homestead names as a reflection in mabengela, nkandla

184 Pages·2011·11.13 MB·English

HOMESTEAD NAMES AS A REFLECTION
OF S·OCIAL DYNAMICS
IN MABENGELA, NKANDLA
by
Mbali Aldromeda Shabalala
B.A. (Hons.)
Submittedinpartialfulfilment
ofthe requirementsfor the degree of
MASTERSOFARTS
inthe
Discipline ofisiZulu
FacultyofHuman Science
University ofNatal
Pietermaritzburg
SouthAfrica
September 1999
DECLARATION
I, Mbali Aldromeda Shabalala, declare that this thesis, except where otherwiseindicated, is my
own original research. It has not been submitted inpart or as awhole, for a degree at any
otherUniversity.
M.A. Shabalala
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Iwishto gratefully acknowledgethe following people:
Prof A. Koopman, for his criticisms, valuable insights and guidance in shaping this
dissertation.
MrL. Plassmann, for his list ofhomestead names which served as the basis ofthis
study.
ChiefBiyela and the community ofMabengelafor their warm welcome and for making
the research possible.
Research Assistants, Jabulani Shezi, BuhleBiyela andDumisaniNgema for their
assistance.
.Mrs T. Radebe, for her encouragements and advices throughout the research.
ZuluDepartment stafffor their comments and insights.
The University ofNatal for itsfinancial assistance (EO and AAbursary) which
contributedinmakingthe completion ofthis dissertation possible.
Kulani Machabafor his encouragements.
Specialwords ofthanks go to my family, my mother and mybrothers for their support.
ABSTRACT
Homestead naming has been aZulu practice since the days ofKing Shaka. Althoughthis
practice has been abandoned by some oftheZulus especiallythose living inurban areas, it still
existsin some rural areas e.g. Mabengela. This study on''Homestead names as areflection of
social dynamics inMabengela, Nkandla" ,is divided into five chapters.
The first chapter 'Introduction' looks at boththe introductionto the thesis and also the
introductionto the research area. Itlooks at the methodologyused inthis studyand also gives
abriefbackground ofthe life people inMabengela live.
The second chapter 'TheZulu homestead and its social organisation' pays particular attention
to theZulu homestead. Itlooks at the construction ofaZulu hut, the arrangement ofhuts in
the homestead, the importance ofthe cattle kraal, etc. It also looks at the division oflabour
withinthe Zulu homestead and the importance ofeachmember ofthe family in makingthings
run smoothlyinthe homestead.
Chapterthree 'Morphological analysis ofhomestead names' looks at the linguistic features of
homestead names. Itlooks at the difference between nouns and names, the locative prefixes
and suffixes used inhomestead names and also looks different stems that homestead names
have. This chapteralso focuses on homestead names as amorphological exception.
The last but one chapter 'The aetiology ofhomestead names' looks at homestead names as a
reflection ofsocial dynamics inthe communityofMabengela. It pays particuhrrattentionto the
reasons for name-giving, time for naming the homestead, etc. It also looks at the different
categories inwhich homestead names inMabengelahavebeen categorised and what these
names reflect about the communityofMabengela.
The last chapter isthe conclusion ofthe dissertation.
11
TABLE OF CONTENTS
AC.KN"OWLEDGEMENTS .......•..•...........••...........•...•......•
ABSTRACT •....•.•... • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 1I
................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS iii
CHAPTER1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1 Reasons for the study ....•......•....••.•......•..........•........ 1
1.2 Aims and objectives ..•.••.••....•.•....•.•••.•.••.•..•.•..•..•.... 5
'!.....................................................
1.3 Data sources 8
1.3.1 Interv-iews .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8
1.3.2 Published sources •. . •. . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . . . •. . . •. . . . •. •. . . . . . •. . . •. 8
1.3.3 Unpublished sources ..............••.•......•....•...•....•........ 9
. .
