Zambezia (1999), XXVI (i).TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTICAPPROACHPEDZISAI MASHIRIDepartment of African Languages and Literature, University of ZimbabweAbstractTerms of address in Shona derive from a multiplicity of sources, bothmodern and traditional. Proper names, nicknames, titles, pronouns andprefixes are commonly used. Emphasis is on the discussion of the type ofnames the Shona Utilize, the contexts in which they are applied, theirsemantics and the circumstances that motivate their creation. The speakerand the addressee's relationship, cognitive, historical and ideological reality,determine the choice of names and other address variants. The choices alsoreflect very broad categories of social meaning. Address forms can, therefore,be screens upon which the Shona project their attitudes towards differentaspects of their life. The author shows that the use of address forms andcultural values are closely interrelated. This article gives a socio-linguisticaccount of the synchronic patterns and diachronic change in address terms.Shifts over time in addressing patterns may provide a powerful indicator ofprofound societal shifts.INTRODUCTIONTHE MOTIVATION TO do this article is the awareness of the increasingintercultural contact in Africa and the world in general. In Zimbabwethere is an ever increasing contact between the Shona and expatriateworkers and specialists, development officers, and investors from allover the world. Ignorance of the correct addressing practices often leadsto embarrassment of those who are not native speakers of Shona. In thisarticle, terms of address refer to proper names, nicknames, titles,pronouns, prefixes and other referent terms with semantic significance.An understanding of Shona names and other forms of address, theirorigins and context in which they are used create an awareness of theidentity and the sociolinguistic history of the Shona. I argue that thenaming and addressing practices are dynamic and they reflect linguistic,political and cultural changes and the changes and continuities in theway human relationships and identities are perceived and the factorsthat determine them.Contemporary sociolinguistics is concerned with establishing theconnection between language and culture. A study of forms of address9394 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHmay be a reliable way of establishing this connection. Many people areaddressed and referred to by their ordinary personal names, nicknamesand other special names. Of concern to this study are the linguistic andcultural variables embodied in the Shona naming and addressing practices.The study of names and other terms of address and shifts in them isimportant because language has certain well-defined functions for thepeople who create and use it. Shifts over time in the naming and addressingpatterns may provide a very powerful indicator of profound social shifts.The language used normally co-varies with speech situations and thespeakers' linguistic performance is governed by their communicativecompetence in that it takes cognisance of extralinguistic factors.Knowledge of the latter enable language users to deploy appropriateexpressions as determined by the situations. Consequently, the messageframed by the speakers is not only meaningful, grammatical andstylistically appropriate, but it is well formulated in terms of the socialstructures and the social categories that regulate a given speechcommunity (McGivney, 1993, 19).Traditional and modern social relations are generally of two broadtypes, namely 'respect' and 'joking'. Both relationships are based onkinship: blood and social. Certain behavioural and linguistic patterns areexpected of, and between given individuals. This article tackles twotasks. One is the exposition of the social grammar of Shona that is used tocreate, re-create, maintain and transform social relations and attitudes.The other is to demonstrate that every language and culture has morecomplex linguistic devices for expressing social phenomena than whatBrown and Gilman (1960/72) proposed for the Indo-European languages.Using a variety of methods, Brown and Gilman investigated second-person usage in French, German, Italian and Spanish. They argued thatthe use of the pronoun was determined by semantics, which they calledpower and solidarity. The power semantic is nonreciprocal in the sensethat two people cannot have power over one another in the same domainat the same time. The more powerful of the two receives a V (from theLatin vou) for formality or respect and gives the less powerful person T(from the Latin tu). It is assumed that parents have power over theirchildren, employers over employees and the old over the young, amongothers. There are instances where there is common ground betweenpeople. The people may share some common experience, may be intimateto each other, and may be of the same profession or in any otherrelationship that does not define them in terms of power. This is wherethe solidarity semantic applies. In Shona, not only pronouns but alsoother sets such as names or nouns and nominal morphemes are used.Besides power and solidarity, these terms are conduits of communicatinggroup values and expectations, individual beliefs, fears, hopes, feelingsP. MASHIRI 95and attitudes towards others, the community, ancestral spirits, fate andthe heavens.FIRST NAMESPeers, in particular age-groups, among children, adolescents and adultsin a reciprocal pattern, use first names. Among peers in informal situations,first names are used in alternation with nicknames, names of endearmentand pet names. When people become very good friends, the exclusive,mutual use of