M.A. / This is a study based on language variation in Zulu, in the Northern Kwa Zulu-Natal region/ It is important however, to note that speech styles do occur in other Black communities. The main purpose of this study is to show that every person has his/her own way of speaking. Speakers are responsible for innovations. Therefore, successful innovations lead to change in the language system ...

M.A. (African Languages) / Questions in Zulu are characterised by a diversity of structures. Existing descriptions are of a sporadic and limited nature. The purpose of the study is to give an overview of all relevant features of questions in Zulu. The approach involves an examination firstly of general phonological, semantic, morphological and syntactical features of questions in Zulu and, secondly, of the features of each lexical item of an interrogative nature. Semantically, three basic types of questions can be distinguished in Zulu namely the "mere" (or "neutral") question, the question implying doubt and specific questions. On the phonological level subtle differences in intonation indicate shifts of meaning and distinguish between statements and questions. Morphologically, the interrogative lexical items have normal features according to the morphological system of Zulu and the word classes to which they belong. Syntactically the same rules apply as for statements and the word-order is basically the same as in statements. Certain lexical indicators are characteristic of Zulu questions. The interrogative indicator can be used in all three types. Although it is a general feature, its usage is not essential. (Y)ini, on the other hand, is only used when doubt (and a presumption of a "no" answer) is present. or as specific answers. occuring classes, specific but is A variety of other interrogative items ask more questions and also expect more specific Specific interrogative lexical items although especially as nouns, belong to various word including relatives and adjectives, adverbs particles. Each of these has its own phonological and semantic features but is morphologically and semantically in agreement with the essential features of the word-class to which it belongs. Overall the Zulu language proves to have a richness in the variety of ways in which general as well as specific questions may be asked.

