Thursday, April 28, 2011

A STUDY OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSES IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE

A STUDY OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSES IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE
4.0 INTRODUCTION
Sidney Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk (1990) argues that:
Adverbial clauses function mainly as adjuncts or disjunct.
In those functions, they are like adverbial phrases but in
Their potentiality for greater explicitness, they are more
Often like prepositional phrases.
This paper attempts to give an account of adverbial clauses in Tumbuka language. It will adopt a comparative approach to English language and translate certain aspects where necessary. However, special areas of concern like those which may need to be differentiated from the focus of this paper will be shown in italics in the introductory part normally in the English language. On the other hand, those in Bold in both English and Tumbuka languages are the main concerns of this essay. Definitions of key terms will be given with respect to the question. The paper will firstly describe the most common types of adverbial clauses found in the English language and later try to spot if such cases are found in Tumbuka language. Nevertheless, unmarked cases will be commented on in both English and Tumbuka to show the differences. Above all, translated sentences from Tumbuka to English language will be put in ‘glosses’ and finally the conclusion will be given.

1.1 DEFINITION OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSE

By traditional definition, an adverb is a word or a group of words which gives more information about a verb. This imply that it may be a single word such as slowly, here, today or a phrase such as the day before yesterday, or to call a girlfriend. However, adverbs can also be clauses, containing a subject and a full verb. Adverb clauses are sometimes called adverbial Clauses which refer to a word or a group of words which functions as adverb. Take for instance in the following sentences.

(d) I saw his car yesterday.

(e) She danced at the party on Monday.

(f) I saw his car before I left for Chama District.

In sentence (a), “Yesterday” is a one-word adverb. In sentence (b), “on Friday” is an adverb phrase. And finally in the third sentence (c) “before I left for Chama District” is an adverb clause or an adverbial clause. The three sentences (a), (b) and (c) above are answering the question ‘when?’ The adverbial clause in (c) has the subject ‘I’ and a full verb ‘left’. It is introduced by “before”, therefore, it is a dependent clause. This means that “before I left for Chama District” cannot stand alone without the main verb. It needs the main clause “I saw his car”. An adverbial clause, then, is a dependent clause that does the same job as an adverb or an adverb phrase. Alternatively, an adverbial clause is a clause that has an adverb-like function in modifying another clause.

1.3 TYPES OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

There are many types of adverbial Clauses and here are some examples of the most common types reflected on the table and it is important to note that these are based on English language. In addition, the type of questions which such adverbial clauses answer and how they are appropriately used will also be given.

TYPE QUESTION ANSWERED EXAMPLE
Place Where? Wherever you go, there is MTN.
Time When? After the war, Many people died.
Cause Why? (What caused this?) I didn’t call her because I’m shy
Purpose Why? (what was the reason for doing this?) Ben went to school so that he can have more knowledge.
Concession Why is this unexpected? Although Kelvin has a master’s degree, he works as a clerk
Condition Under what conditions? If you save your money, you will be able to go to college

From the table above in the example column, it is observed that most adverbial clauses are recognised because they are introduced by a particular word or phrase such as after, when, so that and if. These words and phrases are called subordinating conjunctions and there are so many of them of different types belonging to different types of adverbials. However, it is important to note that some adverbial clauses are not introduced by a subordinating conjunction. For instance, “John went to Zambia so that he can get a free piece of land.”

2.0 TYPES OF ADVERBIAL CLAUSES IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE

Like English language, there are many different types of adverbial clauses in Tumbuka language and some of these are:

2.1. Adverbial Clauses of purpose
The adverbial clauses of purpose indicate the purpose of an action. Usually answers the question ‘why’?

Example (1)

(c) Suzgo wakasambilila vya macompyuta, mwakuti wasangeko nchito yiwemi.
Suzgo took a computer course so that he could get a better a job’.

(d) Jenala wakubelenga chomene mwakuti wakakwele vilingwa.
‘Jenala studies hard in order to pass the examination’
From Example one, It is observed that the two adverbial clauses are not introduced by a subordinating conjunction but instead, they follow the main clause. “Mwakuti” ‘so that’ in (a) and “mwakuti” ‘in order to’ in (b) are subordinating conjunctions. Yet, it is vital to observe that semantically and syntactically, the use of “mwakuti” as subordinating conjunction in Tumbuka language as shown in example one above varies depending on the context being used which is a different case in English.

2.1 Conditional Adverbial Clause.
This is very common in Tumbuka language and it is used to talk about a possible situation and its consequences.

Example (1)

(e) para maliya adize lelo namise, nimulekeskenge nchito.
‘If Mary does not come this afternoon, she will loose her job’.