first name no longer seems enough to symbolise thefriendship (Fasold, 1990, 10). In this case, they address each other usingmultiple names: sometimes using first name or last name, sometimesusing totems or praise names or nicknames. These multiple names areused in free variation. Friends of the younger generation may use theslang version of their first names to show solidarity. For example, Faraiwould be addressed as Fatso and Peter as Pets, among others.In Shona society, the nonreciprocal use of first name is determinedby age, social and occupational status, kinship and attitudes. Parentsaddress their young children using their first names. Usage is oftenunderpinned by naming conventions: thus a son or a daughter namedafter a grandparent could be addressed semijocularly as baba 'father'and amai 'mother' respectively by their own father. One speaker, a man,recounted that his parents addressed him as mudhara 'old man' as a wayof expressing intimacy. Parents and their adult children normally exchangeplural forms of address. A shift can occur when a parent wants to expressanger or reproof. He will withdraw to first name, even in the presence ofthe addressee's own children. This licence is, however one-sided. Even ifthe child is angry he/she will never use the parent's first name. Both intraditional and in modern society, children may only use their parent(s)'first name when referring to them positively or negatively.In terms of attitudes, short-term switching can occur, for example,between husband and wife who normally use reciprocal plural orreciprocal singular. A shift from reciprocal plural to singular may occurwhen there is tension between them. As McGivney (1993, 31) points out,respect and conflict are incompatible. Tripp (1972, 236) observes that'When there is agreement about the normal address form to alters ofspecified statuses, then any deviation is a message.' The wife or husbandreverts to the singular pronouns and subject concords and first name inorder to sound off at the other more effectively. When the issue thatcaused the trouble is resolved, they return to the form of address thatthey normally use. A shift may also occur in an institutionalisedrelationship. For example, normally there would be an asymmetricalrelationship between a manager and his secretary. But when they start96 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHdating and eventually become intimate, they will start addressing eachother with first name, perhaps in secret to start with. Shift in this case isinterpreted as changing the listener's perceived identity or relation tothe speaker.In the family domain, kin terms are used as a form of title. Becausethere are often several members of each kin category, the title is usedtogether with first name in direct address or in reference. Sometimes, thetitle is used with the addressee's first or last child's name. The followingexamples illustrate this: babamunini Mateu 'uncle Mateu', sekuru Garaji'uncle Garaji', tete Rusiya 'aunt Rusiya', and mainini Mebho 'aunt Mebho',or amainini maiChenai 'aunt mother of Chenai', tete maiChido 'aunt motherof Chido', and sekuru baba aTonderai 'uncle father of Tonderai'. It is alsonot uncommon to hear children addressing or referring to neighbourswith their first names prefixed with an honorific marker. For example,VaRunesu, VaRazaro although the honorific marker is normally prefixedto the addressee's second name.Of interest here is the impact of Western Christianity and colonialismon Zimbabwe's political and cultural systems. Predictably, there werechanges in the Shona naming and addressing practices. From the 1930sto the 1970s it was obligatory for Blacks to drop their traditional namesand accept biblical names on baptism. There were two reasons fordropping traditional names: the White missionaries and employers haddifficulty in pronouncing Shona names and it was believed that an Englishor Christian name symbolised salvation. These attitudes, among otherthings, inculcated a sense of inferiority in Africans. People either retainedtheir traditional domestic names in secret while officially, at school, workor church they used English names or dropped their Shona namescompletely if they felt embarrassed by them. There were other namesthat aroused laughter in class when they were called out. Examples ofthese names are Tofirei 'what do we die for', Togarepi 'where shall we livenow', and Mandirunga 'you have made me suffer', among others. While tothe new converts such names were a source of stigma and to themissionaries, symbols of damnation, to the Shona, these names werevehicles of socio-cultural communication.The Shona used names as forms of address in varied situations andinstitutions such as in polygamous families or in extended families wherethere is jealousy, suspicion and rivalry (Pongweni, 1983, 34) and couldrefer to hostile neighbours or a community or to the ancestors or heavens.Dogs' names are also used to communicate the owners' discontent or asa response to some criticism directed against their owner by members ofthe family or community. The situation has changed now. Children canbe baptised without the 'insistence that they be given "White" names(Kumalo, 1992, 346). Pongweni's (1983, 2) observation that 'with the wideP. MASHIRI 97political conscientisation of the masses, Christian names were rejected infavour of Shona names' is not entirely accurate. The implication of thisstatement is that only English names are Christian names and that allShona names are culture-bound. But many people adopted Shona wordstranslated from English concepts to convey Christian ideas: Tsitsi 'mercy',Ropafadzo 'blesssings', Chipo 'gift', among others. Some common Shonanames are also inflected to convey Christian sentiments. Some of thenames are used in their long form and others are contracted. The followingare some of the more popular ones: Tinashe 'The Lord is with us', Tapiwa/Tapiwanashe, 'The Lord blessed us' Tendai/Tendaishe 'Give thanks toGod', Tsitsi/Tsitsidzashe 'Mercy/Lord's mercy', Ngoni/Ngonidzashe 'Grace/Lord's grace' and Kudzai/Kudzaishe 'Revere the Lord'.Colonial capitalism brought with it the culture of master-servantrelations. 