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

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2010. / Lezi zilimi okuyisiSwazi nesiNdebele zidala izingqinamba endleleni amagama esiZulu aphinyiswa, abhalwa kanye nafundwa ngayo. Lokhu kudala umonakalo olimini lwesiZulu. Izingane ezifunda isiZulu eSifundazweni saseMpumalanga zizithola zibhekene nenkinga yokungaqondisisi into eziyifundayo, eziyikhulumayo kanye naleyo eziyibhalayo. Indlela othisha abaqeqeshwa ngayo kanye nabafundisa ngayo inomthelela endleleni abafundi abafunda ngayo ulimi lwesiZulu. Okunye okuyimbangela yokulimala kolimi lwesiZulu ukuganiselana, ukufuduka, imingcele ehlukanisa imiphakathi, imisakazo elalelwa imiphakathi, izinkulumo zaMakhosi kanye nabaholi. Abazali banegalelo ekubhebhezeleni umthelela odalwa ulimi lwesiSwazi nesiNdebele ezinganeni ezifunda isiZulu ezikoleni zaseSifundazweni saseMpumalanga. Abazali abazikhuthazi futhi abaziseki ngokwanele izingane zabo ezifunda isiZulu njengoba benza kwezinye izifundo. Lokhu kudala ukuthi ulimi lwesiZulu lungavikeleki emthelelweni edalwa ulimi lwesiSwazi kanye nesiNdebele. Izingane ezifunda isiZulu ezikoleni zaseSifundazweni saseMpumalanga zibhekana nezingqinamba ngenxa yomphakathi eziphila phakathi kwawo. Umphakathi eziphila phakathi kwawo ukhuluma ulimi olungaba isiSwazi noma isiNdebele. Ulimi lwesiZulu lusebenza njengolimi lwasesikoleni, emphakathini kuvame isiSwazi nesiNdebele. Imitapo yolwazi etholakala emphakathini waseSifundazweni saseMpumalanga unezincwadi ezimbalwa ezibhalwe ngolimi lwesiZulu. Izincwadi eziningi ezitholakalayo ezolimi lwesiSwazi nesiNdebele. Ukwanda kwemijondolo emphakathini kuholela enkingeni yokuphuka kolimi ngenxa yokwanda kwabantu abaqhamuka ezingxenyeni ezahlukene zezwe. Bambalwa othisha abafunde bagogoda ulimi lwesiZulu abangumnsinsi wokuzimilela eSifundazweni saseMpumalanga. Iningi lo thisha livela eSifundazweni sakwaZulu- Natal, liyaye liphindele emuva uma ithuba livela. Izikhungo lapho kuqeqeshwa othisha abafundisa isiZulu azikho eSifundazweni saseMpumalanga. Kuncane ukusekwa okutholwa othisha besiZulu kuBaphathi bezikole. Izimali ezitholwa uMnyango wesiZulu zincane uma ziqhathaniswa neminye iminyango ezikoleni. Othisha besiZulu bafundisa amakilasi anezingane eziningi. Lokhu kudala ukuthi babhekane nomsebenzi onzima, bangakwazi ukwelekelela abafundi ngendlela efanele. Izinga okuphumelela ngalo abafundi besiZulu liphansi uma liqhathaniswa nalelo okuphumelela ngalo abafundi abafunda ulimi lwesiSwazi nesiNdebele eSifundazweni saseMpumalanga. Abafundi abazinikeli ngokusemandleni abo ukuze bahlangabezane nemizamo yawothisha. Abafundi kumele baziqhenye ngolimi lwesiZulu, lokho kuyodala ukuba ezinye izilimi zingabi nomthelela ongemuhle ekufundeni kwabo.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Subject Didactics in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1987. / The purpose of this dissertation is to look into the teaching of Zulu as a first language at Junior Secondary school level with special reference to the spoken and written language and grammar. It appears as though the teaching of Zulu in Junior Secondary schools is not as effective as it should be, the examination results are not as good as could be expected. This study opened with an orientation to the problem. Findings from literature, interviews and questionnaires were related to the theory discussed in chapter two on the teaching of a language. The spoken language lays the foundation of all language teaching and learning, it increases the pupils' vocabulary, it helps children arrange their ideas logically, and makes children appreciate the beauty of speaking their own language. The literature studied revealed that children are stimulated to explore and elaborate their own thoughts through writing. Writing enables the teacher to provide different learning styles and needs. This research revealed that a number of teachers of Zulu are not adequately qualified to teach the subject. Teachers do not receive adequate in-service education on the subject and the syllabi are not prescriptive enough to give teachers the necessary guidance. These factors contribute, to some extent to the fact that the teaching of the subject is not receiving the attention it deserves. From the analysis of data on the field study conducted in this research it was found that: 1. The classes are very big so a limited number of pupils are involved in class discussions and it becomes difficult to give a lot of written work. Very few children are afforded a chance to practise the language in class. 2. The highest academic qualification of the majority of teachers that teach Zulu is the matriculation examination, so it is unlikely that these teachers can teach the language efficiently and competently. 3. Children are made to write a few compositions, opportunities for 'free writing' are not many. Very little is done to help children talk on topics of immediate interest and to communicate in as many situations as possible. These findings led us to recommend that: 1. Teachers should, from time to time, resort to group work so as to solve the problem of big classes. If a class is divided into small groups and works as such groups all the children should have the opportunity to practise the language. 2. The teachers' academic qualifications should be high. Teachers should have done at least two courses in Zulu to be able to teach effectively at Junior Secondary school level. 3. The pupils should be provided with the opportunity of developing a wide range of speech. Teachers must ensure that children are put into the position that they can express their emotions and observations in writing in an accurate and convincing manner.