(f) Nipaka wuchinje, wamukunjila yayi mu ufumu wakuchanya. ‘unless you change, you will not enter the kingdom of God’

(g) para walimbikila, wuzamugula motoka.
‘If you work hard, you will buy a vihecle.

(h) Para waluta, nizamukujikoma.
‘If you go, I will kill myself’

However, Tumbuka speakers sometimes value the position of subordinating conjunctions because they affect the semantic meaning of the sentence. The three sentences above start with a subordinating conjunction (nipaka and para, ‘unless and if respectively’). In some sentences like the three above, you can start them with the main clause, ending with the dependent clauses and the meaning will still be the same. For instance in
(a) pala maliya adize lelo namise, nimulekeskenge nchito.
‘If Mary does not come this afternoon, she will loose her job’.
One can similarly start this sentence with the main clause and end with the subordinate clause in Tumbuka language. But this is a different case in English because it becomes ambiguous. There are two possible semantic interpretations. Take for instance:
(a) Nimulekeskenge nchito pala maliya adize lelo namise. (Correct)
‘She will loose her job, if Mary does not come this afternoon. (Ambiguous). The Tumbuka sentence imply that Mary herself will loose her job but the gloss English interpretation imply two things; either Mary herself will lose the Job or Someone else other than Mary will loose her job.

2.2 Adverbial Clause of cause
This answers questions like what caused this to happen and why did it happen? For instance;

Example (2)

(c) Wandakwele vilingwa chifukwa wakabazganga chomene yayi.
‘He/She failed the examination because he/she did not study hard’.

(d) Shamba walitengwa chifukwa walikula
‘Shamba got married because she is grown up’
Here Chifukwa ‘because’ is a subordinator part of the dependent clause.

2.3 Adverbial Clause of Time
This happens when a speaker want to locate the time when the event or action took place. Usually occur when something happened by referring to a period of time. In (a) below, the adverbial clause is not introduced by the subordinating conjunction but instead, it is initiated by the main clause.

Example (3)

(g) Anyina bakafwa apo iye wakaba pa sukulu.
His/her mother died when he/she was still at school.

(h) Pala wamanya ichi, wamukukwera vilingwa.
‘Once you know this, you will pass the examination’.

(i) Pala vipambi vyayabika, vyuguliskika kumuskika.
‘After fruits are harvested, they are sold at the market’.

(j) pambele mundalute, munipilethu ndalama.
‘Before you go, you should give me the money in advance’.

(k) Usange mwafika waka, munitumile lamya.
‘As soon as you arrive, you should call me’.

(l) apomuchali kwene kuko, gulani skapato.
‘Whilst there, buy shoes’.

2.4 Adverbial Clause of place
This type suggests the location or position where exactly something happened. It usually answers the question where?

Example (4)

(c) Kulikose wuko kuli macomputa , kuli namasofutiweya.
‘Wherever there are computers, there are softwares’.

(d) Uko kuli khululu, kuli na nthowa.
‘Where there is hole, there is a way’

In these two sentences, adverbial clauses are introduced by the subordinating conjunctions and not vice versa.

2.5 Adverbial clause of comment.
This tries to basically comment on the state of affairs.

Example (5)

(d) Tomasi, naumo mumanyila, nimwana wa fumu.
‘Thomas, as you know, is the child of the chief’.

(e) Pakuba mwana wa fumu, Tomasi wakatukanga waka munthu aliyose.
‘Being the child of the chief, Thomas insulted everyperson’.

(f) Nkhumanya yayi vyochita kuyowoya unenesko.
‘I’m not sure what to do, to be honest’.

2.6 Adverbial Clause of Preference
This has to do with a strong liking of something or a predisposition favor of something on the basis of choice.

Example (6)

Mumalo mopita na motoka, nizamupita na njinga
Rather than going by a vihecle, I will go by bicycle.

2.7 Adverbial Clause of Manner.
These clauses are used to talk about someone’s behaviour or the way something is done.

Example (7)

Bakanikanizga kuti nichite vithu umo nukhumbila
‚I was never allowed to do things in the way I wanted to do them’.

2.8 Concessive adverbial clause
These clauses are used to make two statements one of which contrasts with the other or makes it seem surprising.

Example (8)

Nkhabazganga Chomene nangauli sono nilije nyengo yowonela mumabuku
‘I used to read a lot although I don’t get much time for books now’.

2.9 Adverbial Clause of Result
Such type of clauses are used to indicate the results of something.

Example (9)

Chola chane chikanangika chomene pawulendu wakulusaka kuti nachikolelo chikakana no khala makola
‘My bag became damaged on the journey to Lusaka, in such a way that the handle would not fit properly’.

2.10 Adverbial Clause of Reason
The adverbial clause of reason indicates the reason as to why something happened.

Example (10)
Nkhatondeka kumukalipila chifukwa nkhumutemwa chomene.
‘I couldn’t feel anger against him because I love him too much’

3.0 CONCLUSSION
From the Semantic and syntactic interpretation, this paper can be resolved in two fold; Cognitive closure and social closure.