'The asymmetrical use of names and terms of address is often aclear indicator of a power differential' (Wardhaugh 1998, 265). For a longtime in Zimbabwe, Whites used naming and addressing practices to putBlacks in their place. Hence the arbitrary and odious use of 'boy', 'nanny','girl', 'kaffir', among others, to address Blacks. The asymmetrical use ofnames was also part of the system. Whites addressed Blacks by their firstnames in situations that required them to use titles, or titles and lastnames, if they were addressing Whites. There was a clear racial distinctionin the practice. The origin of the distinction was British paternalism.Parker (1960, 83) records, in the raging debate among Rhodesians on thenature of education suitable for Africans in 1927, one member of thedepartment of African Education said, 'the native is a child, with thehabits of a child, and if he is to progress it must be slowly'. The use ofasymmetrical address terms and names by the Whites also reflectedcolonial stereotypes of Africans as lazy, irresponsible and inefficient.In modern society the term 'boy' has been adopted and adapted intoShona as Mubhoyi. This name and its plural form Mabhoyi are often usedby the Black elite who perceive themselves as anglicised to derogatorilyrefer to those that they see as conservative, traditional, irresponsible,and unreliable Black folks. Although the term 'nanny' is still being usedby some racist White employers, among Black domestic employers theShona version of 'Girl', Musikana or its possessive form musikana webasaor Sisi (the corrupted version of 'sister') have taken its place.In the commercial farms, some Afrikaner employers were bitterlydisposed to Africans and they derisively called them 'kaffirs1 and or'bhobhojani'. The use of these terms shows that the Whiteman's languagecontained 'a series of calculated insults directed at those who are notmembers of his ethnic or racial community' (Awoonor, 1975, 348). TheBlacks secretly referred to the Afrikaner farmers as mabhunu (Boers) butaddressed them as bhasa (Boss), for the elderly man, pikinini bhasa98 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACH(Little boss), for the son and madhamu or misisi (Madam/Mrs), for theboss's wife'. The name Bhunu later acquired some positive semanticextension to refer to a strict, prompt and unwavering personality. Butduring the war of liberation it was used to refer to any racist Whiteperson. Similarly, the title 'madam' may be used to address lady teachers,or any lady who looks polished in any way.NICKNAMESMembers of society give a nickname (zita remadunhurirwd) to theindividual. The name is usually descriptive, summing up the individual'scharacter, physical shape and idiosyncrasies (Kahari, 1990, 283). WhileKahari's conception is concise, it leaves out two important attributes of anickname that pertain to Shona society. Kahari's definition implies thatnicknames are given to men alone and that they always have to be givenby members of the community. In Shona, like in Ndebele and othercommunities in Southern Africa, nicknames are given to both men andwomen and individuals can also adopt nicknames for themselves. Onemay have been impressed by a character and may decide to adopt thename of that character as a nickname. The self-selected nickname isalways positive and has overtones of self-praising and bragging. Sometimesthe imposed nickname may become more established than the oneadopted for oneself. There is a tendency for the addressee to resist theimposed nickname, thus indirectly encouraging peers or members of thecommunity to use the name more frequently.Imposed nicknames are of three types. They can be positive, negativeand descriptive. Morphologically, the names in the three categories areeither compounds or derivatives. Nicknames are only used to addressthe addressees directly by friends or acquaintances. The other membersof the society may only refer to the names in secret.Positive NicknamesNicknames appear as metaphorical descriptions of members of acommunity. A positive nickname can be a symbol of endearment andcherished values. At community and national levels such names aregiven to leaders and/or to individuals who distinguish themselves inactivities of communal or national significance. A fair and impartial chiefor head of a household can be addressed as Maenzanise 'the fair one' anda particularly quiet or humble person can be addressed as Chinyerere'the quiet/polite one'. National leaders can be given pet names. In the1950s when Joshua Nkomo was a trade union leader and then from theearly 1960s to independence a prominent nationalist leader in Zimbabwe,those who supported him addressed him as 'Father Zimbabwe' or MudharaP. MASHIRI 99(Old man) (uMdala, in Ndebele) to register their admiration of hisleadership. These names also symbolised Nkomo's stewardship in thearmed struggle of Zimbabwe. It is also common, however, for members ofany political party or organisation, subordinates or young people toaddress a male leader or an adult male whom they perceive as guardianas Mudhara or Mudhara and last name to show respect and reverence.There is also widespread use of Mudhara in conjunction