The main aim of the study was to investigate how the Vhavenḓa royal kingdom’s communicative functions and positions of royalty and settlement pattern were disempowered by the British colonists, the apartheid government, the Homeland system and the new democratic government which came into power in 1994. The arrival of the British colonists disempowered the Vhavenḓa Kingdom by reducing the title of the King to that of a mere chief. This was, among others, a leading cause for the fall and the end of the Vhavenḓa Kingdom. The Apartheid regime (1949-1994) also had a negative impact on the Vhavenda royal kingdom as the regime put a large number of people who were not of the royal families into chieftainship. This resulted in chieftaincy becoming an appointment rather than a birth right. The Homeland system, a creation of Apartheid, also caused confusion and disagreements among the Vhavenḓa. Some of those who were born of royal descent were removed from chieftainship positions and more educated Vhavenḓa citizens who were just mere commoners were put in those positions. The new democratic government (1994) tried to bring back the chieftaincy titles that were taken by former governments but this was complicated by the appointment of ward representatives, councilors and civic organisations. The democratic government split areas into wards, and, as a result, the system failed to work in unison with the Vhavenḓa Kingdom. Chiefs were reduced to ceremonial monarchs, and decision-making powers were the preserve of the politicians, and not the chiefs. This study utilized the theory of Ethnopragmatics. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to collect data. Data were collected from the youth, royals, non-royal adults and chiefs by means of questionnaires and interviews. Data were then transcribed by the researcher and the coding system was used to analyse it. Coding methods used included open, axial and selective coding methods. Data were viii then presented, discussed and conclusions drawn. Results revealed that chiefs and their subjects have many concerns. Recommendations were also made to address the concerns raised by participants. / Anthropology and Archaeology

The main aim of the study was to investigate how the Vhavenḓa royal kingdom’s communicative functions and positions of royalty and settlement pattern were disempowered by the British colonists, the apartheid government, the Homeland system and the new democratic government which came into power in 1994. The arrival of the British colonists disempowered the Vhavenḓa Kingdom by reducing the title of the King to that of a mere chief. This was, among others, a leading cause for the fall and the end of the Vhavenḓa Kingdom. The Apartheid regime (1949-1994) also had a negative impact on the Vhavenda royal kingdom as the regime put a large number of people who were not of the royal families into chieftainship. This resulted in chieftaincy becoming an appointment rather than a birth right. The Homeland system, a creation of Apartheid, also caused confusion and disagreements among the Vhavenḓa. Some of those who were born of royal descent were removed from chieftainship positions and more educated Vhavenḓa citizens who were just mere commoners were put in those positions. The new democratic government (1994) tried to bring back the chieftaincy titles that were taken by former governments but this was complicated by the appointment of ward representatives, councilors and civic organisations. The democratic government split areas into wards, and, as a result, the system failed to work in unison with the Vhavenḓa Kingdom. Chiefs were reduced to ceremonial monarchs, and decision-making powers were the preserve of the politicians, and not the chiefs. This study utilized the theory of Ethnopragmatics. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to collect data. Data were collected from the youth, royals, non-royal adults and chiefs by means of questionnaires and interviews. Data were then transcribed by the researcher and the coding system was used to analyse it. Coding methods used included open, axial and selective coding methods. Data were viii then presented, discussed and conclusions drawn. Results revealed that chiefs and their subjects have many concerns. Recommendations were also made to address the concerns raised by participants. / Anthropology and Archaeology

Un débat perdure toujours entre les partisans du relativisme linguistique et ceux qui penchent plutôt pour l’universalisme. Depuis Whorf, plusieurs expériences ont été menées pour déterminer si la langue avait une influence sur l’esprit d’un individu, mais très peu ont porté sur la pragmatique. Je propose d’explorer le relativisme linguistique selon la perspective de la pragmatique du langage. Deux approches théoriques en pragmatique s’opposent sur la question du relativisme : l’ethnopragmatique et la théorie de la pertinence. En utilisant des modèles de l’interaction culturelle en anthropologie, en particulier les idées de Bourdieu et le concept d’assemblage, je démontre que la flexibilité de la théorie de la pertinence permettrait d’y intégrer une composante relativiste, et ce, sans avoir à la dénaturer. Pour illustrer cette possibilité, j’introduis l’Identité Cognitive qui agit comme composante relativiste tout en permettant une interaction avec la pertinence universaliste du modèle. / There is a strong division between those who believe in linguistic relativity and those who tend more towards universalism. Since Whorf, many experiments were conducted to determine how and if language could influence thoughts, but not often they were focussed on pragmatics. I revisit the debate on linguistic relativism by considering pragmatics only. There are two different theoretical models in pragmatics at the time, and they support opposing views on relativism: ethnopragmatics and relevance theory. Using models of cultural interaction from anthropology, in particular the ideas of Bourdieu and the concept of assemblage, I show that relevance theory is flexible enough to be able to incorporate a relativistic component, without having to modify its core principles. To illustrate this necessary transformation, I introduce the Cognitive Identity that could interact with the universalistic relevance of the model and still be relativistic itself.

Un débat perdure toujours entre les partisans du relativisme linguistique et ceux qui penchent plutôt pour l’universalisme. Depuis Whorf, plusieurs expériences ont été menées pour déterminer si la langue avait une influence sur l’esprit d’un individu, mais très peu ont porté sur la pragmatique. Je propose d’explorer le relativisme linguistique selon la perspective de la pragmatique du langage. Deux approches théoriques en pragmatique s’opposent sur la question du relativisme : l’ethnopragmatique et la théorie de la pertinence. En utilisant des modèles de l’interaction culturelle en anthropologie, en particulier les idées de Bourdieu et le concept d’assemblage, je démontre que la flexibilité de la théorie de la pertinence permettrait d’y intégrer une composante relativiste, et ce, sans avoir à la dénaturer. Pour illustrer cette possibilité, j’introduis l’Identité Cognitive qui agit comme composante relativiste tout en permettant une interaction avec la pertinence universaliste du modèle. / There is a strong division between those who believe in linguistic relativity and those who tend more towards universalism. Since Whorf, many experiments were conducted to determine how and if language could influence thoughts, but not often they were focussed on pragmatics. I revisit the debate on linguistic relativism by considering pragmatics only. There are two different theoretical models in pragmatics at the time, and they support opposing views on relativism: ethnopragmatics and relevance theory. Using models of cultural interaction from anthropology, in particular the ideas of Bourdieu and the concept of assemblage, I show that relevance theory is flexible enough to be able to incorporate a relativistic component, without having to modify its core principles. To illustrate this necessary transformation, I introduce the Cognitive Identity that could interact with the universalistic relevance of the model and still be relativistic itself.