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

Thesis (Ph.D. (Language Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) mandates that “the official languages of the Republic are Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu” (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996: 4). However, only English has continued to be used as the language of teaching and communication in almost all institution of higher education. The Language Policy for Higher Education in South Africa (DBE, 2002) calls on all institutions of higher learning to develop African languages. The Bill of Rights (Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996:10) asserts that “everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice...”. In consensus with this, the Language Policy of the University of Limpopo (1996:3) mandates the institution, to uphold the legislative provision of multilingualism as defined and laid out in Section 6 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996), the Language Policy and Plan for South Africa (2000). In addition, the National Language Policy Framework (2002), and the Ministerial Committee’s Report on the Development of Indigenous African Languages as Mediums of Instruction in Higher Education (2005). However, no practical plans to meet the mandates of these language policies have been made, except in the teaching of the language as a module. Many Xitsonga university students face challenging linguistic contexts when they enter institutions of higher learning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students and lecturers of the use of the Xitsonga language in teaching, learning and communication at the University of Limpopo. The Xitsonga students often codemix and codeswitch during lectures and social interactions. The researcher had to identify, describe, analyse and reflect on the kinds of learning and communication practices that emerged in this context. The investigation is an ethnographic case study of the language attitudes and behaviours of the students and lecturers at the University of Limpopo. The researcher spent time with Xitsonga students and lecturers in the School of Education and in the School of Languages and Communication Studies, where Xitsonga is offered as a module. The researcher used her class in the School of Education and observed lectures in the School of Languages and Communication Studies to develop a case, which can be used to enrich an understanding of other cases. The study was qualitative in nature within interpretivism paradigm. Research techniques namely interviews, documentary analysisvii and observations were used for data collection. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) and thick descriptions were used to analyse the data coded into themes to highlight the power play between English and the indigenous languages, with particular reference to Xitsonga. The results indicated that the environment at the University of Limpopo does not afford Xitsonga students the desire and motivation required to communicate in Xitsonga. The researcher also observed that language is only recognised for greeting purposes and cultural activities. As such, most Vatsonga students do not contribute to the development of the language. The study therefore recommends that the institution language policy be revised and implemented accordingly to cater appropriate use of the SOVENGA languages. Keywords: Language Learning, Communication, Xitsonga, Indigenous African Languages, Language Policy, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation, Motivation, Attitude, SOVENGA

Thesis( M.Ed.) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The purpose of this study was to explore translanguaging patterns in Xitsonga classrooms at high schools in Mkhuhlu, specifically M.L Nkuna High School. In this study, translanguaging patterns were tracked at M.L Nkuna high school, whereby some learners almost have little or no exposure to Xitsonga at home, but they enroll for Xitsonga as Home Language (HL). The language policy of the school provides for Xitsonga as an official HL, yet there are those who speak SiSwati and other languages as their Home Languages. There is high failure rate of Xitsonga Home Language as a subject. The researcher observed lessons and conducted interviews on teachers and learners to develop the case, which may be used to enrich an understanding of other cases that include translanguaging as a pedagogic tool. The study was qualitative within transformative paradigm. The researcher observed that translanguaging was not adequately used within Xitsonga classrooms at M.L Nkuna high school. Moreover, the researcher acknowledge the view that if translanguaging was used properly in classrooms, improvement of learning experience would be realized. Moreover, the researcher views translanguaging as an integral part of the environment of M.L Nkuna High School, in order to bridge the gap between learners in multilingual classrooms. Lastly, there is a need to conduct a survey on language policies in schools

