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Studies in African languages beyond the common core of linguistics are lacking. This motivates this dissertation which investigates the use of Kikoongo, a Bantu language, focusing on natural data produced by the Maniaanga of BesiNgombe region, Bas-Zaire, Zaire. The data are referred to as palavers. These consist of three complex speech events namely, wedding, bereavement and reconciliation viewed as instances of `conflict' management. Each of them is taken not only as a speech event but also as a highly structured sociocultural unit with linguistic implications.The study of palavering as a speech behavior aimed at resolving disputes (Frake 1979) contributes to Pragmatics as defined by Levinson (1983) and Leech (1983). This study provides a body of information that supports the new discipline as an adequate means for demonstrating that any language is an entity that is divisible into units of a higher order than sentences and/or utterances. The fundamental approach adopted to analyze this unit is that of ethnographyof `speaking' (Hymes 1972) and discourse or text analysis, especially, conversation analysis (CA). This approach is descriptively adequate for this study because palavering is basically an extended verbal exchange between two representatives (spokesmen) of two parties who may allow duetting (Falk 1979) and audience involvement or response elicitation whenever appropriate. Speaking publicly, the main participants generate most of the speech intended to achieve their goals as geared toward dispute resolution. The involved speakers operate systematically, following an elaborate code of conduct.This study demonstrates that the pragmatic competence required for palavering consists of paralinguistic and linguistic behaviors which make a palaver an essential institutionalized instrument of survival in Koongo society. In the end of such an event the speakers project a structurally and functionally coherent macro-unit. This appears through the use of metalinguistic terms that also demonstrate that their activity consists in an attempt to find a compromise according to established norms. The participants perform their speech acts within the confines of a mind-unifying event. / Department of English

Dialogue, as the central constitutive element of drama, to a large extent also contributes to delineating characters and to affirming their identity. This dissertation is an attempt to investigate how dialogue creates identity in the drama Se se jeleng rre by J.M. Ntsime. To achieve the purpose of this study, the characters of the three protagonists in this drama are analysed and interpreted. Both cultural and personal identities are analysed as manifestations of identity. The value of this study is that it makes readers aware of and emphasises the importance of utterances both at a literary and at an ordinary conversational level. Though the semiotic approach is used in this investigation, the dissertation first takes a cursory look at the theories of the origins of African theatre and the comparison between the two traditions, i.e. African and Western theatre and performance. The role of dialogue is traced back to its origin in performance, showing how it creates identity both on stage and in the drama text. This research shows that the two traditions are not drastically different since in both traditions performers exchange lines of words or songs; in other words, they engage in verbal dialogue. The costumes and masks that performers put on reveal some of their traits. In chapter three instruments for the analysis of dramatic discourse are developed. Since dramatic text is governed by dialogue, it was appropriate to use the theory of pragmatics because pragmatics is the study of language in use and is concerned with the context in which the sentences are uttered. Therefore, Searle's (1969) speech act theories, Grice's conversational maxims, Elam's (2000) deixis theory and the politeness principle have been applied to analyse the speech behaviour of characters. These theories have helped to answer the last three questions of the study. The markers of cultural identity which are used to analyse and interpret this drama are chieftainship, lobola, sterility in marriage, naming and witchcraft. They are analysed and used to interpret this drama. In the analysis and interpretation chapter, chapter 4, it has been found that to study language is to treat language as action. As a result, the speech behaviour of Selebi, Senwametsi and Mmapitsa has been analysed, including their deictic orientation. In conclusion, this research has proven that character identity can be created through verbal interaction, that is, through dialogue, since it could be used to illuminate both the cultural and personal identities of the three protagonists in the drama. Most of the time Selebi has been found to be orientated towards himself. This reveals him as, amongst others, selfish and conscious of his authority as a chief. Senwametsi has been found to be orientated towards her husband, Selebi, which reveals her as a wife of the chief who is bothered by the way her husband treats her. On the other hand, Mrnapitsa has been found to be orientated towards her interlocutors most of the time, which reveals her as a person who likes to order others for the benefit of what she wants. This research also implies further discourse analysis to see whether other relevant pragmatic principles can be used to study character and identity. / Thesis (M.A. (African Languages))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

The present study examined the request strategies of advanced learners of Japanese, by comparing those of native speakers of Japanese. The investigation focused on the following aspects: discourse structure, sentence types, strategy types, and reasoning behind the speakers’ choice of strategy. The participants for this study were five learners and six native speakers of Japanese. Data were collected through role plays and a retrospective verbal report. The distribution of the types of responses was compared. Results showed that the request realization of learners of Japanese and that of native speakers of Japanese were similar at least in the use of the supporting statements in the discourse structure and use of indirect strategies; in contrast, they differed in the use of sentence types to realize indirect requests and types of intended strategies. Findings suggest that the learners’ deviations from native speakers were caused by their inadequate grammatical skills. / Graduate

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Summary of exegesis A review and critique of some of the most popular screenwriting concepts as well as a proposal for a screenplay model that seeks to conceptually synthesise character with structure. Summary of Screenplay When Andrew's infamous punk band is forced to earn extra money playing part-time as a children's act they unexpectedly discover a potentially lucrative market for their music. Unfortunately, playing to screaming three year olds is not the rock and roll lifestyle Andrew was hoping for as he approaches his thirtieth birthday. Tensions within the band grow and the old friends are forced to decide not only the future of their music, but also rest of their lives.

This thesis is an exploration of the concept of evil. It attempts to define what we mean by this elusive concept and its relevance to human behaviour. The thesis then develops an operational definition of evil that is distilled from the writings of various social scientists. The thesis argues, however, that in addition to merely defining evil, there are three emotive elements that also go towards our preparedness to label an act as evil. The thesis then examines the causes of evil acts. The thesis argues that the interactive causation, of situation and disposition, is the most robust explanation of evil acts. The thesis rejects the notion of the evil person, instead arguing that it is ordinary people who commit evil acts. The thesis then examines the causes of genocide, the most evil of acts, and links this back to the previous discussion of causal factors of evil acts. Germany’s war against the Soviet Union in World War II, in particular the role of the Waffen-SS is then discussed. The death and destruction during this conflict would result not just from military operations, but also from the systematic killing and abuse that the Waffen-SS directed against Jews, Communists and ordinary citizens. The thesis then utilises the case study of the Waffen-SS to highlight the application of the interactive causation explanation in regards to evil acts. The conventional wisdom that the Waffen-SS in WWII fought a relatively clean fight, unsullied by the atrocities committed by the Nazis, is challenged—and largely demolished. Focusing on the Eastern Front, the thesis contends that the Nazi vision of a racial-ideological death struggle against Slavic hordes and their Jewish-Bolshevik commissars resonated with soldiers of the Waffen-SS, steeped in traditional anti-Semitic and racist dogmas. In doing so the thesis clearly shows that the Waffen-SS was an organisation that committed widespread atrocities. The thesis then applies the operational definition of evil to the case study and determines that the acts committed by the Waffen-SS were in fact evil. It also contends that the concept of evil is useful in explaining human atrocity. In conducting this examination the thesis provides some insight into the challenges facing society from preventing future broad-scale acts of evil.

Thesis (S.J.D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: David Dyzenhaus. Includes bibliographical rererences.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Zürich, 1986. / Bibliography: p. [185]-195. Also issued in print.