Xhosa English as an institutionalised variety of English

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian de Klerk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Black Language

This paper aims to examine the English of Xhosa speakers (a significant proportion of speakers of Black South African English, since Xhosa is the second largest indigenous black language in South Africa), in terms of Williams’ (1987) criteria for Non-native Institutionalised Varieties of English (NIVEs). Using a corpus-based approach, the article reports on the results of analyses of a range of linguistic features in the newly-developed corpus of spoken Xhosa English (over 500 000 words), in an effort to go some way towards providing the evidence so necessary for the endorsement of newly established norms, and to counteract the pull of native English norms, “which tend to result in the stigmatisation of some of the major indexical markers of the non-native varieties” (Bamgbose 1998:3).

The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N G Mugovhani ◽  
Lebogang Lance Nawa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Arts Management ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Indigenous Music ◽  
Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the “Father of mbila music,” the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

A multidimensional analysis of student writing in Black South African English

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertus van Rooy
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Multidimensional Analysis ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Multidimensional Model ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
Reference Corpus

Evidence for the status of Black South African English (BlSAfE) as a variety of English is ambiguous. This paper examines 67 linguistic features of a corpus of BlSAfE student writing, the Tswana Learner English Corpus (TLE), in comparison to a Standard English reference corpus, the Louvain Corpus of Native English Speaking Students (LOCNESS), within the framework of Biber’s (1988) multidimensional model, to determine if evidence for indigenisation and systematicity exists. Linguistic features that occur more frequently in LOCNESS than the TLE suggest that LOCNESS is characterised by greater elaboration of information and information density, more syntactically complex subordination, more reference cohesion and more specialised meanings. The TLE shows evidence of greater involvement of reader and writer of the text, although some features of informality also occur in LOCNESS. Based on comparison of the coefficients of variation in the two corpora, it is concluded that they exhibit similar ranges of variation and that variety status cannot be denied to BlSAfE on the grounds of variability. The application of the multidimensional model shows that the reference corpus, LOCNESS, is similar to academic writing in four of the six dimensions, but differs in being more involved in style and more overtly persuasive. Superficially, the TLE appears to be quite similar to LOCNESS in terms of the various dimensions, but closer examination reveals a number of differences, which largely confirm the findings that were made on the basis of individual feature comparisons: The TLE carries a lower informational density, and information is more often presented in hypothetical ways. It shows a number of similarities with the style and the information processing strategies attributed to spoken registers, but it still remains very clearly distinguishable from spoken language. Many similarities between the corpora are observed, which should be attributed to the register features of student writing. The paper concludes that there is sufficient evidence to acknowledge BlSAfE as a variety of English, on the ground of the stylistic differences between the TLE and LOCNESS, particularly its greater interpersonal as opposed to informational focus, as well as discourse-functional differences in the use of linguistic forms.

scholarly journals The prevalence of substance use in anaesthesia practitioners in South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 14-20
Author(s):  
JL Van Der Westhuizen ◽  
F Roodt ◽  
M Nejthardt ◽  
T Esterhuizen ◽  
M Flint ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
South African ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
The United States ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Moderate Risk ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
South African Society

Background: In the United States the mortality associated with substance abuse among anaesthesia residents is twice that of non-anaesthesia residents. Since no data exist, the primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to establish the prevalence of substance use in South African anaesthesia practitioners. Secondary objectives were to compare the prevalence in male and female practitioners, and in private and state practice anaesthetists. Years of experience and level of training were explored as possible risk factors for hazardous or harmful use. Methods: Participants completed a self-administered, validated WHO questionnaire, over a ten-day period surrounding the 2018 South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) congress. All doctors practising anaesthesia in South Africa were eligible. Recruitment was via an email link sent to all SASA members, as well as a web-based link at the congress. Results: A total of 1 961 SASA members and 113 non-members (anaesthesiologists, registrars and non-specialists) were invited to participate (total 2 074). There were 434 responses (response rate 20.9%, margin of error 4.18%); 364 were suitable for analysis. The most commonly lifetime-used substances were alcohol (92.8%), tobacco (42.3%), cannabis (34.7%), and sedatives (34.4%). Questionnaire scores defined low-, medium- and high-risk categories according to substance use during the previous three months. Sedative (12.6%) and alcohol (12.1%) users were deemed to be at moderate risk. The prevalence of opioid use was 1.9% (n = 7). Prevalence of substance use was similar in male and female practitioners, as well as in those working in private practice or in state hospitals. Conclusion: The prevalence of current use of alcohol and sedatives is of major concern. A significant proportion of respondents were assessed to be at moderate risk of hazardous or harmful substance use. Gender and practice setting have little impact on substance use. Wellness efforts should be aimed at all anaesthesia practitioners in South Africa.

scholarly journals CRITICAL DISCOURSE OF AFRICAN VERNACULAR ROOTED IMAGERIES IN PITIKA NTULI’S SCULPTURES

ARTis ON ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 140-151
Author(s):  
Sule Ameh James
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
South African ◽  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Formal Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Political Events