with first or lastnames as polite forms not only between intimates but also to mark socialdistinction between non-intimates.In the 1979 general elections there was a strong contest betweenZANU PF and PF ZAPU. The party symbol for the former was a cock(jongwe) and that of the latter, a bull, handira. When ZANU PF won theelections by a wide margin, defeating PF ZAPU in the process, from thenon, Mugabe became affectionately known and addressed as Jongwe andKarigamombe (one who defeats the bull) by his supporters. In fact,Karigamombe is Mugabe's actual name that came to the fore atindependence but it is widely used as a pet name.Imposed nicknames are also common in sport, particularly soccer,which has the largest following in Zimbabwe. Mpondi (Interview, February1998) observes that soccer nicknames are given by either the addressee'steam-mates, or by the fans. The names may be derived from the playingstyle of the player, a foreign player whose style is approximated by thatof the addressee, the player's totem or clan praise name. Pongweni (1983,20) points out that traditionally prowess in hunting and distinction infarming or good manners earned one a name. The names alluded to ordescribed the various episodes in which their bearers distinguishedthemselves or the way they distinguished themselves. Most of the soccernames have the same function as these prowess-related names. Most ofthese nicknames are used and popularised by the team-mates, the fansand the soccer commentators as they recite them during appropriateoccasions. Because the name generally celebrates the addressee'sdexterity and talent, he readily accepts it and the use of that namemotivates him to display exceptional skill. The following are examples ofsome of the current popular soccer players in the country and theirnicknames:(a) Examples of those that are named from their playing style:Š Moses Chunga 'Razorman' (i.e. one who dribbles swiftly and scores).Š Ephraim Chawanda 'Rock of Gibraltar' (i.e. a steadfast defender).Š Peter Ndlovu 'Nsunkuzonke' (i.e. one who is always in form).(b)Examples of those whose nicknames are from their totems or clanpraise names:Š Stanley Ndunduma 'Sinyo' (i.e. short form of Sinyoro of the Hearttotem).100 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHŠ Sunday Marimo 'Mhofu' (i.e. of the eland totem).(c) Examples of those that are named from foreign players or personalities:Š Benjamin Nkonjera ' Mackanacky' (i.e. a Cameroon player of thesame stature and vigour).Š Alois Bunjira 'Zola' (i.e. plays like the Italian player GianfrancoZola).Š Joel Shambo 'Mwalimu' (KiSwahili word for teacher used to refer tothe former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere Š i.e. an exemplaryplayer).There are some players, however, whose nicknames are derivedfrom their professions, for example, Tauya Murehwa, nicknamed 'Doctor'because he is a medical doctor and he, incidentally plays 'with clinicalprecision' (Mpondi, Interview, February 1998).Negative NicknamesImposed negative nicknames are generally used for expressingdisapproval, deriding, and insulting the addressee in order to discouragehim/her from certain forms of behaviour. If a community intends to showits discontent with the character of a person in power and/or authority, itimposes a nickname on him/her. Community here refers to variedinstitutions such as the family, school, work place, club, organisation andthe nation. Since the nickname has a commentary function and mayupset the addressee, the community uses the name to refer to him/her insecret. The addressee may or may not know his/her nickname. Nicknamesimposed on children by their peers or adults may be used to addressthem directly.Morphologically, there are two types of imposed nicknames: thosethat are coined from the character of the addressee and those that aretaken from names of known people or media/literary characters whosebehaviour resemble that of the addressee.CoinagesIn traditional Shona society most of the nicknames were highly descriptiveand imaginative. Examples of coined names, which depict certainbehavioural patterns and that appear as corded messages are:Mushambanegore 'literally One who bathes once a year Š i.e. someonewho does not bathe regularly'.Zifuridzo or Zimwaya 'a habitual liar'Gora 'literally A vulture Š i.e. an opportunist'Marujata 'a quarrelsome woman'Because of the nature of the job. one can safely say that everyschoolteacher in Zimbabwe has a nickname. Teachers are given nicknamesby pupils or students from repeated use of certain words or terminology,P. MASHIRI 101from marked pronunciation, dressing, certain mannerisms and/or fromphysical appearance. Sometimes a teacher's nickname becomes a codeof reference on issues that pertain to the teacher among the students andit is also a way for the students to reinforce their solidarity. Nicknamescan be hierarchical. While students give their teachers nicknames, theteachers themselves may give the headmaster/mistress a nickname and agroup of heads may also give an Education Officer a nickname, and so on.Children are given nicknames by their peers or by adults. The namesmay be coined from the children's character or may be adopted fromnames of certain members of the community whose characters resemblethose of the children, or from television or literary characters. Unlike theadults, children can easily be addressed by their nicknames as a way ofcommunicating certain messages to them. There was a time when Shonaparents generally believed that left-handedness was a form of disabilityand that it should be discouraged. Children who were left-handed werenicknamed Chiboshwe 'the left-handed one'. In modern society, thisidiosyncrasy