The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of socio-cultural rules underlying address behaviour in face-to-face interactions in Xitsonga. In the study, a socio-pragmatic approach is used. This approach is a combination of sociolinguistics and pragmatics. Data are collected using semi-structured interviews from 29 participants in Hlanganani region. Hlanganani is a Xitsonga speech community located in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The participants were selected in terms of five variables, namely their age, gender, marital status, educational status and occupation. Five theories are tested in this study, namely Brown and Gilman’s (1968) theory of power and solidarity, Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory, the theory of accommodation, the theory of universal grammar and the Gricean theory of conversation. The study finds that Hlanganani is an age-set society in that the age of a person is the primary determiner of address choice. The male gene also receives superior status in address behaviour in Xitsonga. It is also found that women are given the same lower status as children. It is observed that women’s statuses reflect their graduation in terms of marriage and the production of children. It is recommended that more studies of a similar kind should be undertaken based on either different speech communities or on a comparative basis of particularly African languages. Such studies will go a long way in describing similarities and differences in both the linguistic and the social structures of different cultures. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The purpose of this study is to explore the nature of socio-cultural rules underlying address behaviour in face-to-face interactions in Xitsonga. In the study, a socio-pragmatic approach is used. This approach is a combination of sociolinguistics and pragmatics. Data are collected using semi-structured interviews from 29 participants in Hlanganani region. Hlanganani is a Xitsonga speech community located in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The participants were selected in terms of five variables, namely their age, gender, marital status, educational status and occupation. Five theories are tested in this study, namely Brown and Gilman’s (1968) theory of power and solidarity, Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness theory, the theory of accommodation, the theory of universal grammar and the Gricean theory of conversation. The study finds that Hlanganani is an age-set society in that the age of a person is the primary determiner of address choice. The male gene also receives superior status in address behaviour in Xitsonga. It is also found that women are given the same lower status as children. It is observed that women’s statuses reflect their graduation in terms of marriage and the production of children. It is recommended that more studies of a similar kind should be undertaken based on either different speech communities or on a comparative basis of particularly African languages. Such studies will go a long way in describing similarities and differences in both the linguistic and the social structures of different cultures. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This study focuses on the predicate argument structure (PAS) of a sub-class of verbs in Xitsonga - verbs of change of possession: give, contribute, future having, providing, obtaining and verbs of exchange. It is shown that these verbs select various theta roles to form their PAS in the different alternations allowed in this language. The effects of the applicative {-el-} and causative {-is-} verbal affixes on the PAS of such verbs are also considered. The study confirms the fact that the ordering of objects in ditransitive verbs is determined by an interplay of syntactic and semantic factors. Ambiguity arises in the case of two animate objects. In this case the object with a definite reading will appear adjacent to the verb. / African Languages / M. A. (Arican Languages)

This dissertation is an analysis of the segmental phonology of the Shangani language as spoken in the South Eastern parts of Zimbabwe. It starts by presenting the language situation in Zimbabwe and comparing the language’s status in Zimbabwe with that of its sister varieties in South Africa where it is referred to as Tsonga and in Mozambique where it is referred to as XiChangana or Changana. The dissertation is based on data collected from the speakers of Shangani using a variety of research techniques. The dissertation identifies and characterizes the language’s distinctive phonemes using the minimal pair and set tests. It presents the language’s consonants, which include aspirated, breathy-voiced, pre-nasalized, labialized and palatalized consonants. It shows that in Shangani, voiceless consonants cannot be pre-nasalized and that there is an incompatibility between that labio-velar glide /w/ and most labial consonants excpt /m/. The phonemes are analysed using Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) distinctive feature theory. The study uses Clements and Keyser’s (1983) CV phonology of the syllable structure to analyse the language’s syllable structure. The language’s canonical syllable structure is CV. It is also shown that consonant clusters are gaining their way into the language through borrowing from English, Afrikaans and other languages that have consonant clusters in their inventories. Onsetless Vs are marginally attested word-initially. In agent nouns, VV sequences are in most cases retained. These sequences are not analysed as diphthongs since they occupy different V slots on the syllable tier. The second vowel in the sequence is the onsetless syllable. Affricates, NCs, Cws and Cjs are presented as unitary segments that occupy a single C slot of the CV tier. Phonological processes that are attested in the language are also presented. Secondary articulation, vowel deletion, feature spreading, vowel coalescence and nasalization are shown to be the most common phonological process in the language. Since Shangani has the CV syllable typology, most of the phonological processes are there to resolve hiatus that would have been induced by suffixation of vowel commencing stems or suffixes to vowel final prefixes or stems. The notion of domains is shown to be a diagnostic tool for identifying a process in a hiatus situation. The study shows that vowel deletion is the least preferred strategy when secondary articulation, feature spreading, vowel coalescence have been blocked by some constraints like syllable structure processes or the language’s phonotactics / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This dissertation is an analysis of the segmental phonology of the Shangani language as spoken in the South Eastern parts of Zimbabwe. It starts by presenting the language situation in Zimbabwe and comparing the language’s status in Zimbabwe with that of its sister varieties in South Africa where it is referred to as Tsonga and in Mozambique where it is referred to as XiChangana or Changana. The dissertation is based on data collected from the speakers of Shangani using a variety of research techniques. The dissertation identifies and characterizes the language’s distinctive phonemes using the minimal pair and set tests. It presents the language’s consonants, which include aspirated, breathy-voiced, pre-nasalized, labialized and palatalized consonants. It shows that in Shangani, voiceless consonants cannot be pre-nasalized and that there is an incompatibility between that labio-velar glide /w/ and most labial consonants excpt /m/. The phonemes are analysed using Chomsky and Halle’s (1968) distinctive feature theory. The study uses Clements and Keyser’s (1983) CV phonology of the syllable structure to analyse the language’s syllable structure. The language’s canonical syllable structure is CV. It is also shown that consonant clusters are gaining their way into the language through borrowing from English, Afrikaans and other languages that have consonant clusters in their inventories. Onsetless Vs are marginally attested word-initially. In agent nouns, VV sequences are in most cases retained. These sequences are not analysed as diphthongs since they occupy different V slots on the syllable tier. The second vowel in the sequence is the onsetless syllable. Affricates, NCs, Cws and Cjs are presented as unitary segments that occupy a single C slot of the CV tier. Phonological processes that are attested in the language are also presented. Secondary articulation, vowel deletion, feature spreading, vowel coalescence and nasalization are shown to be the most common phonological process in the language. Since Shangani has the CV syllable typology, most of the phonological processes are there to resolve hiatus that would have been induced by suffixation of vowel commencing stems or suffixes to vowel final prefixes or stems. The notion of domains is shown to be a diagnostic tool for identifying a process in a hiatus situation. The study shows that vowel deletion is the least preferred strategy when secondary articulation, feature spreading, vowel coalescence have been blocked by some constraints like syllable structure processes or the language’s phonotactics / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