3.1 cognitive closures.
The paper has explained the different adverbial clauses in Tumbuka language such as those of time, place, condition, purpose, result, comment, preference and concession. However, the variation in Syntax and Semantics has also been highlighted. This has been done in such a way that the focus of meaning in a sentence, ‘may’ or ‘may not’ change when the grammatical arrangement of words have changed their positions in the same sentence in Tumbuka language without necessarily changing the type of adverbial clause being handled. This imply that the position of words in Tumbuka language matters because they may affect the general meaning of the sentence.

3.2 Social closure
Languages of the world do not exist completely in isolation. They are related in one way or another. For instance, the examples and explanations given in this paper are mostly taken from English language and an actual translation has been given to justify the claim at hand. Above all, adverbial clauses are found in both English and Tumbuka language as shown in the paper. These adverbial clauses are identified by subordinating conjunctions in both languages. In addition, it was also pointed out that for us to know that there is a subordinating conjunction, they are reflected in a dependent clause which is part of the principal characteristic of an adverbial clause.




BIBLIOGRAPHY

David Crystal. 1997. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. 2nd ed.
New York: Cambridge University Press.

Simpson J.A. 1989. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed.
Newyork: oxford University press

Website: http//www.wekipedia.com

A COMPARISON OF TWO TRANSLATED BIBLE VERSIONS: A CASE OF TUMBUKA VERSION AND KING JAMES VERSION. LUKE CHAPTER TEN (FIRST TEN SENTENCES) AND COMMENTS ON THE OBSERVATIONS.

A COMPARISON OF TWO TRANSLATED BIBLE VERSIONS: A CASE OF TUMBUKA VERSION AND KING JAMES VERSION. LUKE CHAPTER TEN (FIRST TEN SENTENCES) AND COMMENTS ON THE OBSERVATIONS.


1.0 INTRODUCTION

This paper attempts to compare and comment on the first ten sentences of Luke chapter ten in two Bible versions; one written in English language specifically ‘Holy Bible of King James Version of 1611’ and the other one written in Tumbuka language in titled ‘Mazgu Gha Chiuta’. In addition, the paper will also highlight the problems of Bible translation and this will finally lead to conclusion.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Without doubts, the most translated book in the world is the Bible. This is supported by the research which was carried on in 1994 by the United Bible Society in which out of the estimated 3000 languages of the world, 341 had completed Bibles. 822 languages remained with very few parts to be completed in the Bible and the Bible translation was in progress in 1000 languages (institute perevoda Biblii, 1996:227). The translation of the Bible came in due to the fact that many people have not been able to read the language in which the original manuscript of the Bible was written. In addition, the Christian faith development dictated that the good news must reach all the people around the universe. Therefore, many people have tried to translate the Bible for so long. However, research has shown that “about three percent of the translated Bible’s texts varies across all the manuscripts” http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/robert_beecham/whichbib.htm

3.0 COMPARISON AND COMMENTS

The ‘Tumbuka bible version’ and the ‘king James version’ are giving completely different information in some sentences as shown below.

3.1 Heading of Luke Chapter Ten

The heading of Luke chapter ten in the two manuscripts of the Bibles is completely different. The Tumbuka version is talking about Jesus sending out the seventy two apostles while the king James version is talking about the mission of the seventy. However, seventy and seventy two are completely different figures.

Tumbuka Version Kutumika kwa wasambiri 72 ‘sending of the seventy two apostles’
King James Version ‘the mission of the seventy’

The information in these two bibles vary because translators do not have the original manuscript of the bible, but copies of copies of copies and this causes many problems in translating the bible from the source language to a target language. Translators themselves do not know which of these copies is correct and which one is not since all of them look completely different and rich in originality.

3.2 The First Ten Sentences of Luke Chapter Ten.

There are a number of differences and similarities in Tumbuka and King James versions of the Bible. The first sentence of this chapter in these two versions is different. The Tumbuka one is emphasizing on the seventy two and moving two by two while the King James version is advocating for the seventy apostles being sent two by two to a place where he himself was about to go. Although the second and third sentences have different grammatical structures in the two languages, they basically convey the same information.

The fourth sentence in this chapter is not the same in the sense that their grammatical structure and content in the two Bible versions are different. Take for instance;

Tumbuka Version: Mungayeghanga chibeta, panji thumba, panji virato;
Mungenda katauzganga munthu mu nthowa ‘don’t take any purse or
Bag or shoes; don’t stop to greet anyone on the road’.

King James Version: Cary neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute
no man by the way.