is however, construed as positive and is a sign of intelligence.There are certain tendencies that children are expected to grow awayfrom by the age of four. Examples of these tendencies are wetting theirpants and blankets and shrieking for assistance at the slightest scratchby peers. Those children in the first category are nicknamed Ziwozhe andthose in the second are called Mazhambe. When the children are addressedby these names they feel stigmatised and then make an effort to change.Some nicknames may refer to the physical characteristics of theaddressee. These names are negative in that they denigrate the addresseeby pointing to his/her visible physical handicap or distinctive stature.The Shona speech community considers such forms of address insulting.These forms of address may be used only in the absence of the personreferred to. He/she may be aware of what he/she is called, but as long asit is said during his/her absence, he/she takes no offence. While adultsmay use such nicknames directly but more sparingly, children can usethe nicknames on their peers with a deliberate intent to insult them.Among children, the use of unpleasant and insulting nicknames mayresult in a fight. Examples of such names derived from physical handicapare: Kondo 'literary Hammerkop, for one-eyed person', Chikabi 'one wholimps', Musorodamba or Musorobhangu 'one with a big head', Chegotsi'one with a protruding occipital bone', Chiokomhende 'one with a twistedarm', Bofu 'the blind one'.Those names that refer to the addressee's distinctive stature areeither adoptives or coinages. Examples of adoptives are Toro 'the tallone', Shoti 'the short one' and those of coinages are Pedyonevhu 'theshort one, i.e. one who is close to the soil', Chinwata 'the short and fatone'. There are some nicknames that are gender specific. Nicknames102 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHsuch as Mandebvu 'the bearded one', Zuda 'the bald-headed' andNyamhanza 'the bald-headed one/one with a bald forehead' are used formen only and those like Dairyboard 'one with big breasts that will producea lot of milk' are used for women only. Usually, it is the men who addresswomen as 'Dairyboard' and not women addressing or referring to eachother as such. It seems that a nickname such as this for example isderogatory to modern girls and young women, especially if its use isassociated with beauty but to mothers it may be an accolade and anacknowledgement of fertility and motherhood.ENDEARMENT NAMESEndearment names imply intimacy. Friends and sweethearts use them inaddressing each other, as do parents and their children, and thecommunity generally when addressing/referring to their leaders.Sometimes it is difficult to draw a line between endearment names andnicknames because endearment can be marked in nicknames as shall beillustrated later in this section. When used by the community, endearmentnames can become pet names.Like in Zulu and Ndebele, in Shona parents can address their childrenusing endearment names. The intimacy is marked either by tone or bythe contraction of the names. Friends and sweethearts can do the same.The following are examples of contractions that show endearment:Full Name Contracted NameMandivavarira MandiTandiwe TandiTichaona Tich(a)Samuel SamMuchaneta MuchaMazviwanza MazviChengetai Chengi(e)There is no universal preference for the contracted form. It dependson the addresser and the sentiments implied by the contraction.Sometimes the contracted form becomes regularised and the originalform may not be readily understood from the shortened name. A namecan be contracted in several ways. For example, only the first letter [C-],the first syllable [CV(C>], or the last part [-CV(C)] of the name may beused to demonstrate endearment. The names Tadiwa and Tapiwa, forexample, may be shortened in any of the following ways: Tadiwa can becontracted by different speakers as: 'T', 'Ta' or 'Tadi' and Tapiwa can beP. MASHIRI 103shortened as: T\ Ta\ Tapi' or 'Piwi'. The shortened names are commonlypronounced with a perceptually lenis voice quality. Both male and femalenames can be shortened this way. The significance of the nickname doesnot lie, however, in the statement of this phonological shortening. Mashuta(1997, 32) observes that 'shortened forms are often less formal than thelonger sources from which they are derived and thus they can convey acasual attitude' toward the addressee. Sometimes slang forms of theshortened names can be used as address names. Mashuta (1997, 2) alsoobserves that 'language choices convey information about the socialrelationship between people as well as the topic of discussion'. Hence theuse of slang forms of the shortened names such as 'Pets' for Peter, 'Gidza'for Gilbert, and 'Fatso' for Farai or Francis, reflects solidarity andacquaintance of the addressee and their addressers.Modern children address their parents as 'Dad' and 'Mama' insteadof Baba and Amai, to show intimacy and sometimes to patronise them ifthere is something they want done for them. It is important to note thatparents can also address their children as Baba or Amai in place of theirfirst names. Brown (1965, 217-232), cited in Markova (1978), states that'such changes in forms of address are likely to be a consequence not ofan altered role relationship but as a changed personal one'. The rolerelationship will continue to be that of child-parent, but the shift occursbecause the impersonal attitudes have become more mutual. The termsBaba and Amai are also used to address or to refer to certain respectablemembers of the community such as pastors, church elders, councillors,chiefs and their spouses either to express endearment or