This study focuses on the predicate argument structure (PAS) of a sub-class of verbs in Xitsonga - verbs of change of possession: give, contribute, future having, providing, obtaining and verbs of exchange. It is shown that these verbs select various theta roles to form their PAS in the different alternations allowed in this language. The effects of the applicative {-el-} and causative {-is-} verbal affixes on the PAS of such verbs are also considered. The study confirms the fact that the ordering of objects in ditransitive verbs is determined by an interplay of syntactic and semantic factors. Ambiguity arises in the case of two animate objects. In this case the object with a definite reading will appear adjacent to the verb. / African Languages / M. A. (Arican Languages)

MA (Xitsonga) / Ehansi ka Senthara ya M. E. R. Mathivha ya Tindimu ta Afrika, Vutshila ni Ndhlavuko / Xikongomelonkulu xa ndzavisiso lowu i ku lava ku andlala ntirho lowu wu tirhiwaka hi vutivi bya tindziminyingi hi ku kongomisa eka Vatsonga va lembe ro sungula eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda. Xikongomelo xin’wana xa ndzavisiso lowu i ku lava ku kumisisa ndlela leyi mhaka ya vutivi bya tindziminyingi yi vuyerisaka machudeni ha kona loko va ri karhi va ti nghenelerisa eka minhjekanjhekisano ya swa tidyondzo. Theme leri ra tindziminyingi ri tumbulukile khale hi nkarhi wa ku akiwa ka xihondzo ya Babel. Theme leri ri kongomisa eka xiyimo laha munhu a nga ni vuswikoti bya ku tirhisa tindzimi timbirhi kumbe ku tlula. Dyondzo ya tindziminyingi yi tanihi tidyondzo letin’wana hikuva nayona yi va yi simekiwile eka rimba ra dyondzo yoyoleyo. Ndzavisiso lowu wu simekiwile eka Thiyori ya Affordances. Xikongomelo xa ku va hi hlawuriwile thiyori i mhaka ya leswaku eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda ku kumeka vanhu vo hlaya laha swi nyikaka nkarhi eka machudeni ku va va dyondza tindzimi ta van’wana machudeni leswaku va oloveriwa hi swa tidyondzo ta vona. Dyondzo kumbe ndzavisiso lowu wu tirhisa tindlela timbirhi to hlengeleta mahungu, ku nga endlelo ra nkoka ni endlelo ra ntalo laha swi nga ta endliwa eYunivhesiti ya Vhenda. Machudeni lawa ya ta hlawuriwa hi ku tirhisa endlelo ra sampula ya xikongomelo laha ku nga ta hlawuriwa machudeni ya khumetsevu ku suka eka swikolo swo hambanahambana swa le yunivhesiti leyi. Vuxokoxoko byi ta hlengeletiwa hi ku tirhisa maendlelo ya vuxiyaxiya ni maendlelo ya Nongonoko wa swivutiso laha machudeni ya nga ta vutisiwa swi vutiso swo karhi. Hambiloko swi ti komba onge ririmi ra Xinghezi hi rona ririmi ra matimba eka swa tidyondzo kambe tindzimi ta Xintima na tona ta tirhisiwa swinene eka swa tidyondzo ta vona. Vulavisisi byi komba leswaku mhaka ya tindziminyingi yi ni xiave xikulu swinene eka ku pfuna machudeni loko ya ri karhi ya burisana hi mhaka ya swa tidyondzo ta vona. Ndzavisiso lowu wu ni nkoka swinene eka vanhu lava vatsakelaka ku hlaya ni ku hluvukisa tindzimi ta Xintima. / NRF