Women's language of respect: <i>isihlonipho sabafazi</i>

Finlayson, Rosalie

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511486692.015

Cited by 29 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Here, the variety has been termed "isiHlonipho Sabafazi" (Finlayson 2002) and presents the perceived socially inferior status of females in Zulu society (Herbert 1990). The linguistic aspect of the custom primarily includes the avoidance of certain terms but comprises also, in its traditional form, an entire core lexicon of specific isiHlonipho terms.…”

Section: Hlonipha Practice Language Use and The Connection With Isinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersections of two isiZulu genderlects and the construction of 'skesana' identities

Msibi

Rudwick

2015

SPiL Plus

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Drawing on Youdell's (2000Youdell's ( , 2005Youdell's ( , 2006 work on identity formation, we examine in this article multiple performances of gender identities in relation to a particular language use among African men who engage in same-sex relations. Based on semi-ethnographic research and in-depth interviews with African men who are isiNgqumo speakers in the Durban metropolitan area in KwaZulu-Natal, this article portrays the intersectional nature of two genderlects. The isiNgqumo lexicon is characterised largely by what Zulu speakers refer to as "deep" lexicon, and a closer examination reveals that a substantial number of lexical items are drawn from the isiHlonipho variety of Zulu, also termed "isiHlonipho Sabafazi" ('women's language of respect'). Hlonipha (lit. 'respect') social actions and language use are representative of showing submissiveness towards males and other people who are considered superiors. On the basis of the experiences of men who engage in samesex relations and who self-identify as skesana, we argue that an isiNgqumo variety that draws from the isiHlonipho lexicon represents a linguistic variety that is linked to a heteronormative and patriarchal cultural system which renders femininity an inferior subject position. Within this gendered order, certain linguistic expressions of isiNgqumo can create tension-riddled identity categories and allow for complex positioning for skesanas, many of whom draw on heteronormative and heteropoleric categories in the construction of their sexual and gender identities.

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Section: Hlonipha Practice Language Use and The Connection With Isinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intersections of two isiZulu genderlects and the construction of 'skesana' identities

Msibi

Rudwick

2015

SPiL Plus

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“…She has to use the 'language of respect', known as isihlonipho sabafazi (Finlayson, 2002). The umakoti is expected to respect her in-laws; treat them with respect and deference.…”

Section: Linguistic Custom Of Respectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language, Gender and Women Development in South Africa

Mncwango

Luvuno

2015

JESR

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“…In the early twenty-first century, these respect words and the linguistic process for creating them were all but forgotten by many isiZulu speakers. However, general respect practices based on comportment and some less specific kinds of linguistic avoidance in the presence of superordinate individuals were still prevalent (Finlayson 1984(Finlayson , 2002.…”

Section: A V O I D a N C E A N D S C I E N T I F I C M E D I C A L T mentioning

confidence: 99%

Stigma and ideological constructions of the foreign: Facing HIV/AIDS in South Africa

Black¹

2013

Lang. Soc.

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In this article I discuss language ideologies and stigma, exploring how a group of South Africans living with HIV confronted the perceived language of HIV and engaged with international aid to live “positive lives” amid stigma. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with a Zulu choir that functioned as an HIV support group and AIDS activist organization, I analyze talk about how others talked about HIV (metapragmatic discourse about HIV) to suggest a language-ideological component of stigma. I also explore how choir members' engagement with scientific medicine and international aid provided an alternative ideological framework in which the foreign was positively valued. I analyze how choir members creatively incorporated English medical terminology into isiZulu discourse as an alternative to the language of stigma. This analysis provides a model of the language-ideological constitution of stigma that suggests links to theorization of language and other types of marginality and abjection. (Language ideologies, stigma, HIV/AIDS, South Africa, Zulu, exclusion, markedness)*

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Women's language of respect: isihlonipho sabafazi

Cited by 29 publications

References 4 publications

Intersections of two isiZulu genderlects and the construction of 'skesana' identities

Intersections of two isiZulu genderlects and the construction of 'skesana' identities

Language, Gender and Women Development in South Africa

Stigma and ideological constructions of the foreign: Facing HIV/AIDS in South Africa

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