The terms bag and scrip are not exactly the same. However, readers of these two Bible versions may get different interpretation from the same Chapter and the same sentence because of the differences in the content of the information.

The fifth sentence was well translated in these two manuscripts. They convey the same information. Nevertheless, sentence six is not conveying the same information in the the two Bible versions in the sense that

Tumbuka Version say ….peace loving person…. While the
King James version say ….. son of peace….

The use of ‘son of peace’ in King James version may sound ambiguous because the son of peace is strictly referring to Jesus Christ of Nazareth but in this context, the apostles are Jesus Christ and in addition the text is generally talking about any peaceful person in the home setting. The use of ‘peace loving person’ in Tumbuka Version is more sounding and neutral for both male and female sexes than the use of ‘son’ which has to do with gender sensitivity. The king James version would have tried to use other neutral terms like ‘person’ to refer to anyone in the home and the world as a whole.

Sentences Seven, eight, nine and ten are conveying the same information in the two manuscript texts of the two bible versions. However, minor differences exist in the two texts in terms of language competence and some grammatical structures.

4.0 PROBLEMS OF BIBLE TRANSLATION

It is a well known fact that the Bible is a collection of ancient writings in its original and untranslated form. The New Testament was initially written in a number of languages like Greek, Hebrew, and Roman. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and Aramaic, and some messages in these texts are still carried on in many cultures today.
This imply that a variety of literally styles on myths, legends, prophecy and exhortation existed in these languages. These varieties makes Bible translation a hard task for the translators as they are compiled to learn more and more cultures and languages.

With reference to the highlighted problems in Tumbuka and King James versions above, it is clear that Bible translation is not an easy task. Many Bible versions of different languages or the same language differ in some ways for a number of reasons. Some of these are that firstly, Translators do not have the original manuscript of the bible but copies of copies of copies and this is one of the basic problem inherent in the Bible. Translators do not know which of all these copies is correct and rich in originality and which one is not correct since non of them are identical as seen in the Tumbuka and the English king James Versions of the Bible.

Secondly, the Bible is addressing a lot of people who belong to different cultures and traditions. Translating the cultures of the people in which the original copy of the Bible was written is a challenge on its own. Snell Hornby argues that the Bible is written for different uses to both readers and listeners and translating or reproducing it from the source to target language carrying the same information and for the same purpose is not possible (Ibid, 275). This is further supported by Eugene Nida who pointed out that since no two languages are identical, there can be no absolute correspondence between languages. No two languages can be translated in exactly the same way. This case has been reflected in the Tumbuka version and the Holy Bible of the King James Version in which there is no complete correspondence between the two manuscript texts.

Thirdly, the different grammatical structure of languages also contributes to the problems of Bible Translation. For instance, one word in Tumbuka version cutters more than two words in the English Language. Consider sentence number four in Luke chapter ten in both Bibles;

Tumbuka Version: Mungayeyanga ‘do not carry’
King James Version: Carry neither

These grammatical problems are of different natures for instance, some languages like English have two present tenses while Tumbuka and other languages have one. Tumbuka have no specific pronouns to distinguish males from females like pronouns he and she of the English language.

Comprehension and grasping of the intended meaning is one of the problems of Bible translation because there are a number of factors to be considered. Some of these are that the translator will need to understand the ancient language in terms of the source of the texts which may be difficulty to read. Problems may also arise from the text if there are inconsistencies in the use of some terminologies. Ambiguous words and incomplete texts are part of the problems faced by the translators. Unexplained neologized terms are also a challenge to the translators and finally the translator will need to know the culture of both the source and the target language.


5.0 CONCLUSION

The concept of Bible Translation came in because the majority of people worldwide were unable to read the language in which the original manuscript text of the bible was initially written. Therefore, people have long tried to translate the Bible from the original text to many languages including Tumbuka and English the focus of this paper. Due to different cultures and variation in languages, the original message of the Bible has been partly distorted by the various translations attached to it from one language to another world wide. Yet, research today has proved that “about three percent of the Bible’s text vary across all the manuscripts”. These variations have also been found in Tumbuka Version and King James version of the Holy Bible as shown in the main body of the paper. Because languages are changing each and every day, many original words found in the Bible have lost or changed their meaning. This trend is expected in the coming Bible versions because everything in the world is changing.

It was pointed out that there are a number of challenges of translation in general and for Bible in particular. Some of these challenges are concerned with problems with the source of the text and language, problems in translating the poetic expressions, problems with cultural references and finally, problems of linguistic and grammatical expressions. With respect to problems of translating the Bible specifically the case of Tumbuka version and King James Version, it was pointed out that translators do not have the original manuscript of the Bible but copies of copies of copies and therefore, it is difficult for them to tell which copy is original or not. It was also stated that translation between two languages can not be exactly and precisely because no two languages are exactly the same. Languages of the world have different grammatical structures and they being used by people from different cultures. Because of these problems, we are likely to have more different versions of the Bibles in the near future.