My paper presents a critical discourse on African vernacular rooted imageries in the contemporary sculptures of Ntuli, the ideas they convey to viewers and how Africanness is indicated in each depiction produced between 2007 and 2016. I read Ntuli’s contemporary sculptures as African vernacular rooted because he appropriates in them cultural imageries from engagement with African contexts. Five images of his sculptures and installations were purposively selected for thematic and visual analysis. I adopt visual hermeneutics theory, formal analysis and cultural history methods for the reading of each work. The narrative reveals that Ntuli’s vernacular imageries reflects black South African men and a woman rooted in past and present socio-political events in South Africa. The thematic interpretations of the imageries reveal ideas on massacre not merely during apartheid but in post-apartheid South Africa, torture of victims detained without trial, anti-racialism and reflection on a historical hero from Zulu culture.

Law, Race and Color in South Africa

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Neville Rubin
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Major Constituent ◽  
The South ◽  
Party Government ◽  
The Law ◽  
Keen Observer ◽  
Entire Apparatus

The word "apartheid" does not appear anywhere in the South African statute book, and a keen observer would be hard put to discover its existence anywhere in the formal texts which make up the law. Yet apartheid is deeply embedded in the law of South Africa.In a country in which neither the content nor the administration of the law has ever been free from racial overtones, twenty-five years of continuous rule by the National Party Government have seen to it that the ideology of segregation has been translated into a formidable pattern of legalized racial discrimination. This pattern is to be observed throughout the entire apparatus of the South African legal system. It is written into the constitution and reflected in the legislature. It is a major constituent of the statute law of the country, and decisions as to the manner in which legislation is to be implemented make up a significant proportion of the case law. Apartheid has involved and influenced both the composition and the conduct of the courts, just as it has affected the legal profession and the teaching of law.

‘We, the South African Bolsheviks’: The Russian Revolution and South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-958
Author(s):  
Irina Filatova ◽  
Apollon Davidson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Black Population ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Socialist Revolution ◽  
National Congress ◽  
Soviet Russia

In South Africa, the Russian Revolution was admired by socialists and nationalists alike. The National Party soon stopped praising the Bolsheviks, but the effect of the Revolution on the nascent Communist Party was important and lasting. South African communists closely watched developments in Soviet Russia and established relations with the Communist International (Comintern) even before the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) was born. The Party’s ideology and policy were shaped by the Comintern’s ideas and instructions. In the 1920s and 1930s the struggle around the Comintern-imposed slogan of the independent native republic and the Comintern’s campaigns for ‘bolshevization’ nearly brought the party to its demise. But it survived, and its leadership took the Comintern’s ideals and ideas into the postwar era. The Comintern’s theoretical legacy, particularly its idea of a two-stage (national and socialist) revolution proved long-lasting. This idea became entrenched in the programs of the African National Congress, the party of national liberation and since 1994, the party of government. Even today a significant proportion of South Africa’s black population cherishes the vision of a radical revolution and demands its implementation.

scholarly journals The structure and features of the SMS language used in the written work of Communication English I students at a university in South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaka Chaka ◽  
Mampa L. Mphahlele ◽  
Charles C. Mann
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Text Messages ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Black South African ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
English I

Employing an explanatory design, this study set out to investigate the morphosyntactic structures of the SMS language of Communication English I students, and the types of SMS language features used in their written work at a university of technology in South Africa. The study randomly sampled 90 undergraduate students (M = 40; F = 50) enrolled for a national diploma programme during the first academic semester in 2013. Their ages ranged from 19–22 years; they all spoke English as a second language, whilst having one of the five black South African languages as their home language. The study had two types of data: participants’ mobile phone text messages (in two sets), and their writing samples. Two of the findings of the study are: the morphological structure of the textisms used in the participants’ text messages deviated from that applicable to formal, standard English, whereas much of their syntactic structure did not; and, the frequency and proportion of textisms in participants’ writing samples were lower than that reported in studies by Freudenberg (2009) and Rosen et al. (2010).

scholarly journals Black and White in Ink: Discourses of Resistance in South African Cartooning

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 385-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDY MASON
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Comic Strips ◽  
Black Newspapers ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Vexing Question

ABSTRACT This author contends that cartooning in its various forms in South Africa played an important role in crystallising issues of allegiance and identity, introducing revolutionary concepts into public discourse, undermining the ideological hegemony of the apartheid state and legitimating the political struggle against apartheid. However, in spite of the fact that numerous black newspapers have subsisted to this day, there remains a dearth of black cartoonists in South Africa. The vexing question of why so few black cartoonists have emerged demands an answer. The villains of the piece appear to be the editors of the socalled 'liberal' newspapers who did nothing (and continue to do very little) to identify indigenous cartooning talent or promote the development of black South African cartooning, choosing rather to share the services of a few white cartoonists and to buy syndicated comic strips. Mason analyses this situation and offers a remedy for solving the problem.

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