A SOCIO-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ADOPTION OF CERTAIN AMAXHOSA SURNAMES BY STEMBELE JOHNSON Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES AFRICAN LANGUAGES STUDIES RHODES UNIVERSITY GRAHAMSTOWN SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: DR M JADEZWENI CO-SUPERVISOR: PROF R KASCHULA DECEMBER 2019 DECLARATION I Stembele Johnson, declare that A SOCIO-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ADOPTION OF CERTAIN AMAXHOSA SURNAMES is my own work and that all sources that I have used and quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of a complete reference. Signed …………………………….. i ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS I would like to acknowledge my endless gratitude and thanks to the following: I would firstly like to thank God for making it possible for this study to get approved and paving the way from the beginning and giving me strength to finish it. Secondly I would like to thank Dr M Jadezweni for introducing me to onomastics, and immense help and guidance from the beginning. I would also like to thank his consistency on checking up on the progress of the thesis. Thirdly I would like to thank Professor R Kaschula for his dedication in the polishing of this work and his conscientious assistance. I wholeheartedly thank him for the extra suggestions which made this work more attractively. Lastly to my family and friends for the support they gave me through the period of my Masters and writing of this thesis, especially my mother who have been my backbone when emotionally and physically drained. This thesis is a dedication to my late friend Sinazo Tshongweni, during the period of writing this thesis I thank her for being my guardian angel. May God bless them all. ii SUMMARY It is always assumed when you have a white surname that you have a white lineage or your forefathers were white, and that was always my struggle in school to explain the meaning of my surname and where it came from. Not only European surnames used by amaXhosa are difficult to explain but also many isiXhosa surnames are very hard to break down and explain. This is because many word from the isiXhosa language, that are used in surnames are no longer used and if one does not know the history of certain names then it would be difficult to know the meaning of a surname or misinterpret its meaning to the modern words of isiXhosa that we know. Surnames are not of African origin, they came from the West, but because of colonialism surnames were enforced on African people. Most of the surnames they used, are said to be names of their forefathers (ancestors), and there is a small amount or none that links to femininity in these surnames. Surnames are part of naming and naming is part of onomastics. Naming is a very important tool used among various African cultures to convey certain messages, either to an individual, family members or a community. Onomastics is multidisciplinary in nature. It can be approached from different perspectives. These include linguistic, historical, sociological, philosophical, economical and other perspectives. This research looks at the depth of certain amaXhosa surnames and even their links to other names like, nicknames and clan names etc. iii ISISHWANKATHELO Kukho inkolelo yokuba xa unefani eligama lomntu omhlophe, makube nawe umnombo wakho ngowomntu omhlophe okanye ookhokho bakho babemhlophe. Ndiyazi apha kum loo nto kuba yintsindabadala endandixakene nayo esikolweni xa kufuneka ndichaze ukuba ithini na intsingiselo yefani yam. Iifani zabamhlophe zinzima ukuzichaza, kukwanjalo nakwezamaXhosa, ukuzihlahluba akuyondlwana iyanetha. Isizekabani kukuba amagama ekuthiywe ngawo akasasetyenziswa, kwaye ukuba akuyazi imbali yawo kunganzima ukuyazi intsingiselo yegama eliyifani yakho, yenze ke loo nto kubenzima ukuyinqwabulula intsingiselo xa uxhomekeke kwesi siXhosa semihla ngemihla. Umyinge weefani zabaNtsundu uphefumlelwe lifuthe laseNtshona, nto leyo eyanyanzeliswa kwabaNtsundu ngamakoloniyali, abangeneleli, ngobuntshantshathela. Kufumaniseka ukuba iifani ezininzi abazisebenzisayo abaNtsundu zithathelwa kumagama ookhokho babo, kwaye ke iba libhaqo ukuba kubekho ezo kunokuthiwa zinomrhiba wesini sokhomokazi. Ngokoluvo lobunzululwazi magama, ionomastiki ukutsho oko, iifani ezi lolunye uhlobo lokuthiya amagama. Kwinkcubeko kaNtu ukuthiya igama kwalatha injongo ethile yomthiyi kulowo unikwa igama, kusapho lwakhe okanye kuluntu ngokubanzi. Ionomastiki intlantluninzi, oko kukuthi iyindibanisela yemiba ngemiba kubume bayo. Inokuvelelwa kwiinkalo ngeenkalo ezahlukeneyo. Oku kuquka ubunzululwazi bezolwimi, ezomlando, eziphathelele kwintlalo yoluntu, iinyani ezifihlakeleyo, ezoqoqosho neminye imingxilo. Olu phando ke ngoko luludondolo lokuzungeleza ubunzulu beefani ezikhethiweyo zamaXhosa ngokwentsingiselo, nendlela ezinokuba zinxulumene ngayo namagama afana, neziqhulo kunye neziduko. iv GLOSSARY Patriclans- A clan, with membership determined by patrilineal descent from a common ancestor. Matronyms- Name of someone’s mother Anthroponyms- A personal name Toponyms- Name derived from a place Melapropism- the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with an amusing effect (e.g. ‘dance a flamingo’ instead of flamenco). v Contents CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Background of the research area .................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 Naming and culture.................................................................................................................... 3 1.2.2 Naming and Identity .................................................................................................................. 5 1.2.3 Names and Power Relations ...................................................................................................... 8 1.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND ONOMASTICS THEORY.......................................................... 16 2.1 Onomastics: What’s in a name? ................................................................................................. 16 2.2 Defining Onomastics ................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Proper names and Common Nouns ............................................................................................ 18 2.4 Euro-western names and African names .................................................................................... 19 2.5 Gender in names ......................................................................................................................... 23 2.6 Givers and bearers ...................................................................................................................... 26 2.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN ....................................................................... 30 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 30 3.2 Research Methods ...................................................................................................................... 30 3.2.1 Qualitative Research ................................................................................................................ 33 3.2.2 Quantitative Research ............................................................................................................. 36 3.3 Research Design .......................................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Data Collection methods and tools ............................................................................................. 37 3.5 Sampling ...................................................................................................................................... 39 3.6 Research Process ........................................................................................................................ 39 3.7 Challenges encountered when collecting data ........................................................................... 40 3.7.1 The interview questions ........................................................................................................... 41 3.7.2 Recording Research ................................................................................................................. 42 3.8 Ethical considerations ................................................................................................................. 43 3.9 Trustworthiness of the study ...................................................................................................... 44 3.10 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 45 CHAPTER 4: ORIGINS OF AMAXHOSA SURNAMES .............................................................................. 46 4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................