BIBLIOGRAPHY


Bible society of South Africa. (1982). Holy Bible: King James Version 1611.
Cape Town: Bible society of South Africa. South Africa.


Bible society of south Africa. (1952). Mazgu Gha Chiuta. Cape Town: Bible society of
South Africa. South Africa.


Nida, E. A. (1964). Towards a Science of Translation. Leiden: Brill.


Institute perevoda Biblii. (1996). linggvisticheskie, istorikokul’turnye I bogoslovskie
Aspekty. Materially Konferentzii. Moskva, 28-29 noyambrya 1994.
Moscow: institute perevoda Biblii.


Snell-Hornby, M.Honog, G. H. Kussmaul, P. schitti, P.A. (1998). Handbuch Translation
Verlag.

SOME COLOUR TERMS IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE

SOME COLOUR TERMS IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE
5.0 INTRODUCTION
Discussions on colour terms have elicited serious attention from different scholars in various fields around the world. Cognizant of the significant of colour terms in a language, basis must be deciphered on the grounds of empirical evidence about how people genuinely use colour terms in their daily lives. This paper attempts to discuss colour terms in Tumbuka language spoken in the eastern province of Zambia and Malawi. It will begin by looking at the anthropology of colour terms in the world through a variety of contemporary and historical sources. The scope will be highlighted and how colour terms are being handled in Tumbuka language. This will finally led to conclusion.

1.1 Scope and History of Colour Terms.
The paper will also explore the historical development of colours at a universal level mentioning the earliest scholars involved in the development of colour terms in the world. It will also highlight the most basic colour terms in Tumbuka language, how they are used, what they represent, idiophones and ambiguities involving colour terminologies.

Historically, debates on the science of colour terms started seriously after 1969 when Brent Berlin and Paul Kay’s published an influential book in titled the Basic colour terms. These scholars argued that the basic colour terms were obtained following both the synchronic and diachronic research aspects involving more than seventy-eight native languages. The synchronic results were that languages vary in number of basic colour terms from a minimum of two terms to a maximum of eleven and this was proved in many languages which considered and later declared that all languages around the world concomitantly fall in the same trend. The diachronic conclusion was that if languages are ordered according to the basic colour terms, the sequence of encodings of basic colour terms are tightly constrained in such a way that if a language has two basic colour terms, the colours would be black and white and such a language would be considered as a stage one language. Stage two languages will add red so that it is black, white and red. Stage three will add either yellow or green so that it becomes black, white red, green and yellow. The entire sequence comprised seven stages and eleven colour terms. Berlin and Kay interpreted these as stages in the evolutionary sequence and it is this interpretation that has brought controversy amongst scholars and instituted a new way of thinking in several disciplines, which include anthropology, psychology, philosophy and linguistics.

1.2 Abbreviations, Terms and Definitions in the essay.
vi………..intrastive verb
n………...noun
a/b………a is class in singular form while b is its plural form
ideo……..ideophone which try to emphasise on the degree of something.
adj………adjective which give more information about the noun
verb……..an action or doing word
intrastive verb…caries no object.
Noun……names a thing, situation and place


6.0 CRITIQUES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLOUR TERMS

The predominant view of linguistic relativity principle gave way to cross cultural colour universals that could be identified in all languages. They argue that language determine our thought and the way we perceive colours and the world in particular. The fact that there are different languages of the world, colour terms will be perceived differently according to those languages.

Berlin and Kay received a number of criticisms on their influential book published in 1969 from various scholars like Barbara Saunders who contested that the theory of universal colour categories and basic colour terms common to all languages does not apply. Debating in her paper ‘revisiting basic colour terms’(2000), Barbara proposes that Berlin and Kay only worked against the Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic relativity in their experiments. She further argued that their study was constructed in a way which made results seem evident when they were deduced from prior commitments and that research techniques were not effective. She finally declares that the Berlin and Kays thesis is built on layers of mistakes which produce misinterpretations of colour terminologies. Despite these criticisms, their study was widely accepted and it was a landmark on which later studies were built on. Their theory marked the evolutionary development of colour terms in all languages around the world. In 1978 Kay and McDaniel further developed the original theory by incorporating the study of perceptual physiology to explain the universality of basic colour categories.

7.0 COLOUR TERMS AND COLOUR RELATED CONCEPTS IN TUMBUKA

Like many languages of the world, Tumbuka have a good number of colour terms and other colour related concepts.

