Rapid Development of TTS Corpora for Four South African Languages

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel van Niekerk ◽  
Charl van Heerden ◽  
Marelie Davel ◽  
Neil Kleynhans ◽  
Oddur Kjartansson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
African Languages

FOLKTALE NARRATION IN THE INDIGENOUS SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGES: AN ARTFUL CUL-DE-SAC?

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-37
Author(s):  
Eric Mabaso
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
South African ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
A Performance

This article highlights the problem that the print mode that the indigenous South African languages (IndiSAL) have largely adopted to preserve the folktale is inadequate. It raises shortfalls in support of the contention that not enough is being done to preserve the art of folktale narration and suggests a way out of the cul-de-sac. Most works on IndiSAL folktales focus on the value of preserving the art itself rather than the mode of preservation. The research follows a performance-centred approach as advocated by inter alia Marivate (1991), Bill (1996), Dorji (2010) and Backe (2014). Compared to countries such as Nigeria and Malawi, IndiSAL are lagging behind in digitization for the preservation of folktales. The article is an empirical study based on the author’s experiences and observation of folktale narration and the analysis of the transcribed form. The article critically reviews the various preservation modes and highlights their pros and cons.

Khawuleza—An Instantiation of the Black Archive

Imbizo ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siseko H. Kumalo
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
African History ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Philosophical Consideration ◽  
Theory Generation ◽  
Artistic Works

South African history is such that Blackness/Indigeneity were excluded from institutions of knowledge production. Contemporarily, the traditional University is defined as an institution predicated on the abjection of Blackness. This reality neither predetermined the positions and responses, nor presupposed complete/successful erasure of Blackness/Indigeneity owing to exclusion. I contend and detail how theorising, thinking about and through the Fact of Blackness, continue(d)—using the artistic works of Mhlongo, Makeba, Mbulu, and contemporarily, Leomile as examples. Analysing the music of the abovementioned artists, a move rooted in intersectional feminist approaches, will reveal modes of theorising that characterised the artistic expressions that define(d) the country. Theory generation, so construed, necessitates a judicious philosophical consideration if we are to resurrect the Black Archive. I conclude with an introspective question aimed at inspiring similar projects in other traditions that constitute the Black Archive, i.e. African languages and literature, theatre, art practice and theory.

scholarly journals Cartographies génériques, spatiales et identitaires en Afrique du Sud : Margie Orford, Lauren Beukes, Henrietta Rose-Innes

2015 ◽  
pp. 69-82
Author(s):  
Mélanie Joseph-Vilain
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
South African ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Crime Fiction ◽  
Afrique Du Sud ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
African Context ◽  
Respective Contribution ◽  
Feminine Body ◽  
The City

This article examines how three South African novelists, Margie Orford, Lauren Beukes and Henrietta Rose-Innes, use crime fiction to write their country. After a brief survey of the rapid development of crime fiction in South Africa and of the critical response it received, the article proposes a reading of Like Clockwork, Zoo City and Nineveh, whereby their respective contribution to crime fiction displays three major features : first, Orford’s novel chimes in with generic conventions ; second, Beukes’s novel combines features borrowed from both crime fiction and science fiction ; and last, Rose-Innes’s novel displaces the detective story narrative into a context where « murder » is invested with a symbolic meaning. By handling the investigation theme in a variety of ways, the three novelists adapt it to the South African context and besides show that the feminine body fits in more or less problematically within the space of the city and of the nation.

An enhanced terminology development and management approach for South African languages

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-272
Author(s):  
Lutamo Shadrack Ramuedzisi ◽  
Linda van Huyssteen ◽  
Itani Peter Mandende
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Development And Management

Brunel mood scale: South African norm study

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H Van Wijk
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
South African ◽  
Normative Data ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Self Report ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
African Health ◽  
Health Care Context ◽  
Mood Scale

<p><strong>Objective:</strong> The Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) has proved useful to assess mood states in a range of clinical settings. Its local utility is restricted by the lack of normative data from South Africa. This paper presents preliminary normative data for the use of the BRUMS in the South African health care setting. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Method:</strong> Participants (N=2200), ranging from 18 to 59 years, employed in the public sector, and were recruited during routine occupational health surveillance, completed the 24-item self-report BRUMS. They came from all South African race and language groups, and from all nine provinces. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Significant differences were found between the scores of women and men, and their results are reported separately. Due to the language dependant nature of the BRUMS, results are also reported separately for respondents with English as first language, and those who have other South African languages as mother tongue. Norm tables with T-scores are presented for the full sample, and per gender X language groups.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> This study presents normative data for a sample of educated and employed South Africans from various backgrounds. Its brevity, and provisionally language friendly nature makes it a useful measure for screening psychological distress in the SA clinical health care context.</p>

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