Chapter 7: Swihlawulekisi swa tinhlamuselo ta swivuriso swa ‘nyoka’ eka Xitsonga

Oral literature is manifested in diverse forms in African languages, including proverbs, which are embedded in discourse. Proverbs use objects, living or non-living, including animals. Among the animals are reptiles such as snakes, which are also varied in terms of types. Xitsonga is one among many languages that use snakes in proverbial expressions. Proverbs are connotative in that, although they may use a snake, their meanings are extended to human beings. Traditionally, proverbs have one or more known or given meanings, which have been handed down generationally from the forbears. However, recently, evidence suggests that proverbs are not only connotative but also, more importantly, metaphorical. This implies that their meanings are open to multiple interpretations. The aim of this chapter is to assess the applicability of Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) in the analysis of proverbs in Xitsonga. In order to realise the plurality of meanings, CMT emphasises that proverbs can be analysed in terms of metaphor. Specifically, this chapter looks at ‘snake’ proverbs, that is, those that are associated with a snake. The study was underpinned by the qualitative research approach, which leads to an in-depth analysis of phenomena. The proverbs were collected from various sources, including Junod (1990), whose work is a collection of proverbs and their meanings in Xitsonga; the author, who is a native speaker of the language; and four academics from the Universities of Limpopo and Venda, Limpopo province, South Africa, who dedicated their time to share their understandings of the proverbs. There appear to be about 30 proverbs on snakes in Xitsonga. Five proverbs were conveniently selected in terms of their popularity in the public domain. Two main findings emerged from the study. The first is that snake proverbs manifest themselves in three forms in Xitsonga: declarative, imperative and conditional proverbs. The study further found that the proverbs are open to multiple interpretations. This is in contrast with the traditional approach, which sees proverbs as semantically closed expressions. Finally, it is recommended that further studies should dwell on proverbs in the rest of African languages for more insight into the workings of CMT as it applies to fixed expressions.