3.1 List of Colour terms and ideophones
there are a number of colours and ideophones in Tumbuka language

Colour Ideophone
(i) -fipa ‘black’ …………………………. bii
(ii) -tuŵa ‘white’ ………………………….. tuu
(iii) sweta ‘red’ ……………………………. cee
(iv) biliŵili ‘green’ ………………………….. biliŵiliŵili
(v) tuŵululku ‘grey’ …………………………… tuŵuluu
(vi) njongwa ‘yellow’
(vii) ng’alalala ‘silver colour’
(viii) mabyangamabyanga ‘various colours on one thing’
(ix) pepo ‘purple’
(x) bulauni’brown’

3.2 Variations and uses of colour terms and ideophones

The way colours and colour related terms are used vary in Tumbuka depending on the context.
3.2.1 –fipa ‘black’
To express something in black colour or appearance, various phrases are used as in the following.
(i) –fipa (adj)
Example (a)
Chola cifipa, ‘black bag’ literally means ‘bag which is black’

(ii) –fipa (n class 9)
Example (b)
Kwafipa tiyeni ‘it is dark let’s go’

(iii) fipa (vi)
Example (c)
fipa luŵilo ‘get black or dark quickly’

(iv) bii (ideo)
Example (d)
Makala ngafipa aya kuti bii ‘this charcoal is very black’ .
Other terms relating to black, dirty and dark are binkha mostly relating to dirty. Zyelele is relating to dark especially used in the evenings when the sun has just set.

3.2.2 –tuŵa ‘white’

(i) –tuŵa (adj)
Example (e)
Syati yituŵa ‘white shirt’

(ii)-tuŵa (vi)
Example (e)
tuŵishyani maji ‘make the water white (holy)’ common in Christian churches.

(iii) tuu, tututu, mbee (ideo)
Example (g)
Mbale yatuŵa yati na tuu, tututu, mbee ‘plate is white, or clean’.

3.2.3 swesi ‘red’
(i) –swesi (adjective)
Example (h)
sopo yiswesi ‘red soap’



(ii) sweta (vi)
Example (i)
Wasweta musuni (musuzu) ‘soup has become red’.

(iii) Cee, Cecece (ideo)
Example (j)
Nchese yasweta kuti na cecece ‘weeds are red’.

3.2.4 biliŵiliŵili ‘green’
(i) biliwila (vi)
Example(k)
Munda wangoma wabiliŵila ‘ maize field is green’

(ii)biliwiliwili (ideo)
Example(l)
Khuni labiliŵila kuti biliŵiliŵiliŵili ‘tree is very green’

3.2.5 tuŵuluku ‘grey’
(i) –tubuluku (adj)
Example(m)
nkhanda yituŵuluku ‘grey skin’

(ii)-tuŵuluka (vi)
Example(n)
watuŵuluka ‘you have become grey’

(iii) tuŵuluu, tuŵulukuu (ideo)
Example (o)
watuŵa kuti tuŵulukuu ‘you are grey’

3.2.6 njongwa ‘yellow’
Example (p)
njongwa (noun class 9) abokola njongwa ‘….has vomited yellow things’

3.2.7 ng’alalala ‘silver’
Example (q)
ng’alalala (adj) agula motoka yong’alalala ‘…..has bought silver vihecle’.

3.2.8 -a pepo ‘purple’
Example (r)
Pepo (adj) dilesi la pepo ‘purple dress’

3.2.9 -a bulauni ‘brown’
Example(s)
Bulauni (adj) pepala la bulauni ‘brown paper’


3.2.10 Mabyangamabyanga ‘many colours’
Example (t)
Mabyangamabyanga (adj) Chitenje ca mabyangamabyanga ‘chitenge material with many colours’.

8.0 THE SYMBOLISM OF COLOUR TERMS IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE
Colour terms in Tumbuka language has always occupied a strategic position. These are basically associated with various things which are thought to be attached to their origins. Black colour in some special occasions is usually associated with dark or unpleasant activities and therefore on funerals, people are advised to wear black cloths. White is related to holiness usually when going to church and performing some church activities, people are advised to wear white cloths. Red colour symbolises danger just like the way the world treats it. Other colours like green are not symbolised seriously.

9.0 THE AMBIQUITY OF COLOUR TERMS IN TUMBUKA LANGUAGE
Some colours in this language are used ambiguously. Although users decipher the meaning of the words from the context in which they are used, it does not apply all the time. Take for instance in the examples below.
Example (u)
Tola buluku lofipa uzenalo kuno. ‘ Get and bring a dirty (black) trousers’
In this example, -fipa is used ambiguously. It can mean either dirty or black trousers. However, the meaning usually depend on the context and the situation in which the speaker and the listener and the listener are in. Many colour terminologies in this language are found in such situations. However, meaning is obtained from the context in which the words are used.

