Search results for "Swahili"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Enjoying sameness and difference – competition and convergence of Latin American telenovelas and Swahili video films in Tanzania
2018
Since the early 2000s Latin American telenovelas have become a very popular and widely received genre in Tanzania. At the same time, a huge video film industry has developed with local films made i...
Language practices in primary schools [in Nairobi] : the teachers' perspectives
2010
ABSTRACT Otieno, Suzanne Adhiambo. LANGUAGE PRACTICES IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN NAIROBI: THE TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES. A Pro Gradu Thesis in Special Education, University of Jyväskylä, Department of Educational Sciences, 2010. 84 pages. Unpublished Literacy is facilitated by the readiness to comprehend fluently written language and this requires accurate and fluent basic reading skills, good mastery of the language to be read and a lot of practice in reading the particular language. Basic reading skills involve the ability to pronounce written words accurately and this requires appropriate teaching instructions in a language most familiar to the pupils. Research has found that learning to read in…
Comoros: Language Situation
2006
The Union of Comoros comprises three of the four islands of the Comorian archipelago, which is situated halfway between the East African coast and the northern tip of Madagascar. Official languages are French, Arabic, and Comorian, the latter of which is the everyday language of the people. Comorian is a Bantu language closely related to Swahili that can be subdivided into different dialects: Ngazija/Shingazija on Grande Comore, Ndzwani/Shindzwani on Anjouan, and Shimwali on Moheli.
Bunia Swahili and Emblematic Language Use
2020
The present paper provides first insights into emblematic language use in Bunia Swahili, a variety of the Bantu language Swahili as spoken in and around the city of Bunia inIturi Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Structural variability in Bunia Swahili shows that this language variety consists of basilectal, mesolectal and acrolectal registers, which are used by speakers to express different social identities. Whereas the basilectal variety shows structural similarities with Central Sudanic languages, the mesolectal and acrolectal registers are closer to East Coast Swahili. We argue that these lectal forms are to be understood as fluid repertoires which are used by speakers as a f…
Guessing Meaning From Word Sounds of Unfamiliar Languages: A Cross-Cultural Sound Symbolism Study
2019
Sound symbolism refers to a non-arbitrary relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning. With the aim to better investigate this relationship by using natural languages, in the present cross-linguistic study 215 Italian and Polish participants were asked to listen to words pronounced in 4 unknown non-indo-European languages (Finnish, Japanese, Swahili, Tamil) and to try to guess the correct meaning of each word, by choosing among 3 alternatives visualized on a computer screen. The alternatives were presented in the mother tongue of participants. Three different word categories were presented: nouns, verbs and adjectives. A first overall analysis confirmed a semantic role of sound…
Cultural Politics of Love and Provision among Poor Youth in Urban Tanzania
2015
This article examines how urban youth in the poorest neighbourhoods of Dar es Salaam negotiate the terms of transactional intimacy, that is, heterosexual relations in which men are expected to provide for women materially. Using the concept of ‘affect’, I argue that this negotiation involves different levels of male providership, as well as moral values attached to notions of ‘true love’ and the Swahili concept of tamaa. Poor men and women view their agency differently within transactional intimacy, with women describing themselves as exploited by men who do not fulfil their end of the transactional bargain, and poor men portraying themselves as deeply disempowered in comparison to wealthie…