Seeing the World through the Onomastic Lens

Xitsonga Anthroponyms and Toponyms

Mkhacani Thomas Chauke, Munyaradzi Mawere

• Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
• Year: 2025
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9789956003730
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Index: Social Sciences

Originating from discussions at the 2018 Names Society of Southern Africa (NSSA) Conference, the scholarly work Seeing the World through the Onomastic Lens: Xitsonga Anthroponyms and Toponyms meticulously explores the onomastics of the understudied Xitsonga language. The book compiles chapters that significantly advance the understanding of personal names (anthroponyms), place names (toponyms), and ethnonyms within the community. It incisively examines the diverse facets of Vatsonga naming practices, illuminating the cultural and social forces shaping personal naming trends. Moreover, the volume investigates the craft of character naming in modern literature, demonstrating how authors employ Xitsonga names to enrich characterization and narrative progression. This linguistically reflective and explorative book serves as a key resource for students and practitioners in linguistic studies, African studies, social anthropology, policy studies, history, and onomastics.

Table of contents

• Front cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Notes on Editors and Contributors
• Editors
• Contributors
• Table of Contents
• Introduction | Seeing the World through the Onomastic Lens
• 1 | Developments in Xitsonga and Onomastics as a Field of Research
• 2 | Fingerprints of Identity: Reflections on Xitsonga Names and Naming Practices
• 3 | Xitsonga Personal Names and Naming Practices: Past and Present Dynamics
• 4 | What’s In a Derogatory Nickname? The Case of VaTsonga
• 5 | A Description on Derogatory and Self-Selected Nicknames among Vatsonga: An Onomastic Approach
• 6 | The Impact of the Practice of Learners Nicknaming Teachers on Learners’ Academic Performance: A Case for Socio-Onomastics
• 7 | Names, Places and Ethnicity: An Onomastic Navigation of the Zimbabwean Vatsonga’s Ideological Undercurrents
• 8 | Nicknames and Their Significance In Xitsonga Anthroponyms: The Case of N’wamatatani Village
• 9 | Character Naming and Plot Development in Contemporary Literature: Xitsonga Literary Corpus as a Case in Point
• 10 | Intimacy and Identity Continuance or Loss in African Cultural Orientations: Reflections on the Use of Teknonyms and Patronyms Among the VaTsonga
• 11 | Dog Naming as a Social ‘War Zone’: Trends and Traditions in Tsonga Nomenclature
• 12 | Names as ‘Magic Portions’ in Stress-Laden Situations: Multiplex Discernments in Multi-Disciplinary Domains
• 13 | Misrepresentation of Xitsonga and Language and Culture
• 14 | Ethnonymic Tags Given to Vatsonga of Southern Africa: A Socio-Onomastic Study
• 15 | The Origin of the Ethnonym ‘VaTsonga’
• 16 | Xitsonga Orthography
• 17 | Xitsonga Phonetics
• 18 | The Morpho-Semantic Analysis of Some Dog Names Among the VaTsonga
• Back cover