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An analysis of literary onomastics in selected Xitsonga novels.

Mathye, Lushia Kulani
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Abstract
The study focuses on the depiction of characters and development of themes through naming in selected five Xitsonga novels, namely, Swi tlula magandzelo (Shabangu, L.S. 2015), Hlayisa (Baloyi, K.G. & Mongwe M.J. 2015), Mibya ya Nyekanyeka (Mtombeni, B.K. 2008), I vutomi (Lubisi, C.M. 1998) and N’waninginingi ma ka tindleve (Tshuketana, F.A. 1978). It explores how some Xitsonga writers use character naming as a technique to depict characters and develop themes in their novels. The descriptive theory of names has been used as a theoretical framework in this study. This study is based on the interpretivist paradigm, the descriptive case study research design, and the reader-response research approach. The population of the study was Xitsonga novels and the texts were extracted from the five different Xitsonga novels to support the analysis of the use of the naming techniques in the depiction of characters in relation to the development of themes from these novels. The documentation method as well as the note-taking method, were used to collect the data. Furthermore, content analysis as well and the comparative method were used to analyse the data. The findings of this study revealed that some of the characters’ names in the selected novels were more tied to the contexts; some of the characters’ names reflect their bearers’ personalities, behaviour, or/and situations. The findings also reveal that some of the names in the novels were used as a strategy to develop themes. This study may make an important contribution to Xitsonga writers who still give meaningless names to their characters, so that a naming technique can assist them in depicting characters and developing themes in their novel writing. The study has shown that the writers of the selected novels applied the Vatsonga naming practices in their novels. It is recommended that the future scholars who may be interested in this field, should look into other genres of literary work such as drama, to explore how some Vatsonga writers use naming in that genre the same way they used it in the novels.
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Submitted in accordance with the partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Language Practice in the Department of Applied Languages, Faculty of Humanities at the Tshwane University of Technology.
Date
2022-01-02
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Tshwane University of Technology
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Keywords
Literary onomastics, Onomastics, Symbolism, Theme, Fiction, Character,, Characterisation
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