Discourse roles of particles in Chiyao

This paper seeks to investigate the discourse roles of particles in Chiyao along with their environment of occurrence and scope of interpretation. The analysis is based on the data collected through audio-recording of traditional narratives which were later transcribed to identify utterances with particles. The findings establish that particles in Chiyao can occur in three major types of environment, namely within the NP as is the case with question particles, demonstrativeparticles, and exclusive particles; within the VP as is the case with question particles, exclusive particles, and negative particles; and in pre-sentential position (e.g. emotional particles, additive particles, and contrast particles). Concerning the scope of interpretation, the analysis indicates that particles that occur within the NP have their scope of interpretation limited to the NP, while the meaning of those that occur as part of the VP or in pre-sentential position applies to the entire sentence. As for the discourse roles, it is shown that the Chiyao particle performs different significant roles, including emphatic roles, such as emphasising negation; and exclusive roles, that is, to single out some elements within a clause from the rest of a clause in order to show focus. It is further shown that particles are used to signal interrogation, and for anaphoric purposes. Moreover, particles in Chiyao indicate deixis as well as emotions such as surprise,anger, disapproval and shock. Finally, particles indicate contrast and addition. These findings lead to a conclusion that the use of particles represents an important communicative strategy in Chiyao.

Grade 1 teachers’ knowledge and perceptions regarding reading instruction in Windhoek, Namibia

A number of international and national assessments show that Namibian children are not reading according to set benchmarks. The teaching and learning of reading can only be as good as the teachers who facilitate the reading acquisition process. Namibian learners are formally taught how to read in Grade 1, and thus this article focuses the perceptions of Grade 1 teachers in Windhoek, Namibia regarding their knowledge and classroom practices in teaching reading and how they support their learners’ reading acquisition. Through a survey to gauge their use of reading practices, 132 teachers were asked about the teaching methods they use, the specific instruction content they use, how they create a literate classroom, how they encourage and support poor readers, and whether and how reading instruction in small groups occurs. Their teacher training was examined, as well as the knowledge that they have regarding certain language and reading components that support reading instruction. Teachers reported that they mostly use a range of methods when teaching reading (83%), while (15%) report using only one method. Of all the reading and language skills that teachers had to select from, 90% included phonological awareness as part of their reading instruction content, more so than the other reading and language skills. Among different strategies used to create a literate environment in the classroom, the majority (82%) use labels and notices to draw children's attention to literacy. To encourage struggling readers to read, teachers indicated they mainly use simple, easy texts so that poor readers can experience success. The results of the study reveal that while most Grade 1 teachers (81%) claim that they have received average to excellent training in teaching reading and demonstrate that they overwhelmingly agree (99%) with good reading practices and beliefs, the results reveal that their actual knowledge of various aspects of reading does not relate to their stated teacher training and reading beliefs. It appears that the overall average for the knowledge section showed that less than 37% of teachers had detailed knowledge of specific aspects of reading such as being able to identify syllables, morphemes, and speech sounds in words as well as demonstrating knowledge of phonics, phonemes, and diphthongs. The article discusses some strategies to alleviate some of the issues highlighted in the results.

Zimbabwean prison argot:

The prison is a unique discourse community, often characterised by the use of a peculiar commonly shared communicative code. In a country such as Zimbabwe in which inmates generally come from different and diverse ethnolinguistic and sociolinguistic backgrounds, the need for a common communicative code amongst inmates cannot be overstated. Communication amongst inmates is often through ‘cant’, ‘argot’ or slang and these are usually prison specific since they are formulated within. The formulation of prison ‘cant’ is also oftentimes necessitated by inmates’ need to create and own an alternative ‘safe’ interactive linguistic space that ‘evades’ prison authorities due to the ‘cat and mouse’ nature of prison life. Prison is thus here envisioned as a cultural and linguistic space and the linguistic codes used within prison walls can be considered as sociolects or language varieties – more precisely to be conceived of as slang/tsotsitaal. Prison life, thus, has its own value systems and norms which are strengthened through such a linguistic code. Once one gets in prison, he or she adapts to a new culture and language which is spoken by other fellow inmates. Herein, we examine sociolinguistically the etymology of the vocabulary of the discourse of inmates at Whawha Medium Offenders Prison in Gweru, Zimbabwe.

Germanising Oshiwambo language

Oshiwambo, a Bantu language spoken in Northern Namibia and Southern Angola, like other languages in contact, has adopted foreign words from other languages to meet the needs of its daily life vocabularies and activities. This paper identified and described the phonological changes which the loanwords from German go through to fit into Oshiwambo speech system and established the phonological rules that account for these changes. The paper is based on the hypothesis that words borrowed from other languages, especially European languages, into Oshiwambo, are phonologically modified to fit the Oshiwambo speech system because little information is available on the phonological wambonisation of German words. The data were collected from school textbooks, daily conversations and personal vocabularies of the researcher. The loanwords were transcribed for phonological analysis. The paper investigated how Oshiwambo borrowed words from German yet the two languages differ widely in terms of phonemic inventories and phonotactics. It has become evident that there are several vowel and consonant changes in the process of borrowing. The paper contributes to the linguistic study in the area of Oshiwambo in particular and Bantu languages in general. The knowledge acquired could be utilized by the institutions of higher learning too.

