The socio-cultural and linguistic implications of Zulu names
Names and naming practices reflect the socio-cultural background of any particular society. Names are terms that can refer to any concept or object and naming practices concern the ‘how’ of naming. This article looks into the socio-cultural and linguistic implications of isiZulu names amongst the Zulu people. Socio-cultural implications are the large scale forces within cultures and societies that affect the thoughts and behaviours of individuals in naming practices. These factors are mainly influenced by ethnic values, identity, and family and kinship structures of that particular individual. In this regard, the concept of a name will be interrogated to showcase complexity of meanings in the African context. It will explain and define the term ‘onomastics’ as the science of naming in relation to the African society and naming practices. The article also defines the concept ‘implication’, and examines the cultural and linguistic (inter alia morphological) formations in naming practices and their significance in naming. The arguments about Zulu naming practices which the article raises emanate from a study carried out on naming practices in KwaZulu-Natal in 2000. The significance of the year 2000 is that it was the beginning of the 21st century and hence a strategic time in history to investigate changes in naming practices.
Names as pointers: Zulu personal naming practices
ABSTRACT Children in many African societies have meaningful names – unlike their Western counterparts, whose names are primarily labels. In Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, and many other cultures, namegivers traditionally chose personal names that pointed to a range of people and circumstances that were relevant at the time of the child's birth. These highly individual or unique names were part of particular social frameworks that have long been evolving with Western acculturation. Like the social frameworks within which they are embedded, naming practices are in the process of change. This article investigates change in Zulu naming practices as a reflection of wider social changes. Taking historical accounts as the source of traditional namegiving, an analysis of rural, farm, and urban names shows quantitative and qualitative differences in naming practices. Contemporary names differ significantly from traditional ones, and provide evidence that the world view within which names are given is in the process of redefinition. (Anthropological linguistics, naming, South Africa, Zulu)
The Diminishing Role of Social Work Administrators in Social Service Agencies
ABSTRACT The social service industry in the United States has experienced tremendous growth and change since the early 1970s. Unfortunately, the social work profession has not kept up with this growth and change. This article explores several issues that have emerged in social work administration that may contribute to the seemingly diminished role of social workers in administrative positions in social service agencies. They include the role that schools of social work play in educating social workers for administration, competition for administrative positions in social service agencies, and the differences which exist between administration in social service agencies and other types of organizations.