JULACE: Journal of the University of Namibia Language Centre

Presidential Rhetoric Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: The Unpacking of Namibia 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA) Speech

Frieda Nauyele Nanyeni — 2024-03-20

One of the significant speeches the Namibian presidency delivers is the State of the Nation Address (SONA). It is a constitutional obligation for the President to address the nation during the consideration of the national budget to review past policies and programmes and articulate the government’s priorities for the next financial year. Speechmaking is one of the essential roles of presidents in announcing their policies and persuading the nation. This article is a textual analysis of the 2021 SONA speech delivered by President Hage Geingob during the crisis time of COVID-19. Using a qualitative approach, the research analyses the most common rhetorical devices that Geingob used to achieve social change during this crisis. The analysis grounds on charismatic leadership theory, by focusing on three structural components, namely leader, followers, and context, as influenced by the three Aristotelian rhetorical appeals of pathos, ethos, and logos. The speech demonstrates Geingob’s presidency's ongoing response to the COVID-19 crisis. The president advanced the values of democracy, united the Namibian people, and used valence rhetoric that offers the nation a sense of security and stability as they face the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morpho-syntactic Analysis of Sex-related Euphemisms and the Stretch of Dysphemism in Swahili

Nichodamus Robinson — 2024-03-26

This paper analysed the morpho-syntax of sex-related euphemisms and their role in stretching dysphemism in Swahili. Euphemism formation mechanisms are reliant upon societal cultural values, which are not universal. Data were collected in Morogoro through observations, interviews, and Informal Focus Group Discussions (IFGDs). Findings indicate that the morpho-syntax of the noun and verb determines the formation of sex-related euphemisms and the extent of dysphemism. In terms of noun morphosyntax, sex-related euphemisms do not belong to the same class as taboos, amounting to 14 for male and 12 for female sexual body parts. Additionally, the class 9 agreement property -i is intentionally used to form sex-related euphemisms, which can create humour but also stretch dysphemism when uttered unintentionally. Regarding the morphosyntax of verbs, 40.9% of those tested signify sex-related euphemisms in Swahili, depending on speakers' morpho-syntactic manipulations. In conclusion, ignorance of Swahili morpho-syntactic structures may contribute significantly to sex-related dysphemism. Therefore, this paper recommends further study into how Swahili learners' morpho-syntactic structures may lead to sex-related dysphemism.

Nature of Dholuo Metonymy

Arthur Joseph Mbara — 2024-04-08

The emergence of metonymic expressions in Dholuo is a linguistic phenomenon experienced in native-speaking regions overtly and subtly. In their day-to-day conversations, interlocutors make use of metonymy for various linguistic goals. Even so, metonymic expressions have not been given adequate attention by analysts in applied linguistics. This paper examines the nature of Dholuo metonymy, by analysing metonymic patterns based on the ‘how’ question as the guiding principle. The paper focuses on the South Nyanza dialect of Dholuo, because it is considered the standard variety among other dialects. The paper is anchored on the Causal Theory of Reference advanced by Kripke (1980), to investigate how inanimate metonyms are used as reference points for inanimate objects. Data for this study comprised actual metonymies collected using focus group discussions and interviews. The data was collected in Homa Bay County where the researchers reached out to farmers, traders, sportsmen/women, musicians, and travellers. Data was analysed using critical discourse analytical procedures where Fairclough’s (2003) description, explanation and interpretation approach was adopted. The findings revealed that Dholuo metonymy is referential, experiential, humorous and rhetorical in nature. That means the speaker manifests an independent intention to refer to a given object regardless of the particular interpretation of the expressions used; the metonymic concepts are grounded in people’s experience and language; the speaker expresses a certain attitude towards the referent in a humorous way; the speaker uses its figurative force to flower the language. The findings of this paper would be a source of reference to scholars in linguistics and an addition to existing knowledge on metonymy, applied linguistics and African language studies.

A morphosyntactic and semantic description of augment in Kipangwa

Emmanuel Hauli — 2024-04-12

his paper describes the morphosyntactic and semantic meaning of augments in Kipangwa (G64), the pre-prefix that precedes the noun. The main objective was to describe the morphosyntactic and semantic properties of the augment in the Kipangwa. The study was conducted in Ludewa District of Njombe Region in Tanzania. With regard to the research approach, the study employed a qualitative approach. The data for this study were collected through the text collection method. Using this method, the researchers collected sentences with NPs from 18 informants and three storybooks in Kipangwa. These informants were sampled through snowball sampling, while the storybooks in Kipangwa were purposefully sampled. The study reveals that there are augments in Kipangwa, specifically in vowel forms. It also exposes that syntactic and semantic factors mainly trigger the occurrence of augments in Kipangwa nouns. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the specificity and topicality of the noun can influence the function of the augment in Kipangwa. Finally, the study recommends further research into other aspects of augments in Kipangwa.

Namibia in its thirties: Reviewing the choice of English as sole official language

Kristof Iipinge — 2024-06-25

Namibia is a linguistically diverse country that attained independence in 1990. One of the most significant policy decisions at the time was to remove Afrikaans as one of the official languages, recognising English only, a monolingual official language policy that ignored the multilingual realities of the new country. The document justifying this decision was written a decade earlier and prepared by the United Nations Institute for Namibia based on eight criteria. In this paper, we critically review these criteria: unity, acceptability, familiarity, feasibility, science and technology, pan-Africanism, wider communication, and United Nations. We argue that the choice of these criteria, and the “value” attributed to European languages, compared with that of Namibian languages, were biased in a way to support the monolingual English policy. We conclude with an invitation to Namibian officials at all levels of government and local community organisations to engage in conversations to promote multilingualism more formally.

Contribution of indigenous econaming practices in ecosystems conservation: A case of Ekegusii language

Naftal Nyakundi — 2024-12-11

This paper aims to explore the role African indigenous languages play in the global campaign against environmental damage. The objective is to examine how linguistic practices impact ecosystems. Econames among the Abagusii community played a key role in preventing ecological destruction. Indigenous linguistic systems were treasured and promoted a variety of plants and animals by naming newborns after them. In this way, the ecosystem earned a special place and was consequently held in high regard. The study compares the meanings and representations associated with the Econaming systems in Ekegusii naming system. Data for this study was drawn from documented Ekegusii econames related to the environment, supplemented by the researcher’s native intuition. The data collection methods included document analysis of existing Ekegusii lexicons, semi-structured interviews with native speakers, and observations of linguistic practices in community settings. The researcher also used his native intuition to collect data. Econames of plant and animal species relating to the environment were inferred for purposes of analysis. This study is based on Evaluation Theory by Stibbe. The indigenous Ekegusii names were correlated with the associated ecosystems among Ekegusii native speakers. Eco-critical analysis of the names under investigation involved semantic and pragmatic analysis of each name collected as well as analysis and discussion of the semantic association of individual names to the related ecosystem. The results showed that the meanings embedded in the Ekegusii econaming system reflect a strategic approach to environmental stewardship, highlighting indigenous practices that could be valuable for sustainable environmental preservation. The data collected showed that indigenous econaming practices are significant and can play a huge role in ecological preservation among rural communities. Consequently, the study recommends that the government and other critical environmental policymakers should focus more on Econaming practices in order to recognise the role played by indigenous communities in environmental conservation