scholarly journals Linguistic and Sociolinguistic Aspects of Variation in the Eastern Cape: Complexities of Xhosa Language Use

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 90-120
Author(s):  
Eva-Marie Bloom Ström
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Spontaneous Speech ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Linguistic Identity ◽  
Syntactic Variation ◽  
Personal Mobility ◽  
Bantu Languages

This paper presents the results of a micro-variation project in which linguistic diversity of the Eastern Cape of South Africa is examined. It shows that regional variation in the Xhosa dialect cluster is minimal and that many older forms and sounds that have previously been reported on are no longer in use. With a specific focus on morpho-syntactic variation, the paper gives examples from a corpus of recorded, transcribed and glossed speech collected across the Eastern Cape. It is argued that spontaneous speech is crucial in analysing morpho-syntactic variation when it is on a fine, intralinguistic level. The paper gives a detailed overview of previous publications on the dialects of the area and relates this to current findings based on the recordings. It is shown that the presumed decline in dialectal differences is not paired with a decrease in linguistic identity which is connected to separate clans and kingdoms. The dwindling use of regional variables is explained by a longstanding situation of personal mobility, standardization and schooling. This paper contributes to our understanding of the linguistic complexities of the Nguni subgroup of Bantu languages. It concludes that any experienced differences between standard Xhosa and the language spoken at home is not due to regional variation, and that their causes should be sought elsewhere.

Influence of Knowledge Management Practices on Public Service Delivery by Municipalities

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charleen Musonza ◽  
Ndakasharwa Muchaonyerwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Integrated System ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Public Service Delivery

This study examines the influence of knowledge management (KM) practices on public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The study sought to determine the factors that have triggered the implementation of KM practices; the effectiveness of KM practices towards public service delivery; and the extent to which KM practices have influenced public service delivery by municipalities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study. Quantitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire administered to a sample of 202 employees at the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Qualitative data were collected through observations and interviews of 2 senior managers. The data collected gave a response rate of 72 per cent. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed descriptively and presented verbatim respectively. The results indicated that the internal and external factors included in this study have contributed to the implementation of KM practices in the municipality. Furthermore, the effective use of KM practices has increased the organisational KM initiative, as well as the provision of services such as electricity, education, transport, and social services by the municipality. The study recommends the establishment of KM awareness and the establishment of an integrated system that will assist in effective knowledge sharing, retention and acquisition across municipalities in the Eastern Cape.

First grammar books in the Habsburg Monarchy: individual initiative and regulatory interference by the state (1760s–1770s)

2020 ◽  
Vol 2019 (2 (11)) ◽  
pp. 137-157
Author(s):  
Olga V. Khavanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
German Language ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
Private Initiative ◽  
The One

The second half of the eighteenth century in the lands under the sceptre of the House of Austria was a period of development of a language policy addressing the ethno-linguistic diversity of the monarchy’s subjects. On the one hand, the sphere of use of the German language was becoming wider, embracing more and more segments of administration, education, and culture. On the other hand, the authorities were perfectly aware of the fact that communication in the languages and vernaculars of the nationalities living in the Austrian Monarchy was one of the principal instruments of spreading decrees and announcements from the central and local authorities to the less-educated strata of the population. Consequently, a large-scale reform of primary education was launched, aimed at making the whole population literate, regardless of social status, nationality (mother tongue), or confession. In parallel with the centrally coordinated state policy of education and language-use, subjects-both language experts and amateur polyglots-joined the process of writing grammar books, which were intended to ease communication between the different nationalities of the Habsburg lands. This article considers some examples of such editions with primary attention given to the correlation between private initiative and governmental policies, mechanisms of verifying the textbooks to be published, their content, and their potential readers. This paper demonstrates that for grammar-book authors, it was very important to be integrated into the patronage networks at the court and in administrative bodies and stresses that the Vienna court controlled the process of selection and financing of grammar books to be published depending on their quality and ability to satisfy the aims and goals of state policy.

Exploring the South African Government Communication on Land Expropriation without Compensation

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lungisani Moyo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Food Security ◽  
South African ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
South African Government ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The South ◽  
Land Expropriation ◽  
African Government ◽  
Government Communication

ABSTRACT This paper used qualitative methodology to explore the South African government communication and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on food security using Alice town located in the Eastern Cape Province South Africa as its case study. This was done to allow the participants to give their perceptions on the role of government communication on land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. In this paper, a total population of 30 comprising of 26 small scale farmers in rural Alice and 4 employees from the Department of Agriculture (Alice), Eastern Cape, South Africa were interviewed to get their perception and views on government communications and land expropriation without compensation and its effects on South African food security. The findings of this paper revealed that the agricultural sector plays a vital role in the South African economy hence there is a great need to speed up transformation in the sector.

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