1.4. Methodology 10
1.5 Problems encountered when collecting data . . . . •. •. . . •. . . . •••. . . •. . . . .. 13
1.6 Problems encountered in the analysis ofdata. . . . •. ••. . •. . . ••. . . . . . . . . .. 18
1.7 Theoretical background .•....•..'. •••. •. . . •. . •••. •. . •. . ••. . . . . •. . . .• 19
1.8 Historical background ofMabengela .............•..•.....•.•.....•.. 22
1.9 History ofthe Biyela clan 24
1.10 The background ofMabengela .•.......•.•...•..•.••...•......•..... 27
CHAPTER2 THE ZULU HOMESTEAD AND ITS SOCIAL
ORGANISATION
.....................................................
2.1 Introduction 31
...................................................
2.2 AZulu hut. 33
...................................................
2.3 Building a hut 35
2.4 Arrangement ofhuts in a Zulu homestead ..................•.......... 38
2.5 The ancestors and the cattle kraal (Isibaya) ....•••..........•.......... 42
2.6 Zulu kinship system ••.........••.•...•....•.••.....••............. 47
2.7 The head ofthe family ......................•...................... 47
2.8 Polygamy and the wives •....•••.•.••.......•.••••••••.....•..•••.•. 51
ill r
_l
2.8.1 Thefirst wife ........................••............. · · · · · · •· · .. 56
2.8.2 The second wife 57
2.8.3 The third wife.•......•..•...•.....•...........•...•..... · . · · · · · .. 58
2.9 The children .......••........•.....•..•..............•... · · · · · · .. 59
59
2.9.1 Sons ..•........... · . ••· · · · · · •· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · •· · · ·
63
2.9.2 Daughters ....•....•......... · · · · · · · · · · •· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · •
2.10 Conclusion ..•....•.•......•....................•....•.••.•...... 66
CHAPTER3 THE MORPHOLOGY OF HOMESTEAD NAMES
3.1 Introduction ...•..•.•....•.••..•..••.••.......•...•. •· · · .• 67
3.2 Nouns and names •..........•..........•.............•..... · · · · · .. 69
3.3 Homestead nameswith simple stem •..•••.•..•...•......•••.......••• 73
3.4 Homestead names with complexstem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . .. 76
3.5 Homestead names with compound stems .....•........................ 80
3.5.1 Verb +substantive . •. . . . •••. ••. . •. . ••. •. . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . •. . •. . •.. 83
..................................
3.5.2 Verb +qualificative 87
....... .
3.5.3 Miscellaneous names 92
;.
3.6 Hypocorisms . •. . . •. . . ••. . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . •. . . . . . . . . . •. . . . •. . . . . .. 97
3.7 Duplicated stems ......•.............•..•.•.••...........•........ 99
3.8 Homestead names as a morphological exception .•.•...•.•.....••.••..• 100
3.9 Misspelling ofhomestead names .....•.........•...................• 103
3.10 Conclusion .•.•....•.....•.•.....•...•......•.........•.••..•..• 104
CHAPTER4 THE AETIOLOGY OF HOMESTEAD NAMES
4.1 Introduction 106
4.2 Time for naming the homestead ..•.................................... 107
4.3 Western house names and Zulu rural homesteads . . . . . . . . . . .•. . . . . . . •. . . .. 110
4.4 Homestead naming as practised during olden times in Zululand ......•...... 113
4.4.1 Homestead names ofsome ofJama's children ......•.•.....•.•.....••.. 113
4.5 Comparison between homestead names and other names 119
4.5.1 Homestead names and place names •..••....•.....• 119
IV
4.5.2 Homestead names, personal names and dog names .....•..•...•.•.....•. 123
4.6 Reasons for homestead naming. •. . . ••. . •. •. . •. . •. . . . . •. . . . . . . . . . . •. . .. 123
4.7 Semantic analysis ofhomestead names . . . . . •. •••. . •. •. . •. . . . ••. . . . . . . . .. 124
4.8 Categories ofhomestead names ....•.•••••......•......••....•.•...... 125
4.8.1 Conflict 127
4.8.2 Care and concern .................•..•.......................•.... 131
........................................................
