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.
A Philosophical Analysis of the Nexus between Conceptions of Time and World View: The Ndebele/ Shona Example
The paper is an exploration of time referencing terms in Ndebele. The main thrust is on the nature of time referencing terms. Time on mastics in Ndebele is based upon the speakersâ€™ cognition. The speakersâ€™ experience and interaction with the world are of significant influence in the creation of meaning in Language particularly in the meaning of time naming terms. Time on mastics in Ndebele and in most African societies depend on speakersâ€™ Indigenous knowledge systems. Indigenous knowledge systems of a people are embedded in their language. It is impossible to detach them from the speakersâ€™ language. Their language will always reflect their experiences, thoughts, beliefs, culture and life in general. This paper establishes the idea that language is a product of the speakersâ€™ observation and perception of the world.
Recalculation of Mass Defects
THE well-known mass defect curve of the old nuclear scheme calculated with regard to α-particles and protons presented a difficulty with its minimum of binding energy for tin and an increasing portion between tin and lead. On the other hand, the mass defect values against protons give a rather smoothly decreasing curve.1 As has already been pointed out,2 the number of α-particles must be considerably reduced from the point of view of the new scheme, which does not admit any electrons in nuclei, but only neutrons and protons (presumably joined as α-particles). The curve of mass defect against protons and neutrons (perhaps with a single ‘central’ α-particle) is very similar to the old curve against protons, but decreases less rapidly. Clearly the new mass defect values relatively to α-particles, neutrons and protons must lie somewhere between the old values computed relative to protons and α-particles respectively (because the number of α-particles is decreased). We may emphasise that this new mass defect curve shows no increasing portion between tin and lead. For illustration we give two typical values: Old: 50Sn124 = 31α + 12&#38;epsiv;; mass defect = 0.158 (in mass units); 82Pb208 = 52α + 22&#38;epsiv;; mass defect = 0.035. New: 50Sn124= 25α + 24ω (ω = neutron); mass defect = 0.304; 82Pb208 = 41α + 44ω; mass defect = 0.366.