Structural and philosophical aspects in isiNdebele retronym derivation

Abstract

This article seeks to analyse the philosophical and structural aspects behind retro naming in isiNdebele. Retronymy becomes part of derivational morphology because nouns are derived by combining different parts of speech. This process is a major contributor to isiNdebele lexical expansion. The process enables the language to accommodate new concepts as it is influenced by other cultures and technology. Retronyms are derived following certain morphological rules in isiNdebele; these rules are the interest of this article together with the philosophy that guides retro naming. Retro naming is an area in isiNdebele morphology that has not had much attention from linguists compared to other derivatives, such as de-verbative nouns, yet retronyms form a greater part of the isiNdebele lexicon today. IsiNdebele now operates in a global village where many cultures meet and mix. This creates a situation in which many concepts are borrowed from other cultures and from technology; most of these are retro named. The tendency is to name and differentiate simultaneously. That is to say a new concept is named using a known concept in the language while at the same time it is differentiated from the known concept.

South African Journal of African Languages 2012, 32(2): 153–160