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

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

M.A. (African Languages) / Africa encompasses such a variety of languages and language types that even today linguistic science is somewhat at a loss to describe the mutual relationships between all these languages. This study is concerned with the Sotho group of Bantu languages. The existing classifications of the Sotho group are examined with regard to the classification criteria employed and how consistently and correctly these have been applied. A critical consideration of these classifications brings to light a considerable number of problems which show the classifications to be inadequate. The conclusion is drawn that the various criteria need to be reconsidered and that the requirements for a well-founded, ideal classification of Sotho should be clearly spelled out. Three basic approaches to the problem are dealt with, namely: a purely synchronic linguistic. classification, a genealogical classification based on diachronic principles, and a sociolinguistic classification. In each case the applicability to Sotho of the method concerned, given the present state of knowledge, is evaluated. As regards a synchronic linguistic classification, it is shown that clarity is needed. concerning crucial terms such as "language" and "dialect"; that a hierarchy of criteria has to be determined; that mutual influences and the influences of non-related languages should be allowed for; and that different degrees of relatedness should be accounted for. Given that these problems are addressed satisfactorily and given that sufficient data is available, a wellfounded synchronic classification would be possible. In the case of a genealogical classification, the use of reconstructions of proto forms of the Bantu languages, such as those of Meinhof and Guthrie, and of reconstructions of Proto-Sotho, such as that of Dickens, is considered...

In this dissertation the three poems Lehu, Polokong written by Ratlabala and Matsoba by Lentsoane, are compared. Thematically they deal with life that triumphs over death, while the topics that are addressed, vary, namely death, at a funeral, and flowers respectively. In a literary sense the poems are compared in respect of (a) content, (b) composition, and (c) stylistic finish, which means that an adapted narratological model of description is used for this purpose. Additionally the three poems are described according to their metric composition. The content of the poems differs altogether. In Lehu death is described as having no respect for human beings, but rather deprives them of life in a cruel way. In Polokong the death of a beloved old farmer is described, while Lentsoane talks about the beauty of flowers in Matsoba. Structurally these three poems are composed in exactly the same manner, and each one consists of an image and an application, which consequently assimilates them with the sonnet. In this way the author emphasises the message or theme by means of which he reports satirically about the powerlessness of death over human. Stylistically the finishing of Lehu and Matsoba agrees with the newspaper report in which the author reports impersonally and abstractly about the respective topics and the surrounding issues. Polokong, on the other hand, is strongly loaded emotionally, and the author is successful in winning the reader over to share in his sadness caused by the death of the old farmer. From this determines its success. Between these three poems Polokong is therefore the only work which is a convincing literary work. According to verse technique, Lehu and Matsoba are free verses, while metrically the composition of Polokong is more rigid. These metrical characteristics have also been taken into consideration regarding the stylistic interpretation of the poems, and have therefore been applied as a stylisticum. The concepts which have been used in this investigation, as well as the method of investigation and the model of description that is used, are described in detail. Each argument is concluded with a relevant summary so that the argumentation is clear and fully comprehensible. The most important findings are summarised concisely and are highlighted in the final chapter. / Dissertation (MA (Sepedi))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / African Languages / unrestricted

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

Bibliography: pages 208-219. / The Auxiliary is a sadly neglected field of study in Southern African languages. The study investigates the syntactic and semantic behaviour of Auxiliaries in Sesotho. Having established that there is a category AUX in Sesotho, we then developed a descriptive framework in which auxiliaries in Sesotho participate. In this framework we posit as basic the three grammatical-semantic categories of verb phrases, namely, Tense, Aspect and Modality. The next major step was to develop formal tests which we used as defining characteristics for auxiliaries. We had to do this because the formal tests developed for English, for instance, do not work for Sesotho. The data used in this study represents samples of Sesotho as spoken by the native speakers. This work makes contributions in two areas. First, to language studies in Southern Africa and then to general linguistic theory. Since Tswana, Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho form one language group predict that the formal 'tests' we have suggested can be applied in the two Sotho languages as well. As far as Aspect, Tense and Modality are concerned, it is where this study makes a major contribution. Nowhere in Sesotho grammatical studies has either a tense or aspectual system of Sesotho been suggested or discussed. Modality has not even been referred to. In this regard the study is breaking new ground. We hope that a fresh debate will be initiated leading to vibrant discussions on comparative work. A number of studies on syntactic typology have been made. This study affords Sesotho its rightful place in the AUX debate.