respect.ADOPTIVESA very common consequence of contact between Shona and English islexical borrowing. Examples of such borrowings are abounding in addressforms. Among the educated, it is common to use titles either in theiroriginal English form or their Shonalised versions. Examples of thesetitles are 'Misi', 'Misisi', 'Mista', 'Dr', and 'Professor'. Some individualsinsist that they are addressed as such and they feel insulted by beingreferred to without the title or by the use of the wrong title. In someZimbabwean churches English names such as Brother +/-First Name/LastName and Sister +/- First Name/Last Name are reciprocated to expressbrethren equality. A foreign anthropologist or linguist would be mistakenif, having heard Christians calling one another 'Brother' and/or 'Sister"and concluded that the words did not have a basic genealogical role.These terms are used in extended ways, as was pointed out earlier,because of the analogies between how blood brothers and sisters treateach other, and how Christians interact.104 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHThe preceding analogy proves that for address and kinship terms, asfor the majority of other words, a term may have 'a primary sense Š andvarious extended senses (Lounsbury cited in Cooper, 1973, 112). Like inmany societies, in Shona, the primary role of certain terms is to expressvarious blood-ties. However, it is often the case that these words aregiven secondary, analogical extensions.It is common for the elderly people to proudly refer to or addresstheir educated children or relations with their professional titles such as;Ticha 'teacher', Nesi 'nurse', Dhokota/Chiremba 'doctor', Dhiraivha 'driver',Mabharani 'clerk', Musoja 'soldier', Mufundisi 'pastor', Mudhomeni'Agricultural demonstrator' and Mudhibhisi 'dip attendant', among others.This form of address celebrates the professional achievement of theaddressee. Initially, the addressee feels rather offended and embarrassedby being addressed as such, especially in public but eventually getsaccustomed to it. The community may use professional titles as addressnames in a derogatory manner if the addressee's form of employment isconsidered demeaning. Examples of such terms are Mahobho 'Nightwatchman', Gadheni bhoyi 'gardener' and Messenger.In status-marked situations, members may be addressed by theirdesignations for their period of office or sometimes, afterwards. It is notuncommon to hear people being addressed by title alone as: 'Chairman','Secretary', 'Treasurer', 'Dean', 'Bishop', 'Deacon', 'MP' (for Member ofParliament), 'Ambassador', Sabhuku 'headman', Chipangamazano 'advisor',among others. Sometimes title plus Last Name may be used: DeanChakwesha, Sabhuku Chihaka, and Ambassador Matura. This form ofaddress, when used during the addressee's term of office implies reverenceof the position that the person holds. But if used when the addressee nolonger holds that office, it may be a celebration of the good work that theaddressee did during his/her term of office or may be an ironiccommentary either on someone who holds on to a positionunconstitutionally, or someone who demands recognition associated witha designation that he/she no longer holds.THE WAR OF LIBERATIONPongweni (1983) gave a comprehensive analysis of war names, theirorigins, function and meanings. Pongweni however, limits himself to theformer guerrillas' metaphorical personal names. The derived names, petnames and nicknames that were used between the guerrillas and thepeasants to refer to each other and those that were used by the guerrillasand the regime to refer to each other were left out completely. These areour main concern because these terms of address reveal the speakers'attitudes to, and their expectations and relationships with the addresseesand their different roles in the war.P. MASHIRI 105In addition to the use of the enigmatic and cryptic war names thatPongweni refers to, the guerrillas addressed and referred to one anotheras 'comrade'. 'Comrade' means 'a person who shares closely in theactivities, occupation or interest of another' (Stein, 1988, 277). TheZimbabwe nationalist parties took up this term from the Maoist Socialistideology that they adopted from the Eastern European countries thatsupported the armed struggle. The term was used symmetrically not onlyto express the guerrillas' ideological orientation, but also to imply equalityand companionship in the struggle for independence. Today, when theterm 'comrade' is exchanged among members of the ruling party, ZANUPF, it simply means party cadre, whether or not one participated in thewar of liberation in one way or the other. After independence, the rulingparty promoted the use of 'comrade' to replace the titles and honorifictitles, such as 'mister'. The party wanted to put everyone on an equalfooting through encouraging the use of an address form that implies nosocial or economic differences and unites all politically. The use of theword as a form of address was clearly associated with socialistcommitment. The Press, caught up in the independence euphoria, tendedto use the term loosely to refer to any Zimbabwean. However, manyZimbabweans still prefer the use of a title to the use of 'comrade' especiallynow that the ruling party abandoned Socialism and the use of the termhas become anachronistic.During the war, the use of the term 'comrade' between the peasantsand the guerrillas was asymmetrical. While the peasants addressed theguerrillas as macomrade 'comrades' or vanamukoma 'literally Brothers,comrades', the guerrillas used vabereki 'parents' for the adults andchimbwido 'errand girl' and mujibha 'errand boy' for the young girls andboys