Expanding Language? Struggles that Characterise the Development of New Words and Meanings on Eswatini’s National Radio

Abstract

The introduction of new concepts/phenomena world-over has impelled journalists working for indigenous language media to come up with equivalents to be disseminated to the general public through radio. The majority of radio listeners are found in rural areas as such they depend on the radio for local and international news. Technological advancement and the outbreak of new diseases compel indigenous language broadcasters to invent new words and phrases in the local language, SiSwati. The coinage of new words has proven a major challenge for indigenous language media to clearly articulate the new concepts in the vernacular. The consumption of South Africa’s media by Swati citizens has often times resulted in some isiZulu words for new phrases and words to be “borrowed” by the local broadcast media in their quest to inform viewers and listeners of new phenomena. The practice of borrowing and bending foreign language is a threat to the existence of the local indigenous language, which, if not curtailed, is a threat to the existence of the local indigenous language, SiSwati. The difficulty in translating and naming the emerging phenomena into locally accessible languages and meaning directly limits people’s access to information, and consequently their right to know and participate in the public sphere is eroded. Further, meanings from media messages are produced within ritualistic encounters between the message and the consumers. For meaningful engagement, the messages have to operate within shared cultural and linguistic maps. The purpose of this article is to ascertain the challenges faced by local broadcasters in coining words explaining “new” phenomena such as the Internet, the World Wide Web, COVID-19, Monkey Pox, climate change and many others. Using semiotics, the article also seeks to explore and understand how the media coins such words in their quest to impart meaning which listeners would comprehend without difficulty. In-depth interviews with editors in local radio station, the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services’ SiSwati channel will be used for data collection.