Zulu belongs to the Nguni group of the Southern Bantu languages, which are spoken throughout Southern Africa. Other groups are the Suthu and the Shona, which are spoken in the interior, whereas the Nguni languages are spoken towards the south-east coast, Xhosa in the eastern part of the Cape Province, Zulu in Natal and Zululand, and Swazi in Swaziland. Swazi represents a distinct variety of Nguni speech known as "tekela", characterized by t in place of Zulu and Xhosa z, ts or tf and dz or dv in place of Zulu and Xhosa t and d, and by other phonetical characteristics, but Zulu and Xhosa are so similar that they are linguistically dialects of the same language. However, they have important separate literatures and are generally regarded as separate languages. For these reasons and for the more real reason that it is in tonal structure that they differ most greatly, this study excludes Xhosa and concentrates on Zulu only. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1966.

This study examines the oral strategies employed by Zulu speaking people in the expression of conflict and criticism in their social discourse. These oral discourses, viz. izibongo and naming practices, are analysed to ascertain the socially acceptable ways in which Zulus articulate their frustrations and discontent in various social settings. These are commonly used in rural communities, but they also echo in urban social settings. Hostility and ill-feelings are thus channelled through the sanctioned form of these various oral expressions either as a means of merely airing one's dissatisfaction or as a means of seeking personal redress. The study also reveals that these particular forms of oral expression with critical content, do not exist for their own intrinsic value simply to artfully describe a particular individual. They are composed primarily to serve a particular social function of conflict articulation and expression in non-conflictual ways. The function of these oral forms is that of a "socio-cultural archive" (Conolly 2001), which is vested in the memory of those who can express in performance, their renditions of personal and group identity. The aesthetic beauty of these forms must be regarded as a secondary function and a direct by-product of the primary function, which is personal identity expressed in a way which ensures that issues which could cause conflict are highlighted so as to diminish their conflictual potential. The reason for this is that in order to fulfill the first function, which is conflict reduction, Jousse (1990) states there has to be a form (rhythm, balance and formula) which makes the expressions memorisable - which literate people equate to 'poetry'. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of Durban-Westville, 2003.

Verbal extensions are well-known to play a most substantial role in the derivation and/or inflection of verbs in contemporary Zulu. Less well-known and less well investigated are a group of verbal derivatives which in former times played a significant role in derivation but which can no longer be freely attached to verbal stems: the non-productive verbal extensions (NPEs.) This thesis seeks to present and discuss all aspects of these NPEs from the perspective of their persisting roles in contemporary Zulu. This is undertaken on the basis of an extensive collection of currently-used verbs derived by means of NPEs, which is presented in the Appendix. Chapter 1 locates the study within the context of verbal extensions as a whole, and reviews the literature, which has focussed primarily on those verbal extensions which are still used productively today. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical framework for the investigation, considering issues such as productivity, derivation and inflection, and some relevant aspects of the theory of derivational morphology, currently under development. The following chapters focus in turn on the morphology of the NPEs, their current use in combination with productive extensions, the most salient aspect of their syntax, transitivity, and their meaning. NPEs have become fully integrated into Zulu vocabulary, and are used on a daily basis with no awareness of their earlier roles. Nevertheless, as this thesis demonstrates, a study of NPEs can explain both certain regularities and certain anomalies in word formation , in transitivity, and in the meaning of extended verbs in contemporary Zulu. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

In this study, standard and non-standard isiZulu varieties are compared and contrasted. While standard isiZulu is proved to be treasured, it is not very well known or spoken among young urban and rural isiZulu speaking learners. The socio-historical development of isiZulu is examined in order to account for the dichotomy between ‘deep’ and ‘urban’ isiZulu. ‘IsiZulu esijulile’ [‘deep isiZulu’] and ‘isiZulu sasedolobheni’ [‘urban isiZulu’] are terms found useful to describe the differences. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the characteristics of standard and non-standard language in general and standard and non-standard isiZulu in particular are discussed. The empirical section of this thesis is based on a multi-method approach, that is, one hundred rural and urban learners are the participants of this study. This investigation suggests that the dichotomy between urban and rural varieties is not as stark as initially proposed (Mesthrie, 2002). / Thesis (M.A.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.