The onomastic possibility of renaming the Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names to restore peace, dignity and solidarity

The study embraced the onomastic possibility of renaming the Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names that have caused and are still causing onomastic confusion to the first language (L1) speakers of the language under scrutiny, and also to the speakers of other languages. The study was conducted in 2019 at five selected South African universities – University of Johannesburg, University of South Africa, University of Limpopo, University of Venda and Tshwane University of Technology – which offered the language under investigation as an L1 module. In addition, language experts (practitioners) at the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) and its sub-structures and the National Department of Arts and Culture, including Limpopo and Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, were also involved in the study. Quota sampling was used to select all the 267 participants in the study. The study found that both Sepedi and Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho) language names are rejected by onomastic principles of naming an official language. An overwhelming majority of the participants opined that this language should be renamed, with the anticipation that the new name will bring peace, unity and solidarity to the L1 speakers of Sepedi.

Preliminary reliability of South African adaptation and Northern Sotho translation of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up

Background: There is a shortage of validated autism screening tests in the 11 official languages of South Africa. The Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/FTM), a validated and well-known screening test, had already been adapted (in English) and translated into Northern Sotho for use in South Africa.Objectives: The aim was to collect pilot data to determine the preliminary reliability and feasibility of the two tests to confirm the equivalence of the adaptation and translation.Method: The study was conducted in a peri-urban community in South Africa. Twenty-one first-language Northern Sotho caregivers of children aged between 18 and 48 months were recruited by employing snowball sampling. The participants were asked to complete the Northern Sotho and the culturally adapted English M-CHAT-R/F, which were presented in random order.Results: The preliminary content validity and equivalence were evident, with no difference at the 5% interval of the Wilcoxon signed rank test. All 21 toddlers screened presented with a low risk for autism following the recommended execution of the Follow-Up section for the toddlers in the medium risk category. All participants completed the two screening tests, with none indicating unfamiliar words or constructs. A higher preference for the English adapted version was found but a need for the Northern Sotho screening test was also evidentConclusion: The Northern Sotho translation of the M-CHAT-R/F, as well as the adapted English version, appears feasible and is ready for comprehensive validation.

Possible effects of previously-acquired languages on L3 learning: A study of Northern Sotho at a university of technology in Pretoria

This study investigates the manifestation of Transfer or Cross-Linguistic Influence (CLI) from language learners’ previouslyknown languages in the learning of a third language, Northern Sotho, by examining errors identified in their written productions in the target language. Data for the study was gathered from first year university students learning Northern Sotho L3, with a roughly homogeneouslanguage background of isiZulu L1 and English L2 (elicitation tasks and questionnaires), and from three of their lecturers (interviews). The focus of the study was to determine whether the subjects produced patterns in their interlanguage that could be traced to one or both of their previously-known languages. Contrastive Analysis (CA) and Error Analysis (EA) techniques were used in the analyses of the learners’interlanguage (IL), to identify and quantify the errors, as well as to compare and contrast the three language systems at play in the learners’ minds, so as to pinpoint the possible source languages of the transfer. The findings indicate that most errors relating to spelling,vocabulary, and grammar, in general, showed evidence of prevalent influence from the language learners’ previouslyknown Black South African language (isiZulu L1), with no visible evidence of influence from English L2.

A case for the use of Northern Sotho as an Official Indigenous Language in Capricorn District Municipality, Limpopo Province

This paper strives to make a case for the use of Northern Sotho as an indigenous official language in the post-apartheid South Africa. It contends that though Northern Sotho is constitutionally accorded the status of an official language in the new South Africa, it is marginalised in its practical everyday use as other languages still dominate it. The paper utilised Capricorn District Municipality in Limpopo Province as a case study that is grounded on the Qualitative research approach. It is, furthermore, underpinned by Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Afrocentric theoretical assumptions. Sampled data was collected by interviewing 24 Northern Sotho participants in the Municipality and was thematically analysed through the transcription of those interviews. The findings revealed that Northern Sotho does not enjoy the status that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (1996) has granted it. It recommends that this constitutional travesty be rectified by implementing the existing Language Policies as it erodes the identity of the marginalised speakers of the language.

Detection and lexicographic treatment of salient features in e-dictionaries for African languages1

As for many e-dictionaries across the globe, e-dictionaries for African languages embarked on the unfortunate route of being ‘paper dictionaries on computer’ often simply enhanced with additional search features or simply by perpetuating the practice followed in paper dictionaries of compiling e-dictionaries which are just translated word lists. In this article it will be argued that e-dictionaries for African languages should firstly be compiled through maximum utilization of ‘true electronic’ features enabled by the computer era. Secondly, specific attention should be given to the salient features of the Bantu language family, taking Sepedi (Northern Sotho) as a case in point. Thirdly attention is given to the issue of dictionary survival in the information era and how innovative e-support systems can contribute to ensure that future dictionaries will remain the preferred point of departure for users for information retrieval.