respectively. The terms vabereki, chimbwido and mujibha definedthe addressees' supportive roles in the armed struggle and 'comrade'associated the guerrillas with power, symbolised by their commitment,self-sacrifice, and the guns that they carried around. While the term'comrade' acquired extended meanings and continued to be used as anaddress noun after independence to express varied forms ofcompanionship, especially among the political elite, the terms chimbwidoand mujibha diminished in use because they became tags of antiheroism.During the war, patriotism was obligatorily expected of the peasants.Anyone who was alleged or suspected of supporting the regime waslabelled mutengesi 'a sell-out' and was either heavily punished or killedby the guerrillas.SEMANTIC EXTENSIONSIndustrialisation and urbanisation and the accompanying growth of tradecentres and increased mobility brought together Shona speakers who are106 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHunknown to each other and from different families, clans and regions.People devised strategies for getting around uncertainty about properaddress forms. Some words with already established meanings acquirenew senses when they are used between men and women and betweenmen alone. It is common in several work places and homes that the menwho do odd jobs are older men, usually much older than their bosses.Unlike the Whites, most Blacks feel reluctant to address people who areold enough to be friends of their parents by their first name. Names suchas Sekuru 'uncle/grandfather' can be used to resolve this conflict. Awoman and a man who have met for the first time and do not know howto relate to each other may address each other as Mukuwasha 'son-in-law'and Ambuya 'mother-in-law' respectively. These names or titles are seenas a way of establishing a regulatory social distance between the womanand the man although an intimate relationship may develop betweenthem later. Two male strangers or acquaintances who have not yetestablished a form of relationship between them may address each otheras Tsano 'literally Brother-in-law'. The terms sahwira 'ritual friend', mukadziwangu 'my wife', shamwari 'friend', uncle and aunt, among others, arealso used for marking out and expressing of social relationships. Theseexamples emphasise the point on words having both central and extendedreferences, mentioned above.A further look at the use of the terms shamwari and 'uncle' clarifiesthis argument. When shamwari is used to children by parents or anyadult, a command is turned into a request with a persuasive andpatronising effect. In Shona, or Zimbabwe in general, the term 'uncle'does not only mean one's parents' brothers but also friends of the family.Some children are encouraged to call anyone who is their father's friendor acquaintance, uncle. The forms of address that have been discussedhere may be alternated with the addressee's last name if it is known.PRONOUNS OF ADDRESSIn traditional Shona society, all members of the community are, at thelocal level, somehow related through kinship or marriage. All individualscan therefore be located within the 'kin/affine/generation matrices'(McGivney, 1993, 29). Strangers are normally given a plural address form,until some appropriate group membership is established. In othercircumstances where considerable difference in age or the addressee'ssex is pertinent, respectful titles such as those discussed in the sectionimmediately preceding this one above, are used.In Shona, as in other languages (particularly African) both 'respectful'and 'joking' relationships are expressed through pronouns, subjectconcords and other address categories that have been discussed above.P. MASHIRI 107The pronouns referred in this article are as follows:Pronoun Person / Class Subject concordIwe 2nd person singular u- (present/future, wa- (past tense)Imi 2nd person honorific Mu- (present/future), ma- (past tense)Plural pronouns are enjoyed between certain categories of actualand potential relatives. Older children and adolescents use honorificforms to their parents and to members of the kinship group and communityof adjacent generations with their parents. Parents normally return pluralforms to their adult children, particularly married ones. However, onlythe parents have the freedom to shift from the honorific to the singulardepending on their mood of relation to the children. As has already beenmentioned, if a child, no matter how young, is named after a grandparent,that child normally enjoys reciprocal honorific with his/her parentsbecause, 'the identity of the original bearer of the name was, through thepower of the name, mystically transferred to the child through namingafter' (Pongweni, 1983, 13).An example of potential relatives where the speakers exchangedplural forms is that between a man and the consanguines of a girl he iswooing irrespective of their ages. Reciprocal plural is also enjoyed betweenparents-in-laws and children-in-laws and adults of adjacent generations,although the latter can shift to reciprocal singular.Nonreciprocity is determined by the status of the speakers, age (tosome extent), and role relationships. In Shona, age is a very importantvariable. But there are many instances where it is cancelled by rolerelationships. For instance, an old man can ask a young man of his healthusing the honorific and he receives either a honorific also or a singularform, probably because the old man's mother or wife is of the youngman's clan or family. Culturally, one is also expected to use a nonreciprocalhonorific to one's uncle and aunts, though they may be the same age asthe speaker or even younger. Another example is when the speaker'sfather