Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus

Comparing machine translation and human translation for South African languages

Respect Mlambo, Valencia Wagner, Nomsa Skosana — Fri, 28 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Machine translation (MT) has been available for several years but has only recently begun to be considered viable, particularly in the context of indigenous South African languages. Although the quality of an MT remains inferior to that of a human translation (HT), MT systems have gained popularity, making some significant contributions to translation studies. This study explored the similarities and differences between the two modes of translation. A case study approach based on a qualitative research method was used. The source data for this study are an MT and an HT of an article titled “Stellenbosch University to offer academic and psychosocial support to students”, written by Ntwaagae Seleka and published on News24. As a computer-aided translation tool, Autshumato Machine Translation Web Service (MTWS) produced the MT from English into Setswana as a target text. Meanwhile, a Setswana master’s student from the Tshwane University of Technology manually translated the source text. The findings show that the human translator outperformed the MTWS in providing high-quality translation. The MTWS was unable to offer a better translation in terms of case sensitivity and terminological inconsistencies. It also mistranslated, adding and omitting words that changed the intended meaning and leaving certain words untranslated. Human cognitive competency, intelligence, and flexibility enable human translators to deal with such translation problems to provide high-quality outputs. The initiatives discussed in this study show that even though the MTWS operates as a useful translation tool with the capacity to instantly translate a large number of documents, its output is not yet capable of replacing an HT when translating into indigenous South African languages. Post-editing of the MTWS outputs is always recommended.

“‘Kwai’ is not an appropriate expression of God”: Stancetaking on Kaaps gospel music

Shanleigh Roux, Quentin Williams — Sat, 29 Mar 2025 14:38:59 +0000

The release of the song Die Here is Kwai (The Lord is Cool) by South African gospel singer Neville D in 2019 sparked debate about whether Kaaps is an authentic language for worship and praise and whether it ultimately is relevant for the textualization of gospel music in general. Although many would easily agree in the positive, we submit this paper to highlight how scriptural purity and standard language ideologies are some of the main drivers to the textualized performance of Kaaps gospel music. In this paper, we set out to analyze the various stances toward the song Die Here is Kwai. Data was drawn from a larger, longitudinal qualitative study that investigates the recontextualization of South African gospel music as a Kaaps-infused genre of music. We argue that Kaaps gospel music maximizes the genre potential of South African gospel music and highlights the diversity of voices in South African church discourses. We demonstrate the affective, epistemic, evaluative, and sacrificial stancetaking of gospel artists and commenters who align, disalign, and react against the publication of Die Here is Kwai (the stance-object), mediatized on a variety of digital communication platforms. Our analysis reveals stances from conservative traditional-religious voices and liberal religious voices expressing views on the production of Kaaps gospel music as text and performance. We argue that Neville D’s Kaaps gospel music challenges religious-linguistic views that attempt to reframe the sonic and spiritual life of Kaaps-speaking worshippers as ‘disrespectful’ and contrary to Christian ideologies that are steeped in scriptural discourses of purity and standard language ideologies.

Assessing the extent to which the Writing Centre at Nelson Mandela University assists students in understanding academic discourse

Andile Mhlahlo — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This study aimed to assess the extent to which the Writing Centre at a selected university in South Africa assists students in understanding the academic discourse utilised within the university sphere, especially regarding writing academic documents such as assignments. The academic socialisation model (Kumi-Yeboah, Brobbey and Smith 2020; Lea and Street 2006) was used as a theoretical framework for analysing the study’s findings. This involved extracting key concepts from the model and using them in the analysis. A qualitative research design was employed and data were collected through a sample of 60 evaluation forms provided to first-year students. These forms were used to assess the workshops attended by the participating students as hosted by the selected university’s Writing Centre. The sample included three groups of 20 students each, one group per different subject area, namely Introduction to Law, Management Studies, and Public Administration. The findings reveal that students benefit from the academic writing skills gained from the support services provided by the Writing Centre. However, the participants expressed a need to improve some methods by which the Writing Centre services are delivered to students. These findings suggest that the Writing Centre effectively provides academic writing skills to students, enabling them to learn academic discourse. Thus, the Writing Centre should enhance inducting students into the university culture’s standards and practices of academic writing, enabling them to use the academic discourse of the university or field of study and gain the capacity to learn the discourse independently.

Adjective-noun collocations competence across proficiency levels

Déogratias Nizonkiza — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 08:15:49 +0000

The present study, a partial replica of Nizonkiza and Van de Poel’s (2014) previous study, examines productive adjective-noun collocational competence among English majors at a university in Burundi. To this end, a collocation test was presented to learners from different class levels. Results indicate that adjective-noun collocations represent a challenge for English majors including those close to completing their Bachelor of Arts degree in English language and literature. Furthermore, collocational competence may also discriminate between learners at different learning stages. Results from this study also confirm the role attributed to frequency in achieving mastery of collocations. Based on these results, teaching implications to improve collocational competence are discussed.

