Collen Sabao | Midlands State University (original) (raw)
Papers by Collen Sabao
Vowel hiatus is a dispreferred phenomenon in many languages. When vowel sequences arise through ... more Vowel hiatus is a dispreferred phenomenon in many languages. When vowel sequences arise through morphophonological concatenations in (isi)Ndebele, hiatus may be resolved in one of three processes: (i) one of the two vowels undergoes elision; (ii) one of the vowels (mostly the first vowel in the sequence) undergoes glide formation; and (iii) the two vowels undergo vowel coalescence – the merging of the two vowels into a neutral vowel that has the qualities of both the two initial vowels straddling a word boundary. This article examines these vowel hiatus resolution strategies in (isi)Ndebele, through the theoretical explications of Optimality Theory (OT) and CV Phonology. In (isi)Ndebele, the featural qualities of the two vowels straddling a word boundary and the morphological contexts at which the hiatal configurations occur determine what process repairs vowel hiatus. Hiatus resolution is also invariably ONSET and feature driven: driven by Preferred Syllable Structure Rules( PSSRs) and constraints.
Zimbabwe held ‘fresh’ elections on July 31, 2013 under a new constitution. This was in line with ... more Zimbabwe held ‘fresh’ elections on July 31, 2013 under a new constitution. This was in line with the provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), a political power-sharing compromise signed between Zimbabwe’s three main political parties, following the heavily disputed 2008 harmonised presidential and parliamentary elections. The GPA established in Zimbabwe a Government of National Unity (GNU). On the road to making a new constitution, political differences and party politicking always seemed to take precedence over national interest. This political polarity in Zimbabwe resulted in the heavy polarity of the media, especially along political ideological grounds. The new constitution-making process and all its problems received heavy coverage in almost all national newspapers. This article analyses the discourse-linguistic notion of ‘objectivity’ in ‘hard’ news reports on the new constitution-making process by comparing the textuality of ‘hard’ news reports from two Zimbabwean national daily newspapers: the government-owned and controlled Herald and the privately owned Newsday. Focusing on how language and linguistic resources are used evaluatively in ways that betray authorial attitudes and bias in news reporting, the article examines how the news reports uphold or flout the ‘objectivity’ ideal as explicated through the ‘reporter voice’ configuration, and within Appraisal Theory.
The concept of a theory of genre continues to be elusive. The criterion used for the generic clas... more The concept of a theory of genre continues to be elusive. The criterion used for the generic classification of texts (both spoken and written) as belonging to given genres seems to continue to be clouded in ambivalence. Current scholarship in its divergence implicates criterion based on either communicative purpose (Swales, 1990: Chandler, 1997) or purpose and audience/discourse community. Other scholarship argues for a content based approach - often including the context as well - (Bhatia, 1981: Chandler, 1997) whereas others argue for a classification based on linguistic structure. On the other hand, recent scholarship has taken a more stylistic approach that adopts a features discrimination (Widdowson, 1998: Bhatia, 1981, Halliday 1994). This paper examines the weaknesses of these approaches working independent of each other and proposes an approach that
synthesises tenets from mainstream genre analysis, discourse analysis and linguistic stylistics to create a holistic and more concrete approach to generic segmentation of texts. It argues that the creation of a theory should be based on an established/establishable ‘general bundle of tenets’ that explicate the primary concerns of the theory and that these should be concrete. It therefore adopts a discourse analysis – mainstream genre analysis – linguistic stylistics dialectic approach to suggest a possible ‘bundle’ of basic tenets for use in the generic discrimination of texts within a theory of genre. It suggests that ‘genre’ theorisation from the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective offers a possible way out of the theoretical conflicts with ‘genre’ theory.
Verbal formatives describing the sexual script are often highly sexualized and gendered, perpetua... more Verbal formatives describing the sexual script are often highly sexualized and gendered, perpetuating the patriarchal project. This article seeks to demonstrate how the gender politics of inequality are played in such highly sexualized everyday discourse within Zimbabwean youth sociolects. Largely viewed as apolitical and common sense, such descriptions of the sexual script are highly ideologically loaded, asserting male hegemony and ‘othering’ the female. This is achieved by conveniently appropriating applied and causative verbal extensions that deliberately and completely disregard or suppress reciprocal verbal extensions which recognise the female as an active participant to the sexual act. The paper interrogates theories and approaches in representation, (re)construction of gender identities, language and communication from Poststructural Feminist (Butler, 1990: 2004), Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic concerns, Saussurean linguistics approach and Bakhtinian politics of negotiated meaning (Bakhtin, 1981:1986). It is argued here that the ‘common sense’ usage of these highly gendered and sexualized verbal formatives is not politically innocent but part of the culturally/socially ingrained and institutionalized construction of gendered subjectivities. Language usage thus becomes the superstuctural semiotic tool where the appearance of subjects in ‘real life’ is embedded in these gendered cultural codes which both shape their behaviour, not apolitical and transparent, but rather how they are constructions which encode particular patriarchal views.