4.8.3 Reaction 133
........................................................
4.8.4 Incidents 135
4.8.5 Gossip . 136
4.8.6 Personality attributes ..•.•.........••.••...•••••..•.....•....•.•... 138
.............................................
4.8.7 Peace and harmony 140
4.8.8 Wishes and aspirations ••••••..•....••.••.•••••.•......•.•..•.....•• 141
4.8.9 Iojunction . 142
4.8.10 Joy and happiness .••.••.•..........•.•••...•......••............. 143
.......................................................
4.8.11 Location 144
4.8.12 Witchcraft 145
4.8.13 Selfempowerment 146
4.8.14 Progress . 147
4.8.15 Struggle .....•.............•.•.•..••...•.......•.....•.....•.... 148
4.8.16 Religious aft1liations .•.•.•..•••.•...••••..•••....••.•...•.•••.••.. 149
· .
4.8.17 Other . 149
· .
4.9 Combination ofcategories 150
· .
4.10 Discussion ....•..••••. 151
4.11 Conclusion about homestead names as a reflection ofsocial dynamics 153
CHAPTER5 GENERAL CONCLUSION
.........................................................
5.1 Fieldwork 155
.........................
5.2 Summary ofthe morphology ofhomestead names 157
.........................
5.3 Summary offindings ..••....•.••..•..•.•••• 157
v
APPENDICES
Appendix 1 List ofhomestead names collected by L. Plassmann . . . . . . . . . •. . . .. 160
Appendix 2 The revised and edited list ofhomestead names ....•.......•..•.• 164
BffiLIOGRAPHY ...•.•..•. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . •. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 168
VI
CHAPTERONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Reasons for the study
My intentionwas to do an analysis ofZulu names, althoughI was not sure which namesto
study, I decided not to study personal names as that field has beengiven enough attentionby
ProfA. Koopman and some ofthe researchers in onomastics. Tremendous attention has been
paid to their morphology and its aetiology. Itwas obvious that ifI did research onZulu
personal names I would be repeating what other researchers have alreadywritten about.
While deciding onwhatto research, I was presentedwith a list of142 homestead names in
Mabengelabymy supervisorwhich had been collected byLaurenz Plassmann ( a man from
Germany, who is doing architectural research onZulu huts and theZulu traditional way of
living) inthe Mabengela district inNkandla (see maps overleaf: fig. 1.1is the map ofKwaZulu
Natal and fig.l.2 is the map ofMabengela). When doing a literature review, I found that there
was only one researcherwho had paid particular attentionto homestead names. I felt that
there was a need to do research on homestead names as it had not beengiven enough attention
byresearchers ononomastics. The second reason was that someinsight from rural places is
needed as few peopletend not to researchthe rural places becausethese places are
underdeveloped compared to urban areas.
Althoughmuchresearch has been done inthe past decade onZulu onomastics, there is only
one researcherI have comeacross who has paid particular attentionto Zulu homestead names,
that is D.B. Ntuli. This studyis in no way a duplication ofhis work, but rather a development
onwhat he has researched. In his articles, Ntuli looks at different categories ofhomestead
names inthe districts ofUmbumbulu, Inanda, Eshowe, Inkandla andDundee and also pays a
little attentionto the morphology ofthese names. Although some ofwhatNtuli looked at in
his articleswill be looked at here, what makes this studydistinct from his, is that it goes
further than looking at the morphology and aetiology ofhomestead names as it also looks in
depth at these names as the reflection ofthe social dYnamics. Particular attention has beenpaid
to onlyone district, asthe main objective ofthe studyisto see how homestead names reflect
the societies wherethey are found.
1
Figure 1.1 Map ofKwaZulu-Natal
KEY
SWAZILAND
NationalBoundaries
InternationalBoundaries
_ Freeways
- MainProvincialRoads
MinorProvincialRoads
- Coast
*• Towns
StudySite
FreeState
REPUBUCOFSOUTHAFRICA
N
A
NAMIBIA
...i
'•._"'-"~
NorthernCape
L-!.60
Kms
2