In-depth study reveals that the period 1971 to 1991 is a crucially important period is Sepedi poetry, because in these years the greatest proportion of the volumes of poetry currently available was published. This study discusses the characteristics of modern Sepedi poetry, focusing on selected poems by certain Sepedi poets. The poems examined are shown to be well organized in terms of content, structure, stanza form and rhyme. This study uses two research methodologies, namely definition and description of pertinent aspects of the poems related to the topic of study, modern Sepedi poetry. The model used examines the structure of the texts in terms of the three layers, namely content, plot and style, which provides a useful framework for the study of the structure of this modern poetry. Poetry is discussed in general, and defined, and the types and structure of modern poetry in particular are explored. The stanza forms of modern poetry are analyzed, according to Ntuli’s classification of regular, expanding, diminishing and bulging stanzas (1984: 232-245). Rhyme is known to be an important aspect of Sepedi poetry. Rhyme is defined as the repetition of words with the same or similar sound (homophones) and similar length, at the beginning, middle or end of lines, to form beginning, middle and end rhyme respectively. The function of rhyme is to make the reading of the poems more enjoyable, and to bring coherence to the stanzas of the poem. The sonnet is also discussed, and Spanish and English sonnets analyzed and compared with Sepedi sonnets. Sepedi sonnets are shown by this comparison to be governed to a greater extent by grammatical rules than their European counterparts, which affects the Sepedi poems’ rhyme, tone, poetic meter and length of words. Modern Sepedi poems are thus shown to draw on traditional Sepedi poetic techniques, in which the poetic meter is governed not by length of syllable but by two metrical laws, the law of separation and the law of agreement. The role of the caesura is also discussed, as it functions both to separate and join together metrical parts of the poem. Enjambment is described as the extension of a concept in a poem beyond a single line. That extension of poetical line in this fashion emphasizes the concept and also accelerates the tempo of the poem. Also important in tempo is the poetic meter, which can be altered by tone or pronouncement of particular words. The study is concluded by discussing the repetition of sounds, word stems, whole words or phrases. Various types of repetition are discussed, namely repetition of consonants, repetition of vowels, repetition of initial, middle and final sounds, mixed repetition, linking and refrains. / Dissertation (MA (African Languages))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / African Languages / unrestricted

Eiselen (1932: 1) commented that the Black population of South Africa attached a particular religious value to the dolos art. He consequently collected some of the dolos sayings, but did not delve deeper into them. 1932 can hence be considered to be an important year with regard to this genre in the traditional literature of the Bapedi. The aim of this mini-dissertation is to investigate and discuss the design of the traditional dolos sayings in particular, because this research area in Sepedi literature has been neglected. In addition to a discussion of the dolos art, an attempt will be made to also find out what this form of art means to the people concerned. An adapted narratological model will be used for the interpretation of the various sayings; i.e. the content, the compilation and the meaning of the dolos sayings will be discussed. In an investigation of this kind, it is inevitable that attention will also be paid to the praise poem as a commendation. In this case, a distinction between the traditional and the modern forms of this genre is made of necessity. This distinction is based mainly on the fact that the modern praise poem sings the praise of present-day subjects, while kings, heroes, counsellor, animals, different kinds of objects and last but not least, dolosses are extolled in the traditional praise poem. A set of dolosses consists of 42 pieces, four of which are not only important but also indispensable in such a set. They are Moremogolo (male), Selomi (male), Mmakgadi (female) and Selomi (female). When the dolosses are thrown, they land in a specific way. This is called the landing of the dolosses, which is then interpreted and explained by the dolos master. Dolos sayings resort under the traditional praise poem as a separate genre. They are mainly short sayings and are not divided into stanzas. The verse form of the dolos saying by its nature differs from that of the European verse. The form of the dolos saying is, amongst other things, determined by the fact that these sayings never came into being in a written form; they were recitations. For the rest, those verse form principles that characterise them as verses, namely coordination and correspondence, are indeed applied by the reciter. The principle of coordination determines in this case that the caesura divides the dolos saying into 2 or 3 mutually dependent metrical units. The correspondence principle reconciles the various mutually dependent metrical units with one another through an equal number of syllable and length peaks plus the repetition of word stems or words. In the investigation, special attention was paid to the structuring of the dependent metrical units. When long measure repetition is investigated in the stanza of the traditional poem, it is indicated how this form of repetition in the metrical units brings about a solid unit through the repetition of a single word. This means that the lines of poetry inside the stanza are also bound together by this repetition. The important functions of repetition are emphasis and the reinforcement of the core information of the line being repeated. When dependent metrical units are repeated in the dolos saying, it is particularly the last line or a section thereof that is involved in this. At the same time it is a very important characteristic (resp.metre) of the dolos saying. Finally, linking is also looked at in so far as it brings about the second or subsequent line within the stanza. / Dissertation (MA (Sepedi))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / African Languages / unrestricted