On the eve of the heavily contested 2002 harmonised Zimbabwean Presidential and Parliamentary ele... more On the eve of the heavily contested 2002 harmonised Zimbabwean Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) imposed ‘sanctions’ on Zimbabwe. In the course of time, subsequent annual renewals of the ‘sanctions’ were effected by the same imposers. This article analyses the discourse linguistic notion of ‘objectivity’ in ‘hard’ news reports on the renewal of these USA and EU imposed ‘sanctions’ in Zimbabwean newspapers. The article compare the textuality of ‘hard’ news reports from two English language Zimbabwean daily newspapers, The Herald 1 and NewsDay, by analysing how language and linguistic resources are used evaluatively in manners that betray authorial attitudes and ideological stance. Specifically, the analyses focus on the way(s) in which the news reports uphold or flout the ‘objectivity’ ideal as explicated through the ‘reporter voice’3 configuration of Appraisal Theory and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). This is done through the analysis of how the linguistic choices made by the reporter(s) at lexical, lexicogrammatical, syntactic and syntagmatic levels betray conscious subjective evaluative uses of language and in the process further some assumed ideological position/stance.
This article examines the morphophonological environments in which vowel sequences occur in Chich... more This article examines the morphophonological environments in which vowel sequences occur in Chichewa and explains the synchronic hiatus resolution strategies that are employed in this language to remove these dispreferred vowel cluster configurations. This investigation demonstrates that the major motivation for resolving hiatal configurations in Chichewa, like in many other Bantu languages, is to maintain the preferred canonical consonant-vowel (CV) syllable structure. The analysis of data used in this study is mainly couched within the theoretical explications of Optimality Theory (OT) as enunciated by Prince and Smolensky (1991, 1993), McCarthy and Prince (1999), Archaengeli and Langendoen (1997), and Kager (1999); Distinctive Feature Theory as discussed by Chomsky and Halle (1968) as well as the generative CV-phonology model of syllable structure as discussed by Clements and Keyser (1983). This article argues for vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in Chichewa. Observing such a vowel-feature sensitive based repair of hiatal configuration analysis, which this article argues to be largely ONSET motivated/triggered and the featural properties of the phonological structures of the language under study, the language’s reactions to such dispreferred vowel clusters and its phonotactics are here examined. Repair strategies for such hiatus configurations are discussed, including glide formation, consonantal and/or glide insertions, vowel deletion and coalescence. The analysis adopted here implies that the resolution hiatus arises from incompatibilities in the features of the vowels straddling a word boundary. It argues that these repair strategies are largely motivated by language internal constraint ranking systems which in many Bantu languages seem to largely prefer the preservation of [−] features over [+] features, i.e. the ranking [−F]≫[+F].
![Research paper thumbnail of Feature sensitive and context [in-]-sensitive glide formation and coalescence in hiatus resolution in isiNdebele](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/35153861/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](This paper argues for context and vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in isiNd... more This paper argues for context and vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in isiNdebele, a Bantu language largely spoken in southern parts of Zimbabwe as well as parts of South Africa. Bantu languages by and large phonologically and/or phonetically repair vowel hiatus configurations arising from both phonological and morphophonological concatenations. The phonology of isiNdebele seems to largely favour an analysis that does not permit the surface realisation of clusters of segments of the form VV (vowel-vowel clusters). Observing such an analysis, which this paper argues to be largely ONSET motivated/triggered and the featural properties of the phonological structures of the languages under study, their reactions to such disprefered vowel clusters and their phonotactics are here examined within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT) as enunciated by Prince and Smolensky (1991, 1993), McCarthy and Prince (1999), Archangeli (1997) and Kager (1999) as well as Distinctive Features as discussed by Chomsky and Halle (1963). Repair strategies for such configurations such as glide formation, consonantal and/or glide insertions, vowel deletion and coalescence are discussed. The analysis adopted here implicates that the resolution of these disprefered configurations arises from incompatibilities in the features of the vowels straddling a word boundary. It argues that these repair strategies are largely motivated by language internal constraint ranking systems which in Bantu languages seem to largely prefer the preservation of [-] features over [+] features i.e. the ranking [-F]»[+F]
Vowel hiatus is a dispreferred phenomenon in many languages. When vowel sequences arise through ... more Vowel hiatus is a dispreferred phenomenon in many languages. When vowel sequences arise through morphophonological concatenations in (isi)Ndebele, hiatus may be resolved in one of three processes: (i) one of the two vowels undergoes elision; (ii) one of the vowels (mostly the first vowel in the sequence) undergoes glide formation; and (iii) the two vowels undergo vowel coalescence – the merging of the two vowels into a neutral vowel that has the qualities of both the two initial vowels straddling a word boundary. This article examines these vowel hiatus resolution strategies in (isi)Ndebele, through the theoretical explications of Optimality Theory (OT) and CV Phonology. In (isi)Ndebele, the featural qualities of the two vowels straddling a word boundary and the morphological contexts at which the hiatal configurations occur determine what process repairs vowel hiatus. Hiatus resolution is also invariably ONSET and feature driven: driven by Preferred Syllable Structure Rules( PSSRs) and constraints.
