- Title
- Diteng tsa ditlhopha tsa maina a Bantu: ntlhathakanelo e le mo Setswanang : “The semantics of Bandu noun classes: a focus on Setswana
- Creator
- Tladi, Oboitshepo
- ThesisAdvisor
- Simango, Silvester Ron
- Subject
- Tswana language
- Subject
- Tswana language -- Grammar
- Subject
- Tswana language -- Noun
- Subject
- Noun
- Subject
- Bantu languages
- Subject
- Bantu languages -- Noun
- Subject
- Bantu languages -- Grammar
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167654
- Identifier
- vital:41500
- Description
- The present study investigated the semantic classification of the Setswana noun class system. This enquiry falls under the broad area of the noun classification system in Bantu languages, psycholinguistics and lexicogrpahy. Specifically it explores the basis of noun classification in Setswana making indications that Setswana noun classification is based on a partial semantic classification. Data for the study was drawn from the Setswana Oxford Dictionary. Sixty Setswana nouns, from class 1, 3, 5, and 7, were selected and analysed and then grouped into semantic categories (i.e., PERSON, DEROGATION, TRANSPORATION and so forth). The study adopted Kgukutli’s (1994) semantic classification in performing the dictionary analysis. The rest of the data was drawn from the intuitions of thirty-nine contemporary speakers of Setswana, with the aid of a linguistic test which was fashioned according to Selvik’s (2001) psycholinguistic test. The language test required participants to match the predetermined Setswana definitions with hypothetical Setswana nouns with selected class prefixes attached to them. The results from the empirical study showed that speakers were associating prefixes to certain semantic values, suggesting that each noun class had specific semantic content that was unique to that class. The semantic categories created through the dictionary analysis were then compared to those given by the thirty-nine Setswana speakers, to analyse whether there were any similaritires in the semantic classification of the noun classes. The findings of the dictionary analysis and linguistic test revealed that there were certain semantic characteristics that each class was associated with that seemed to be unique to the class. However, there were various semantic overlaps in the semantic categories associated with the different noun classes, which brings into question whether a semantic classification is viable in the classing of nouns. The study suggests that prior classification of Setswana nouns are not precise enough and that additional semantic categories are needed to offer a more precise classification of nouns in this language.
- Format
- 119 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, English
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Tladi, Oboitshepo
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Collections
RU Department of English Language and Linguistics
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | TLADI-MA-TR20-478.pdf | 992 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |