnaires and two hundred and fifty semi-structured interviews were used to gather ten thousand personal names predominantly from seven Shona speaking provinces of Zimbabwe. The study recognizes current dominant given name categories and established eleven broad factors behind the use of given names. It went on to identify twenty-four broad based theme-oriented categories, envisaged naming trends and name categories. Furthermore, popular Shona male and female first names, interesting personal names and those people have reservations with have been recognized. The variety and nature of names Shona people prefer and their favoured address forms were also noted. The study reckons that Shona first names came as a result of unparallel anthroponomastic and linguistic innovation exuded by the Shona people in their bid to tame their reality. The study uses an anthroponym-pragma-semio-semantic decompositional theory, approximation model, contextualized implicature, maxims of brevity and tactfulness as the best approaches for explaining the varied meanings personal names embody. The study argues that it has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge in disciplines such as semantics, semiotics, pragmatics, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, history, geography, religion, education, philology, morphology and syntax, among others. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Thesis (M A.(African Languages)) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / Refer to the document

Psychological literature regarding South Asian American mental health and race-related issues is scarce (Daga & Raval, 2018; Nadimpalli, Kanaya, McDade, & Kandula, 2016; Pyke & Dang, 2003). In particular, discriminatory practices involving individuals’ personal names of ethnic origin have primarily been explored within educational research (Kholi & Solórzano, 2012); the present study conceptualizes these experiences within a psychological context as name-based microaggressions. Name-based microaggressions represent a promising avenue by which to advance racism-related theory and research in that they may be reasonably expected to occur throughout the interpersonal interactions of a wide variety of individuals, including the educational system, the employment process, and everyday casual conversations with others. The present study used consensual qualitative research (CQR) to analyze the narratives of South Asian American participants regarding name-based microaggressions (Hill, Knox, Thompson, Williams, Hess, & Ladany, 2005). The study sheds light on microaggressive events among this racial minority population whose experiences are infrequently studied by psychologists and who are generally underserved by mental health practitioners. The results have implications for the multicultural awareness for counselors working with South Asian American clients, and for psychological awareness about the existence and impact of a little-studied microaggression.