Zimbabwe held ‘fresh’ elections on July 31, 2013 under a new constitution. This was in line with ... more Zimbabwe held ‘fresh’ elections on July 31, 2013 under a new constitution. This was in line with the provisions of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), a political power-sharing compromise signed between Zimbabwe’s three main political parties, following the heavily disputed 2008 harmonised presidential and parliamentary elections. The GPA established in Zimbabwe a Government of National Unity (GNU). On the road to making a new constitution, political differences and party politicking always seemed to take precedence over national interest. This political polarity in Zimbabwe resulted in the heavy polarity of the media, especially along political ideological grounds. The new constitution-making process and all its problems received heavy coverage in almost all national newspapers. This article analyses the discourse-linguistic notion of ‘objectivity’ in ‘hard’ news reports on the new constitution-making process by comparing the textuality of ‘hard’ news reports from two Zimbabwean national daily newspapers: the government-owned and controlled Herald and the privately owned Newsday. Focusing on how language and linguistic resources are used evaluatively in ways that betray authorial attitudes and bias in news reporting, the article examines how the news reports uphold or flout the ‘objectivity’ ideal as explicated through the ‘reporter voice’ configuration, and within Appraisal Theory.
The concept of a theory of genre continues to be elusive. The criterion used for the generic clas... more The concept of a theory of genre continues to be elusive. The criterion used for the generic classification of texts (both spoken and written) as belonging to given genres seems to continue to be clouded in ambivalence. Current scholarship in its divergence implicates criterion based on either communicative purpose (Swales, 1990: Chandler, 1997) or purpose and audience/discourse community. Other scholarship argues for a content based approach - often including the context as well - (Bhatia, 1981: Chandler, 1997) whereas others argue for a classification based on linguistic structure. On the other hand, recent scholarship has taken a more stylistic approach that adopts a features discrimination (Widdowson, 1998: Bhatia, 1981, Halliday 1994). This paper examines the weaknesses of these approaches working independent of each other and proposes an approach that
synthesises tenets from mainstream genre analysis, discourse analysis and linguistic stylistics to create a holistic and more concrete approach to generic segmentation of texts. It argues that the creation of a theory should be based on an established/establishable ‘general bundle of tenets’ that explicate the primary concerns of the theory and that these should be concrete. It therefore adopts a discourse analysis – mainstream genre analysis – linguistic stylistics dialectic approach to suggest a possible ‘bundle’ of basic tenets for use in the generic discrimination of texts within a theory of genre. It suggests that ‘genre’ theorisation from the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) perspective offers a possible way out of the theoretical conflicts with ‘genre’ theory.
Verbal formatives describing the sexual script are often highly sexualized and gendered, perpetua... more Verbal formatives describing the sexual script are often highly sexualized and gendered, perpetuating the patriarchal project. This article seeks to demonstrate how the gender politics of inequality are played in such highly sexualized everyday discourse within Zimbabwean youth sociolects. Largely viewed as apolitical and common sense, such descriptions of the sexual script are highly ideologically loaded, asserting male hegemony and ‘othering’ the female. This is achieved by conveniently appropriating applied and causative verbal extensions that deliberately and completely disregard or suppress reciprocal verbal extensions which recognise the female as an active participant to the sexual act. The paper interrogates theories and approaches in representation, (re)construction of gender identities, language and communication from Poststructural Feminist (Butler, 1990: 2004), Freudian-Lacanian psychoanalytic concerns, Saussurean linguistics approach and Bakhtinian politics of negotiated meaning (Bakhtin, 1981:1986). It is argued here that the ‘common sense’ usage of these highly gendered and sexualized verbal formatives is not politically innocent but part of the culturally/socially ingrained and institutionalized construction of gendered subjectivities. Language usage thus becomes the superstuctural semiotic tool where the appearance of subjects in ‘real life’ is embedded in these gendered cultural codes which both shape their behaviour, not apolitical and transparent, but rather how they are constructions which encode particular patriarchal views.