marries another wife who is much younger than him/her. Theyoung wife enjoys a nonreciprocal honorific from the step-son/daughter.If the speaker dislikes the stepmother for some reason, he/she mayaddress her in the singular in private. If the speaker does it in public, he/she may be reprimanded for disrespecting his/her father.In Shona, joking relationships obtain between both adjacent andalternate generations. Radcliffe-Brown, cited in Saches and Blount (1975,237), says that 'joking occurs at tension point in the social structure of asociety, and it serves to maintain an equilibrium between the conjunctive108 TERMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC APPROACHand the disjunctive components of intrasocial relationships'. In Shonathere are three forms of joking relationships: the one associated withtension dissolving proposed by Radcliffe-Brown, institutionalised jokingand joking associated with friendship relationships. One example of thesocial setting where the first type of joking relationship occurs is afuneral ritual ceremony where the ritual family friend sahwira jokes withmembers of the deceased's family accusing them of killing their ownrelative. Although sometimes the jokes may be pointers to the actualcause of the death, its main function is to console the members of thedeceased's family. Institutionalised joking involves a man and his sisters'daughters and their husbands and a man and his mother's brothers'wives, for example. Beside the use of the singular pronoun, this jokingencounter has, of necessity, many of the qualities attributable to dramaand play-acting. Classmates, fellow students, fellow revolutionaries, lovers,and intimate friends enjoy the last type, for instance. These use thesingular pronoun to reinforce group solidarity.Besides personal pronouns, Shona uses third person noun prefixesto express other kinds of relationships or shifts in relationships. Thethird person noun prefixes that are used in Shona are those classes 7(chi-), 8 (zvi-, plur), 11 (rwu-), 12 (ka-), 13 (twu-) and 21 (zi-). These aresecondary commentary prefixes. When used with nouns in secondaryassociation in face-to-face interaction or in reference, 'they carry overtonesof sarcasm, criticism, caricature as they make their implied comment onan item's size or quality' (Fortune, 1981, 36). When a wife is angry withher husband she can shift from the honorific (imi) to the singular formcombined with a secondary prefix as in, Uri zibenzi 'you are a big fool'.The singular and secondary forms are chosen deliberately to expresscontempt. The use of these prefixes is also predominant in insults andname-calling exchanged in informal discourse between peers and peopleof adjacent generations.CONCLUSIONSocio-cultural processes underpinning the naming and addressingprocesses in Shona is a 'natural' topic for sociolinguistics that has yet tobe studied systematically. It is a natural topic in that it combines linguisticphenomena with an underlying social phenomenon related to thesociology of knowledge. Just as knowledge and thought processes occurwithin the framework of a given social milieu, so too the choices thatparents make in naming their children, can be linked to conditions of thesociety (Lieberson, 1983, 77). This article demonstrated that, in Shona,there is a broad variation in naming processes and in terms of addressusage in general. As terms of address, names can be used either alone orP. MASHIRI 109in connection with another term. The choices reflect very broad categoriesof social meaning, including respect, intimacy, praising, 'playful', 'abuse',contempt and patronage, among others. Some sociolinguistic dimensionsto the naming and addressing process have been illustrated, for example,shifts over time in the naming patterns. The changes in the namingpractices reflect the redefinition of the social reality within which namesare given. Parallel to the nuclearisation of the family, urbanisation, thewar of liberation and national independence, is the rise of an indigenousChristian humanism. Church affiliation plays an important role in thesocial life of many people, and this influence is reflected in the namegiving.Like in many communities, the status structure of the Shona societyconsists of symmetrical and asymmetrical relationships and styles ofinteraction. In face-to-face interaction, the continuous creation, re-creationand maintenance of these kinds of relationships is largely achieved verballythrough the choice of nouns and pronouns. We have demonstrated thecorrelation between linguistic practices and social order. The overlap ofsocial conventions and grammatical rules is what accounts for the linkbetween language, mind and society. Every social distinction that ispossible between speakers, the recognition and display of which isnecessary to the smooth development of an encounter, is overtlyexpressed in language choice. Just in learning to speak 'correctly', aShona child should learn the hierarchies of respect and intimacy andlearn where he/she belongs within them. We have also described thesocial phenomenon that is expressed by, and/or correlated with, nouns,pronouns and other devices available to the speakers. Brown and Gilman's(1960) pioneering work is important for its role in opening this wholefield but as this research has shown, it cannot be regarded as a universalsocial 'semantics', but as a local theory of markedness for a narrow rangeof European languages. Brown and Gilman proposed two relational socialcategories: 'direction of power' and 'degree of solidarity'. As we haveseen, the case for Shona is much more complex than this. 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