The value of indigenous knowledge systems in the development of Zulu medical terminology
Language may be studied not only from a linguistic point of view, but also with regard to extra-linguistic factors such as indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). These systems, broadly speaking, concern the lives, thoughts and culture of the people who speak a particular language. Zulu language development, for instance, can be enhanced by reverting to indigenous knowledge which is imbedded in the language instead of relying solely on linguistic methods of term creation. In this manner the speaker's understanding of newly created terms will also be improved. In this article world view and taboo are two of the indigenous knowledge-related systems applied and exemplified with reference to the development of Zulu medical (technical) terminology. Generally, a person's mother tongue offers him/her a framework for his/her perception of the environment or world (world view). Taboo, on the other hand, is an umbrella term referring to terms that are unsuitable for use in a specific social context.
Growth of the Zulu language and its structural changes
This article does not look into hypothetical forms attributed to a parent or proto-language. It looks into changes of between two or three generations. Too often the assumption is that change in Zulu occurs only in the lexicon or semantic content of words. An attempt is made to show that changes occur in almost all the facets of language, namely, tone, phonology, syntax and the lexicon. Change is viewed as growth rather than as decay. What is regarded as non-standard today, may be regarded as standard form by future generations. The teachers of Zulu of the day ought to approach language change with an open mind because change is the very law of the existence of a language.
Historical and comparative linguistics
In any course of historical and comparative linguistics there will be students of different language backgrounds, different levels of linguistic training, and different theoretical orientation. This textbook attempts to mitigate the problems raised by this heterogeneity in a number of ways. Since it is impossible to treat the language or language family of special interest to every student, the focus of this book is on English in particular and Indo-European languages in general, with Finnish and its closely related languages for contrast. The tenets of different schools of linguistics, and the controversies among them, are treated eclectically and objectively; the examination of language itself plays the leading role in our efforts to ascertain the comparative value of competing theories. This revised edition (1989) of a standard work for comparative linguists offers an added introduction dealing mainly with a semiotic basis of change, a final chapter on aspects of explanation, particularly in historical and human disciplines, and added sections on comparative syntax and on the semiotic status of the comparative method.