Click words which isiXhosa, isiZulu and Afrikaans have in common

Camilla Rose Christie — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:59:30 +0000

The Khoekhoe-branch languages of the broader Khoe language family contributed to the lexicon and the phonology of multiple other languages in South Africa both prior to and during the colonial period. Despite a series of catastrophic shift events that have led to the extinction or endangerment of these languages, the outcomes of their considerable sociolinguistic influence endure to this day. Unfortunately, resources that offer ready access to the etyma of Khoekhoe loanwords are limited, and the few that do exist rely on outdated sources and employ inaccessible orthographies. This etymological paper explores the diffusion of Khoekhoe-branch loanwords across multiple unrelated languages, focusing specifically on click loanwords that entered both isiZulu and isiXhosa as well as regional varieties of Afrikaans documented during field research in the Northern Cape. Click loanwords into seTswana and seSotho are also compared as necessary. Comparison of how the same etymon was adapted into different languages allows for contrastive discussion of how click consonants behave under different contact conditions while also demonstrating the considerable areal expanse of the linguistic influence historically wielded by the Khoekhoe languages. Some preliminary discussion of click loan from isiXhosa into Afrikaans is also offered, highlighting how click consonants can continue to undergo productive diffusion long after the extinction of their original donor language. It is hoped that this exploration will encourage increased interest in click loanwords as an areal feature specifically of modern South Africa and in the development of more accessible etymological resources.

The acquisition of English articles as discourse-internal linguistic devices by Grade 1 isiXhosa L1 learners with English as LOLT

Joanine Nel — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 11:07:31 +0000

Texture in narratives is important and grows with an increase in age of a child (Tolchinsky 2004: 237). Furthermore, the development of discourse-internal linguistic devices takes place between the ages of four and nine as part of later developing child language skills (Tolchinsky 2004: 237). These devices are maintained by the development of, amongst others, constructions containing articles. Articles aid the introduction of an object or character in a narrative and with the unambiguous referral to this object or character (by means of definite, indefinite, endophoric and exophoric reference) further on in the discourse or narrative. This study aimed to ascertain how well Grade 1 isiXhosa mother tongue speakers from a low socio-economic status (SES) background with English as their language of learning and teaching (LOLT) perform at the beginning and the end of Grade 1 on article comprehension and production tasks. The isiXhosa first language speakers (n = 30) with English as the LOLT were tested twice (at the start of their Grade 1 year, when the youngest participant was 6 years 0 months and at the end of the year, when the oldest participant was 8 years 2 months) on the comprehension and production of articles by means of the Receptive and Expressive Activities for Language Therapy (REALt) (Southwood & van Dulm 2012a). The study found that the learners had a better grasp of the comprehension of articles in terms of Rule 1 (the general-general subtype) and Rule 1b (the general-specific subtype) at the end of Grade 1 than at the beginning of Grade 1. However, only the development for the general-specific subtype was significant (p = 0.0001), and comprehension of neither of the two subtypes had been mastered by the group as a whole by the end of Grade 1. In terms of the production of articles for Rule 1, there was no growth and no mastery, while for Rule 2, neither the decrease in scores for the part-whole subtype nor the increase for the whole-part subtype was statistically significant, with no mastery by the end of Grade 1. Thus, the learners mastered neither the comprehension nor the production of all subtypes of article distinctions. Such low levels of comprehension and production of articles could negatively affect their comprehension of curriculum material and their ability to express themselves clearly in their LOLT, which could indicate that additional assistance with the acquisition of articles by non-first language (L1) learners of English with English as LOLT would be beneficial.

The Sesotho passive voice: A significant resource for witnesses in Lesotho commissions of inquiry

Mampoi Irene Mabena, Konosoang Sobane — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 09:46:09 +0000

Effective communication plays a vital role in commissions of inquiry. Through such communication, commissioners can probe witnesses, receive the information they need for their investigations, and make informed conclusions and recommendations. Bearing in mind the role played by language in communicative events such as inquiry commissions, witnesses seem to use language for purposes other than the apparent purpose of providing information to the commissioner. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to critically analyse the use of passive voice by witnesses summoned to testify before the Leon and Phumaphi commissions in Lesotho. Analysing the audio recordings compiled during the commission proceedings, the study reveals that passive voice became a protective resource that testifiers utilised to withhold sensitive information, particularly the names of individuals involved in the atrocities that occurred during the political riots in the country. It also signified individuals that witnesses either did or did not know. The study draws on the theory of implicature and politeness theory to unravel the implicature behind the witnesses’ utterances. In the end, the implications of the study for transforming discourse in inquiry commissions are discussed.