!Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorMesthrie, Rajenden_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorElderkin, Edwarden_ZA
dc.contributor.authorCrawhall, Nigel Ten_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-12T07:01:47Z
dc.date.available2014-09-12T07:01:47Z
dc.date.issued2004en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 338-359).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation presents a case study of the demise of !Ui-Taa languages in South Africa during the 20th century, with particular attention to N|u, the last surviving variety. The geographic focus is on Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts in the Northern Cape province. Drawing on the work of Diamond (1998), the author argues that food producing peoples (agriculturalists / pastoralists / colonialists) typically penetrate the hunter-gatherer territory and break down the ecological setting that sustains the hunter-gatherer mode of subsistence. The changes in ‘language ecology‘ (Haugen 1972) trigger transformations in social relations and place the languages of hunter-gatherers at risk of rapid language shift. This theory is in contra-distinction to the argument put forward by Brenzinger (1992a, b), Brenzinger et al (1991) and McConveIl (2000) that changes in language attitudes are the primary cause of language death. The second aspect of the dissertation deals with the particulars of the identity of the N|u language and its speakers. The speakers of N|u cail themselves N||n≠e ‘home people‘ or Sasi ‘Bushmen / eland'. Drawing on original research and the oral history, the author argues that Bleek’s (1929. 1956) categorisation of two !Ui-Taa varieties, S2 (||Ng) and 82a (≠Khomani), should be reconsidered, as these are dialects of one another. Reconsidering the distribution of !Ui-Taa languages has implications for understanding hunter-gatherer demographics and social organisation in pre-colonial South Africa.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCrawhall, N. T. (2004). <i>!Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7430en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCrawhall, Nigel T. <i>"!Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7430en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCrawhall, N. 2004. !Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Crawhall, Nigel T AB - This dissertation presents a case study of the demise of !Ui-Taa languages in South Africa during the 20th century, with particular attention to N|u, the last surviving variety. The geographic focus is on Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts in the Northern Cape province. Drawing on the work of Diamond (1998), the author argues that food producing peoples (agriculturalists / pastoralists / colonialists) typically penetrate the hunter-gatherer territory and break down the ecological setting that sustains the hunter-gatherer mode of subsistence. The changes in ‘language ecology‘ (Haugen 1972) trigger transformations in social relations and place the languages of hunter-gatherers at risk of rapid language shift. This theory is in contra-distinction to the argument put forward by Brenzinger (1992a, b), Brenzinger et al (1991) and McConveIl (2000) that changes in language attitudes are the primary cause of language death. The second aspect of the dissertation deals with the particulars of the identity of the N|u language and its speakers. The speakers of N|u cail themselves N||n≠e ‘home people‘ or Sasi ‘Bushmen / eland'. Drawing on original research and the oral history, the author argues that Bleek’s (1929. 1956) categorisation of two !Ui-Taa varieties, S2 (||Ng) and 82a (≠Khomani), should be reconsidered, as these are dialects of one another. Reconsidering the distribution of !Ui-Taa languages has implications for understanding hunter-gatherer demographics and social organisation in pre-colonial South Africa. DA - 2004 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2004 T1 - !Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa TI - !Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7430 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7430
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCrawhall NT. !Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Linguistics, 2004 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7430en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentLinguisticsen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLinguisticsen_ZA
dc.title!Ui-Taa language shift in Gordonia and Postmasburg Districts, South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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