It is the time of the year when you ponder on "is it too soon to put up your Christmas tree", "what will the kids get for presents this year", "what new recipes will I try out during December holidays", "will I fit into my bathing suit" or "am we going away or just staying home and enjoy the rest"... Yes we have officially made it to the last quarter of the year and as well as the feeling of "Novemberitis" (read more about this "phenomenon" at the link below).
It is time to tie the knots and pull everything together that we have worked on this weird, but interesting year. I hope that all of you will gather the needed strength and motivation to see this year through and to make the most of the last few days we have to graft.
May you be blessed during this upcoming month, may Novemberitis not get the best of you (read up on the tips below) and may you fit in that bathing suit you wish to wear this festive season...
Below you can read up on the latest blogs on the SADiLaR web:
isiNdebele and Sesotho, Could They Be Sisters?
IsiNdebele and Sesotho are two of the eleven South African official languages. They are distinct and belong to different language clusters within the Niger Congo consortium of languages. IsiNdebele is one of the four Nguni languages: Siswati, isiZulu and isiXhosa. While, Sesotho forms part of the three Sotho languages: Sepedi and Setswana. IsiNdebele and Sesotho are not only from two different ethnic groups but they are also orthographically different.
This blog is about the historical background of Xitsonga lexicography. It displays the various writers who contributed to Xitsonga's lexicography. It also highlights the gaps that still remain in the lexicography of Xitsonga.
On the 20th of August I had the privilege of attending a virtual seminar that was hosted by Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB).
As a language researcher specializing in one of South Africa’s indigenous languages, isiXhosa, I knew and understood the benefits of such a webinar. The webinar was focused at encouraging and motivating women to continue to write stories in their mother tongue. It is not secret that the use of our indigenous languages is one that is very limited in South Africa. Therefore, a webinar of this calibre not only promotes the importance of writing, but it also promoted the use of our indigenous South African languages.
Prof Menno van Zaanen initiated the first of many DH colloquiums, that took place on 21 October 2020. The speaker of the event was Martin Bekker of the University of Johannesburg, Computational Social Science. The topic that he discussed was "Everything I knew about protests was wrong". If you missed out on the event. Here is the link to the presentation material and also the video below: https://www.sadilar.org/index.php/en/news/events/dh-colloquiums
Articles published
Congratulations to Rooweither Mabuya, Dimakatso Mathe, Mmasibidi Setaka and Menno van Zaanen on the publication of their article "Digitizing Humanities in South Africa". Such a well written article and very well polished! Read the article at the link below:
Join in the second DH colloquium hosted by SADiLaR. This session will take place on 18 November 2020. The speaker for the second colloquium is Ayodele James Akinola. To register click on the link below.