An analysis of linguistic features in the selected speeches of Bishop Kleopas Dumeni in the pre-independence era in Namibia

Linguistic features were used by Bishop Kleopas Dumeni of Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) in the pre-independence era to persuade the audience to support the struggle for independence. Bishop Kleopas Dumeni used linguistic devices in an attempt to convince his target audience that the Namibians suffered a great deal at the hands of the colonial authorities. Thus international community support was desired to break the shackles of colonialism. Although Bishop Kleopas Dumeni employed various linguistic features in his speeches as a tool to whip up support for struggle for independence of Namibia, his language choices were never subjected to a critical examination to unravel their contribution to the effectiveness of the speeches. This paper thus examines how Bishop Dumeni used linguistic devices in his speeches to appeal to his audience as well as the effects these features had on the audience to support the struggle for Namibian independence. The paper is pegged on Aristotelian theory to reveal how language choice affects the three appeals of Aristotle namely, ethos, logos and pathos. Content analysis was used to deconstruct the selected speeches of Bishop Dumeni thereby identifying and evaluating the linguistic features in the speeches. The conclusion from this investigation is that Bishop Kleopas Dumeni effectively used the linguistic devices to woo his audience to his side to support in his efforts to end the wickedness of colonialism in Namibia.

Yikambadara Yina Reta Ruhodi Momukunda

Momukunda gwaKampegere mwa tungire vantu namukadendi novana vawo vatatu, Vamati vavali mukadona gumwe. Epata eli kwa kere neparu Iyedigu unene, tjaki ntudi kuna kalimina. Vanona va here kugenda sure, nye kutupu mfuto no mudwaro noyihepwa yimwe yokosure.

Sexism in Haya Language Personal Names Selection

This paper examines sexism in naming focussing on the meaning of Haya personal names used in Haya community of North Western Tanzania. It is based on the assumption that some conscious personal names are selected in favour of men. This disparity is well examined by using the Critical Discourse Analysis approach. The paper presents field data from Bukoba Rural district in Kagera Region. The results reveal that meanings of male names were associated with high worthwhile the meanings of female names were associated with low worth. This was justified by the point that Haya male names referred to male as a saviour and helper of the family and society, a strong person, a fighter, a winner, rich and famous person while female names were connected with love, attraction, comfort, soothes and parents disappointment for having a baby girl. The study found that names of female children indicate an important argument that parents considerfemale child as a burden and liability. Generally, it was observed that selection of some Haya personal names was done in discriminatory manner that need an urgent emphasis on the value of names of girls in families and society in general.

LABA

She spoke in a language I could not understand,but through her emotions, I felt every word she said.She had gone through the unimaginable,and holds awful memories that can never be wiped away.She was only thirteen,a little girl that could never again play.

Flea market voices on literacy in Botswana

This paper presents the views of some flea market vendors and clients, especially those whose voices are never heard, on the literacy and education issues that affect Botswana. Although small, the sample of respondents used for this study is representative of the kinds of people that populate flea markets. However, a large percentage of the respondents are male, thus indicating that male voices are dominant even in this setting. The findings of the study, which are similar to those in the literacy literature on Botswana, include the following: children lack interest in reading; parents have not been involved in their children’s reading development; and there are inadequate library and other resources to support a reading culture in Botswana. Some respondents advocate direct teaching of reading to their children, procuring reading materials for them and sending them to good private schools as ways of improving their children’s reading. Overall, the study shows that there is need to complement the top-down approach with the bottom-up approach, as there are valuable lessons policy makers can glean from canvassing the views of those in non-traditional government structures such as the flea markets.

Iho popitha aantu? – Don’t you greet people?

This paper is intended to investigate the socio-pragmatic context of Oshiwambo greetings. There is a dearth of literature on the intricacies of Oshiwambo forms of greeting and the metamorphosis that it has undergone to date. Thus there is a need to investigate the present state of Oshiwambo greetings. The paper is pegged on Austin’s Speech Act theory that emphasizes that utterances are the production of words and sentences on particular occasions by particular speakers for particular purposes. In view of that, Oshiwambo greetings are expressed to convey a specific message to the addressee by the addressor. Two approaches were employed to collect information for this paper namely, ethnographic approach to gauge the impact of Euro-western culture on Oshiwambo greetings and, documentation to dissect the socio-pragmatic context of Oshiwambo forms of greetings. The paper focuses on the functions, situations and types of greeting that exist in Oshiwambo. It further focuses on the paralinguistic and extra-linguistic features which complement the forms of greetings. The analysis has shown that greetings are an integral part of interactional discourse and serve as a prelude to the establishments of social relationships and that they can vary according to the age of the interactants and the circumstances under which the greetings take place. The paper further reveals that there are circumstances in which no exchange of greeting is expected. In the final analysis the paper reveals that western culture has an effect on the extra-linguistic features which accompany greetings thus both verbal and non-verbal modes of greetings are partly westernized.