“Rutang bana ditaola le se ye natšo badimong.” This is a Northern Sotho proverb, meaning: teach young generation the true African culture before death comes. This study looks at how elements of indigenous knowledge are being embedded or reflected in Northern Sotho poetry. Different types of poems and their different themes are being analyzed to reveal the indigenous knowledge in them. The contents of the poems reveal how our forbearers’ knowledge is being embedded in them. The way our African culture and the manner of doing things are reflected in the Northern Sotho selected poems. In conclusion, more research should be done in connection with the following issues:- • Initiation schools (for both males and females) • The lobola (magadi) issue • The Taboo (meila). / Dr. J. Manyaka

M.A. (African Languages) / Rank and category shifting are two language-dynamic processes of syntactic origin, wherein form words or word groups are used outside their usual and original syntactic functions and gradually shift their ranks as well as categories. This shifting leads to the development of new word forms with their own characteristics different from the original ones.

M.A. (African Languages) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this study is to contribute more examples and ways of indicating Antonymy in Northern Sotho to what some scholars like Louwrens had already done, in order to generate more discussions and research on this subject.

M.A. / The study of the ideophone as a linguistic phenomenon has, with regard to the Nguni group of languages, received considerable attention to date. Concerning Southern Sotho, however, the handling of this word category has been rudimentary. Comprising the highlighting of a few aspects at a tine only. The role the ideophone plays as a stylistic phenomenon has not yet been thoroughly investigated. This situation prompted a more thorough investigation into the dualistic function of the ideophone in Southern Sotho ...

Thesis (M.A.) (African Languages) --University of Limpopo, 2005. / The study aims at analysing the structure and significance of Northern Sotho traditional songs with reference to children. This will be achieved by analysing the internal and external structures of traditional songs using poetic devices. The study will also show the benefits (significances) children get from those songs. It was discovered that most of the songs are affected by the introduction of foreign cultures and languages in the communities and they are sung in many different languages. The study recommends that Northern Sotho children’s traditional songs be included in the school curriculum in all grades at both primary and secondary schools.

Thesis (DLitt (African Languages) -- University of Pretoria, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152)

Thesis (M.A.(African Languages)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 175-179)

Thesis (Ph. D.(African Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2001. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the argument structures of applicative and causative verbs in Sesotho, and proposes conditions which they must comply with. It is argued that the two conditions in question are in fact general conditions on argument structure rather than restrictions specific to the individual suffixes. The first, the Thematic Hierarchy Condition, which accounts for the unacceptability of unaccusative verbs and experiencer verbs with a Benefactive argument, follows from a universal tendency to have the highest thematic role as the external argument. The second, the Internal Argument Principle, which accounts for the unacceptability of the applicative and causative suffixes with verbs that take two obligatory internal arguments, follows from the fact that basic verbs across languages take no more than two internal arguments. It is argued that this second principle does not follow from Case Theory or Theta Theory. / This thesis also demonstrates that the distinction between structural and inherent Case plays an important role in morphology. It accounts for certain differences between causatives and applicatives, including the unacceptability of causative verbs with an S$ sp prime$ complement and the order in which the applicative and causative suffixes appear.