Language maintenance and shift among amaBhaca of Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal.

Umzimkhulu, previously Transkei, is a small KwaZulu-Natal town. AmaBhaca Umzimkhulu residents speak isiBhaca, a dialect of isiXhosa that is mutually intelligible with isiZulu and siSwati. IsiBhaca is not official in South Africa. Most Umzimkhulu residents are amaBhaca, although education, health, re...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Literator Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 1 - 12
Autores principales: Majola, Yanga L.P., Gumede, Zempilo S., Mbatha, Nontobeko T.
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=174969368&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 174969368
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        02582279
        G1C
      jtl: Literator
      issn: 02582279
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: 2023
      vid: 44
      iid: 1
      pid: 56831
      pub: African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD
    artinfo:
      ui:
        174969368
        10.4102/lit.v44i1.1927
      ppf: 1
      ppct: 11
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 951KB
      tig:
        atl: Language maintenance and shift among amaBhaca of Umzimkhulu, KwaZulu-Natal.
      aug:
        au:
          Majola, Yanga L.P.
          Gumede, Zempilo S.
          Mbatha, Nontobeko T.
        affil:
          Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Mbombela, South Africa
          School of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Durban University of Technology, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
          Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa
      su:
        Language maintenance
        Xhosa language
        Language revival
        Dialects
        KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
      sug:
        subj:
          KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa)
          Language maintenance
          Xhosa language
          Language revival
          Dialects
      keyword:
        dialectology
        identity and culture
        isiBhaca
        Language
        language maintenance and shift
        standardisation
      ab: Umzimkhulu, previously Transkei, is a small KwaZulu-Natal town. AmaBhaca Umzimkhulu residents speak isiBhaca, a dialect of isiXhosa that is mutually intelligible with isiZulu and siSwati. IsiBhaca is not official in South Africa. Most Umzimkhulu residents are amaBhaca, although education, health, religious, and government institutions use isiZulu and isiXhosa. This article investigated Umzimkhulu amaBhaca language maintenance and shift. The possibility of maintaining isiBhaca or shifting to isiZulu or isiXhosa is examined. The article used a mixed-methods approach, and data were acquired from purposively selected participants who have been classified as isiBhaca speakers born and raised in Umzimkhulu. The findings showed that isiBhaca is closer to isiZulu than isiXhosa, despite being designated a dialect of isiXhosa. The 2006 categorization of Umzimkhulu under KZN caused this trend toward isiZulu. This article showed that the amaBhaca are abandoning their language since they must use dominant/standard languages as the official language. Thus, they had to prioritise knowledge of the two over L1 to survive. It was demonstrated that many value isiBhaca and want it promoted. Others prefer dominant languages like isiXhosa or isiZulu and are unconcerned about the extinction of isiBhaca. Contribution: This research shows the importance of the revitalisation and preservation of minority languages and non-standard languages such as isiBhaca. This study is expected to impact sociolinguistics significantly in Southern Africa and other places with diverse languages and dialects.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Literator is the property of African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Literator
      holder: African Online Scientific Information System PTY LTD
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2023
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N