A LOGICAL ANALYSIS OF SELECTED TEXTS IN NYANJA

Abstract

In this study, formal and informal principles of logic were applied to selected texts written in Nyanja, an African language spoken primarily in Eastern Zambia. The investi- gation was corpus-based and considered fi ve text types or genres of discourse: everyday conversations, novels, oral narratives, plays, and proverbs. In total, 545 syllogisms were formalized and categorized according to syllogism type. The analysis then identifi ed patterns of logic used within various text types and in the entire dataset. The fi ndings for each genre and for all genres as a collective corpus are discussed in this paper. One of the major conclusions of the study was that humans use an abbreviated system of logic in actual practice. No syllo- gism was found to be used in its entirety, from premises to conclusion. This analysis also found that 80% of free communication or conversation was in the form of conclusions, which are the end products of the syllogism process. In this study, principles of logic were applied in the analysis of selected texts written in Nyanja. Although many studies have used logic in linguistic analysis for more than a century, most have been conducted in European countries; additionally, a few have been undertaken in Asia, specifi cally in China and India. Apart from some studies of African rhetoric, little attempt has been made to apply the principles of logic to African languages. This research thus aimed to contribute to the fi elds of applied logic and semantics in African languages by applying the principles of logic to the analysis of the Nyanja language in Zambia. Although no language or speech community called 'Nyanja' actually exists, the term refers to a language spoken in the Eastern Province of Zambia. The language known as Nyanja, also referred to as 'Cinyânja' or 'Chinyânja,' is Chewa (Ciceŵa), the native language of the Chewa people of Katete District whose Paramount Chief is Gawa Undi. In this paper, 'Nyanja' is used as a synonym of 'Chewa' and does not include the language referred to as 'Nyanja' in the capital city of Lusaka. Some individuals in Lusaka speak a lingua franca form that contains a considerable amount of Chewa vocabulary and is called 'Cinyanja.' Nyanja (Chewa) is also spoken in other districts of Eastern Province, including those adjacent to Katete (Mambwe, Chipata, Petauke, Lundazi, and Chadidza), and in countries bordering Zambia, particularly Malawi and Mozambique. According to Guthrie's (1948) classifi cation of Bantu languages, Nyanja falls under Zone N, which is comprised of four groups (10, 20, 30, and 40). Nyanja is dialect cluster N31 of Group 30 and is comprised of three dialects: Nyanja (N31a), Cewa (N31b), and Manganja (N31c). The Nyanja analyzed in this study