Bibliography: leaves 145-149. / In this dissertation we examine variation, in both speech and writing, in the South Sotho spoken in Lesotho. We indicate that the South Sotho used by a majority of speakers today shows a shift from both earlier and prescribed varieties. Open-ended questionnaires and informal conversations were used to study aspects of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and the lexicon of South Sotho. Samples were collected from speakers with ages ranging from twelve to over eighty. The dissertation shows that the age, social status, sex and locality of speakers are contributing factors in their language repertoire. We argue that South Sotho lacks the homogeneity that is claimed by language purists in Lesotho, and therefore has non-standard varieties, namely, dialects and sociolects. Although the structure of standard South Sotho sentences is relatively stable, the phonology, lexicon and semantics are indicative of major endogenous and exogenous changes. On the other hand, Sotho morphology shows endogenous changes only. The influence of English on South Sotho is increasing at the expense of Afrikaans influence.

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Thesis (DLitt)--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this dissertation, the semantic and syntactic properties of deverbatives are analyzed in the context of Generative Lexicon theory, which is a model of lexical semantics. The aim of the analysis relates to the existence of the relationship between nominals derived directly from an event description and their inheritance of the properties of that event. The deverbal nouns in Sesotho are analyzed semantically within specific parameters taking into account the deverbal noun as a whole. This is done by viewing how word meaning interact with a set of generative mechanisms to account for the creative use of language. These mechanisms involve the levels of representations (i.e. argument, event and qualia structures) which provides information about the number and type of arguments; the event type of a lexical item and how these events are tied together within different relations. There are correlations between lexically encoded base forms and morphological derived forms. These correlations provide a need for a representational structure to distinguish between stage-level and individual-level nominals. Focusing on the role of events in the semantics of nouns, it is shown that stage-level and individual-level nouns differ in the type and the quantification of their defining event. This led to the adoption of the view that that nominals in general should be named after the events they each fulfil. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie proefskrif word die semantiese en sintaktiese eienskappe van deverbatiewe in Sesotho ontleed binne die raamwerk van Generatiewe Leksikonteorie, ‘n model van leksikale semantiek. Die doel van die analise hou verband met die verhouding tussen nominale direk afgelei vanaf ‘n gebeurtenis (‘event’) beskrywing en die oorerwing van die eienskappe van daardie gebeurtenis (‘event’). Die Sesotho deverbatiewe word semanties ontleed binne spesifieke parameters met inagneming van die semantiese eienskappe van die deverbatief as geheel. Dit word gedoen deur ‘n ondersoek te doen na hoe woordbetekenis in interaksie is met ‘n stel generatiewe meganismes om ‘n verklaring te bied vir die kreatiewe gebruik van taal. Hierdie meganismes betrek die vlakke van representasie (nl. argumentstruktuur, gebeurtenis (‘event’) struktuur en qualia-struktuur) wat inligting voorsien omtrent die getal en tipes argumente (dit is, uitdrukkings wat tematiese rolle het), die gebeurtenis (‘event’) tipe van ‘n leksikale item, en hoe hierdie gebeurtenisse (‘events’) saamhang binne verskillende verbande. Daar is korrelasies tussen leksikaal ge-enkodeerde basisvorme en morfologiesafgeleide vorms. Hierdie ko-relasies bied ‘n behoefte vir ‘n verteenwoordigende struktuur om te onderskei tussen fase-vlak (‘stage-level’) en individuele-vlak nominale. Daar word aangetoon, met fokus op die gebeurtenisse (‘events’) in die semantiek van naamwoorde, dat fase-vlak en individuele-vlak verskil in die tipe en die kwantifisering van hulle definieerbare gebeurtenis. Dit lei tot die aanvaarding van die siening dat nominale in die algemeen benoem moet word na die gebeurtenisse waaraan elk voldoen.

M.A. (African Languages) / The interjective demonstrative appears to be a problematic word category. This study investigates the current views on this subject in Northern Sotho. The morphology, semantics, syntax and the phonology of the interjective demonstrative are investigated and analyzed with the help of native speakers of Northern Sotho. The investigation reveals new perspectives concerning the unique character of the interjective demonstrative as a word category ...