Abstract:
This research work has several aims, demanded by a number of external and internal factors.
First of all, it aims to identify Lala: whether it is simply a dialect of Tekela- Nguni, or perhaps
the substratum Bantu language spoken in the eastern parts of Southern Africa since the fourth
century of the first millennium A.D. on which every new migratory wave imposed its language
(chapters one and two). The lexical-statistical method has been attempted (chapter three), but
with mixed results. In fact, relexification is widely used in southern African societies, and this
renders the identification of the core vocabulary a very difficult task. The result is that all that
can be said is that Lala indeed shows the characteristics of a Tekela-Nguni language, but it is
impossible to determine at this stage whether Lala is the mother or the daughter of Tekela.
Another important aim, dictated by an earlier research by Wilkes (1981 ), was to compare
the two main branches of Lala, called North and South Lala, to prove whether the differences
between the two dialects are so wide as to justify a division into two separate entities or not.
Here the verdict is emphatically negative. In fact the various stages of the research abundantly
re-affirm the view that Lala is one language, with only marginal differences caused by the
different linguistic environments: Zulu in the north and IsiZansi in the south.
African societies in this part of the world have affirmed themselves in the realm of the
written word only recently, i.e. during the last 150 years or so. The background culture of these
societies is still vigorously oral, and this means that the spoken word is used for much more than
simple communication of thought and feeling. Language is felt as the major binding element in
a society that has seen constant political break-ups, upheavals, migrations, wars, attempted
exterminations. This means that Lala, as a language or the dominant dialect of a group, is
banded about as a cultural-historical flag around which people are proud to gather. This sense
of unity is an emotion, a feeling, rather than a deep reality. The colours of the flag, or the
distinguishing elements of the language, may be fading away, and only a core might be preserved.
But this is quite enough to kindle emotions and to rally people. At least in areas where people are
still proud of their cultural heritage.
hnicity and language should not be the same, but most of the people interviewed (cf
chapter two) felt very strongly that they were Lalas because they spoke Lala; and that they spoke
Lala because they are Lalas. Their either glorious or sad histories are recorded in chapter two
to demonstrate how Shaka's wars, and the Mfecane, forced them to leave their homeland and to
migrate. The trauma of this latest migration is still felt so strongly that it is often superimposed
and confused with the great migrations from Central and Western Africa that took place in
mythological times, or very long ago. But through their histories, they keep alive their memories
and the certainty of the unity of the Lala nation, even though it is now spread from Kranskop to
Harding and IZingolweni.
Chapter four examines the phonetics and phonology of the two Lala dialects in the
context of Swati and Zulu. Lala is a Tekela dialect indeed, but with its own phonetic and
phonological peculiarities. The same can be said with regard to the research exposed in chapter
five, on the morphology of Lala compared to Swati and Zulu. The grammatical system among
the three languages is extremely similar, and there is hardly any substantial difference between
North and South Lala. This can also be said with regard to tonology (chapter six)
The last chapter reflects on what has been achieved. The ancient Lala language, about
which James Stuart stated in the 1920's that it was nearly extinct, is proving very strong and
resilient. Possibly the very dynamism experienced in its ability to adapt to the colonial languages
and the new material culture by assimilating many foreign lexical items, and that South Lala has
adopted many words from IsiZansi, is proof that Lala has got a life of its own that cannot be
taken for granted, nor extinguished.
The more one is able to study the local languages, the more one dusts up some ancient
treasure that needs to be admired and constantly re-valued. The functional word here is
'treasure': because all languages, as carriers of culture, are a treasure that together form the
mosaic of our beautiful "Rainbow Nation".