10.0 CONCLUSION
The concept of colour terminology is extremely wide and to some extent language specific in the sense that there are distinct terms attached to languages in a certain area. For instance, Tumbuka language have introduced the concept of ideophones which critiques never mentioned in their discussion because they do not have ideophones in their languages relating to colour terminologies. Scholars have long argued that there are universal basic colours, which are common in three quarters of the languages found in the world. The way they are used, their symbolism in nature is basically flowing in the same way. Take for instance colours like white, black, and red they are used nearly in the same way worldwide. Although there might be some variations in the way people use them due different cultural orientation, they all finally converge at the same point. Despite the criticisms from different scholars on Berlin and Kay’s basic colour terms of the world, they still come out prominently in the scientific community. Atleast every language will have some basic colours like black and white. The field of colour categorisation has always been intrinsically multi-and inter-disciplinary, since its beginnings in the nineteenth century. It is true that every language to some extent have their own trends of intuition worldwide. For instance, it has been demonstrated in Tumbuka language the different variations in the way people use and perceive colour terminologies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Berlin,B and Paul Kay (1969) Basic colour terms: Their universality and evolution.
Berkelesk: University of California Press.
Chad McDaniel (1978) the linguistic significance of the meanings of colour terms.
language 54’ 610-646.

Saunders, Barmbara (2000) Revisiting Basic colour terms. Journal of the royal
anthropological institute 6. 81-99

Friday, April 1, 2011

WHEN IS THE CURRICULUM CONTENT OF SOCIAL RELEVANCE – Essay by Grace C. Kapoma and Carol Namusokwe

WHEN IS THE CURRICULUM CONTENT OF SOCIAL RELEVANCE – Essay by Grace C. Kapoma and Carol Namusokwe
1. Introduction
It is impossible for an educational program to exist and progress smoothly without the existence of curriculum. A good Curriculum is a foundation for any developmental projects in the education system as it determines what should be learnt in addressing the needs and aspirations of the learners as well as the society. It is the total program of instruction offered by the school which includes the content and learning experiences or daily classroom practices centered on meeting the educational aims, goals and objectives. These learning experiences can take place within and outside the school environment as learners interact. Like many other concepts, curriculum has many definitions from different scholars and policy makers. However, it is not the focus of this paper to explore the definitions of curriculum. This paper is focusing on the stage at which one can consider the curriculum as being of social relevance to the society. It will start with a brief introduction and definition of some key terms and then proceed to the main body followed by a concise conclusion of the major issues emanating from the paper.
According to Child (1977), curriculum content is defined as what the teacher and the students pay attention to when they are teaching and learning. It is a list of subjects, topics, themes, concepts or works to be covered. It is the subject matter, process, approaches, and feelings used in teaching as the curriculum is being implemented. Curriculum content refer to what is taught in school, it is the subject matter or topics consisting facts, concepts, ideas, knowledge within a particular subject and how they will bring about change in the individual and to the society, (Urevbu, 1994). Kochhar, (2008:67) defines curriculum as “the instructional and educative program through which the pupils achieve their goals and aspirations of life”. The curriculum consists of components/elements such as the curriculum intent, content, learning activities, learning experiences and lastly evaluation. All these components of the curriculum are interrelated and important for an effective curriculum implementation.

