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UKZN Press invites you to a lecture, jointly hosted by the Royal Society of South Africa.
 Title:
 "Zulu Bird Names and Bird Lore: the world of birds, the Zulu language and the cultural beliefs of the Zulu people"
by 
Adrian Koopman,  Emeritus Professor of Zulu Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal
 

Date: Thursday, 1 August 2019
Time: 5.45 pm
Venue: John Bews Lecture Theatre,
Life Sciences Campus, Pietermaritzburg.
 
 
Adrian Koopman, an Emeritus Professor of Zulu Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, taught Zulu language, linguistics and literature for 37 years before his retirement in 2012. His research interests have long been in onomastics (names, naming and naming systems) as is reflected in his books Zulu Names (2002) and Zulu Plant Names (2015). His latest book, Zulu Bird Names and Bird Lore, just published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, focuses on the way Zulu bird names reveal the dynamics between birds in the natural world, the Zulu language and the cultural beliefs of the Zulu people.
 
Prof. Koopman’s lecture will explain different aspects of the system involved in bestowing Zulu avian nomenclature; how ‘Names and Identity’ differ in western Linnaean-based taxonomy of birds (family, genus, species, for example) compared to the non-Linnaean ‘folk taxonomy’ of the Zulu. Another aspect of difference is the way in which Zulu bird names reflect the appearance, calls, diet and other aspects of birds. Professor Koopman’s many years of research on Zulu oral poetry have revealed the important role of birds in extolling the praises of kings, chiefs, clans and individuals. The role of birds in traditional Zulu proverbs and riddles is also discussed. The reference to ‘bird lore’ in the title refers to traditional Zulu cultural beliefs about birds, such as their roles as portents of ill fate, bad or good omens, harbingers of the seasons, or as the subject of taboos. The Yellow-billed Kite, for example, is described in bird lore as a ‘tooth-fairy’.
 
The lecture ends with a look at the Zulu bird name workshops held annually between 2013 and 2018, where Zulu-speaking bird experts, most working as professional bird guides, came together and discussed the coining of new names for the roughly two-thirds of the KwaZulu-Natal species of birds that previously had no species-specific names. These ‘newly-minted’ names provide a perfect foil for the older, previously recorded bird names and the traditional beliefs associated with them.
 
The topics covered in the talk are captured in more depth in the book Zulu Bird Names and Bird Lore which will be offered for sale at a special price of R300 (RRP: R365) by UKZN Press.
 
All are welcome. Please support this interesting lecture! Light refreshments will be supplied.
 
Enquiries:  Dr Edith Elliott – 082 415 9435 or 033 260 5435 or Adele Branch (UKZN Press) – 033 260 5255 or 083 235 2412

 

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