On the eve of the heavily contested 2002 harmonised Zimbabwean Presidential and Parliamentary ele... more On the eve of the heavily contested 2002 harmonised Zimbabwean Presidential and Parliamentary elections, the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU) imposed ‘sanctions’ on Zimbabwe. In the course of time, subsequent annual renewals of the ‘sanctions’ were effected by the same imposers. This article analyses the discourse linguistic notion of ‘objectivity’ in ‘hard’ news reports on the renewal of these USA and EU imposed ‘sanctions’ in Zimbabwean newspapers. The article compare the textuality of ‘hard’ news reports from two English language Zimbabwean daily newspapers, The Herald 1 and NewsDay, by analysing how language and linguistic resources are used evaluatively in manners that betray authorial attitudes and ideological stance. Specifically, the analyses focus on the way(s) in which the news reports uphold or flout the ‘objectivity’ ideal as explicated through the ‘reporter voice’3 configuration of Appraisal Theory and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). This is done through the analysis of how the linguistic choices made by the reporter(s) at lexical, lexicogrammatical, syntactic and syntagmatic levels betray conscious subjective evaluative uses of language and in the process further some assumed ideological position/stance.
This article examines the morphophonological environments in which vowel sequences occur in Chich... more This article examines the morphophonological environments in which vowel sequences occur in Chichewa and explains the synchronic hiatus resolution strategies that are employed in this language to remove these dispreferred vowel cluster configurations. This investigation demonstrates that the major motivation for resolving hiatal configurations in Chichewa, like in many other Bantu languages, is to maintain the preferred canonical consonant-vowel (CV) syllable structure. The analysis of data used in this study is mainly couched within the theoretical explications of Optimality Theory (OT) as enunciated by Prince and Smolensky (1991, 1993), McCarthy and Prince (1999), Archaengeli and Langendoen (1997), and Kager (1999); Distinctive Feature Theory as discussed by Chomsky and Halle (1968) as well as the generative CV-phonology model of syllable structure as discussed by Clements and Keyser (1983). This article argues for vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in Chichewa. Observing such a vowel-feature sensitive based repair of hiatal configuration analysis, which this article argues to be largely ONSET motivated/triggered and the featural properties of the phonological structures of the language under study, the language’s reactions to such dispreferred vowel clusters and its phonotactics are here examined. Repair strategies for such hiatus configurations are discussed, including glide formation, consonantal and/or glide insertions, vowel deletion and coalescence. The analysis adopted here implies that the resolution hiatus arises from incompatibilities in the features of the vowels straddling a word boundary. It argues that these repair strategies are largely motivated by language internal constraint ranking systems which in many Bantu languages seem to largely prefer the preservation of [−] features over [+] features, i.e. the ranking [−F]≫[+F].
This paper argues for context and vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in isiNd... more This paper argues for context and vowel-feature sensitive repair of hiatal configuration in isiNdebele, a Bantu language largely spoken in southern parts of Zimbabwe as well as parts of South Africa. Bantu languages by and large phonologically and/or phonetically repair vowel hiatus configurations arising from both phonological and morphophonological concatenations. The phonology of isiNdebele seems to largely favour an analysis that does not permit the surface realisation of clusters of segments of the form VV (vowel-vowel clusters). Observing such an analysis, which this paper argues to be largely ONSET motivated/triggered and the featural properties of the phonological structures of the languages under study, their reactions to such disprefered vowel clusters and their phonotactics are here examined within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT) as enunciated by Prince and Smolensky (1991, 1993), McCarthy and Prince (1999), Archangeli (1997) and Kager (1999) as well as Distinctive Features as discussed by Chomsky and Halle (1963). Repair strategies for such configurations such as glide formation, consonantal and/or glide insertions, vowel deletion and coalescence are discussed. The analysis adopted here implicates that the resolution of these disprefered configurations arises from incompatibilities in the features of the vowels straddling a word boundary. It argues that these repair strategies are largely motivated by language internal constraint ranking systems which in Bantu languages seem to largely prefer the preservation of [-] features over [+] features i.e. the ranking [-F]»[+F]