2.0 When is curriculum content relevant to society?
The curriculum content is of social relevance when the learning experiences are related to the disciplines (subjects) taught in schools. The teacher needs to actively show the learners how different subject areas influence their lives, particularly the employment sector and in developing a sense of responsibility; the contents of the curriculum should provide learners with skills that will enable them find employment in society. The curriculum content is therefore relevant when the content consists of skills such as wood work, gardening or agriculture, home management and other practical subjects which will help learners get a self employed job after acquiring the skills and act responsibly to the needs and expectations of the society. Thus, this curriculum content is answering the need of employment. A relevant curriculum according to MOE (1996:55) “includes modules such as preparation for work, work experiences and entrepreneurship education which will develop pupils’ creative and innovative capacity, thereby to foster the skills and attributes which will assist them to be successful employees or employers or entrepreneurs in their own right”.
Curriculum content is of social relevance when it is integrated with current problems of society such as HIV/AIDS, drugs prevention, sex education and family life, (Urevbu, 1994). These aspects should be an integrated part of the public school in some areas of the country. For example, when issues of HIV/AIDS are integrated in the school curriculum it answers the health needs of a society as learner come to have knowledge about how best the disease can be prevented. On the other hand, when the curriculum content consists of drug prevention it helps reduce the effects of drugs on human beings because they come to know about the effects of drugs such as; a means for transmitting diseases if syringe are used. When learners are educated on this aspect they tend to be change in behavior in human beings; therefore, the curriculum should bring about change in behavior, attitude and value. It should develop the child as a whole.
The curriculum is of social relevance when it is related to the life needs of society. For instance, when subject such as civics are taught in schools and consists of political aspect of a particular country such as ways of electing a president, law and regulations of a country. The curriculum content should therefore, bring about social change in all angles of society. It should be an instrument for social change that is related to national integration, social justice as well as democratic values, (Kochhar, 2008). In addition, curriculum content is of social relevance through education when it answers the political violence which that country is facing.
On the other hand, the geography that was offered long ago was not of social relevance because its content consisted of farming system related to Canada which was not applicable the Zambian context. At present, the geography that is being taught in schools consists of content which is related to the activities of society such as fishing on Lake Tanganyika, agriculture practices on large and small scale farming. The content constitutes of local and regional aspects of geography which learners learn and apply in the immediate society.
Curriculum content is of social relevance when it is flexible that is; it can easily change with the changing society. This is so because the world is changing every day therefore, curriculum content should as well change from time to time so as to respond to the needs of a changing society. For example, the use of computer is becoming an essential aspect in the educational system; hence, content on computers should be included in the school curriculum because computer devices are being used for various purposes such as communication, and retrieval of information. At present, some schools in Zambia are meeting this need by offering lessons in computers; schools such as Ndola Girls Technical School are offering such subjects (computer studies) and pupils are examined. Curriculum content should therefore change so as to portend transformations in the near future, (www.literacynet.org/lp/namericans/curriculum.htm1).
On the other hand, the curriculum content is of social relevance when it responds to the culture of a given society or nation, that is when it includes culture norms and values of that society which give learners a sense of belonging. Curriculum content should therefore contain culturally relevant materials which include; formal curriculum materials, informal classroom materials, and classroom interactions. In this sense, culturally relevant materials enable diversity in learners so as to be more successful by contextualizing learning and making connections with home cultures, allowing for learning and development to be based on the students’ experiences and learning styles, and building cultural capital that allows each student to feel valued in the school environment, (Gay, 1999).
Additionally, the curriculum content is of social relevance when it provides adequate study of language especially local languages, (Kochhar, 2008). Language is very important for communication purposes hence the provision of official and local language in the curriculum content will help the learner communicate effectively outside the school environment. Furthermore, language also helps people later in life especially those who take journalism as their career will be at an advantage as they will find it easy to interact with the local community and get information which will solve a problem which that particular society is facing.
Curriculum content is of social relevance when it develops a critical conscious among children of the major issues of society and encourages students active role in improving the society they live in. For instance, when the curriculum content consists of issues such as global warming, air pollution and other issues which will make learners think critically why such issues exist and come up with solution. The learners play an active role in society when their behavior and attitudes changes and their actions and mind set influence the rest of the society.
Localization of the curriculum content answers the needs of that immediate society therefore if the curriculum content is of social relevance it must be localized. When the curriculum is localized it is of social relevance because it is meeting the need of that immediate society. For example, when a society whose main activity is poultry farming like in southern province of Zambia; It should have its content of the curriculum with poultry farming consisting of both the practical and theory part of learning experiences.
The curriculum content is the subject matter that is taught by the teacher; therefore, curriculum content is of social relevance when it is delivered by qualified or relevant human resource persons and has resources for teaching and learning available.






Summary of Curriculum Content and its Relevance
1. Curriculum Content
(That is what is taught. For example, Math, Home Management, Geography, Science, Religious Education and many other subjects)


2(a). Provides skills 2(b). Behavior and attitude
and knowledge change.



3(a) Meets the needs of society, such as 3(b) bring solution to
employment and health needs problems society is facing
and many more. such as pollution, global warming and many more.

3.0 Conclusion
In conclusion, curriculum content is relevant when it meets the need of a society such as unemployment; by teaching what is relevant or related to societal issues at hand through practical and theoretical concepts. Furthermore, the curriculum is of social relevance when it gives solutions to the problems of the society such as pollution, deforestation and many more. The curriculum content should therefore meet the needs of society in which it is being implemented. Curriculum content should be localized if it has to meet the need of the immediate society
Reference
Child, D. (1977). Psychology and the Teacher. 2nd Edition. Britain: Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Publishers.
Gay, G. (1999). Improving the Achievement of Marginalized Students of Color. In
“Including at-risk students in standards-based reform: A report on McREL’s
diversity roundtables II.” Available at:
http://www.mcrel.org/products/diversity/rt2chapter2.html.
Kochhar, S.K, (2008). Methods and Techniques of Teaching. 2nd Revised Edition. New
Dehli: Sterling Publishers Private, Limited.
Ministry of Education, (1996). Educating Our Future: National Policy on Education. Lusaka:
Zambia Educational Publishing House
Urevbu, A (1994). Curriculum Studies.2nd edition. Singapore: Longman Publishers.
http://www.literacynet.org/lp/namericans/curriculum.htm1