The Xitsonga murmured speech sounds and their representations in the Xitsonga orthography

Abstract

Orthographic symbols of languages represent specific speech sounds with their specific phonetic qualities. This research aimed at analysing orthographic representations of murmured speech sounds in the Xitsonga orthography. The qualitative approach was employed to examine the production of murmured speech sounds and their orthographic representations in Xitsonga. The analysis was based on data collected from interviews with speakers of the Xitsonga language, Xitsonga educators and lecturers who are themselves Xitsonga-speaking, Xitsonga authors and Xitsonga subject specialists, and also from existing literature by Xitsonga authors and language scholars. The study made recommendations that will help the development and revitalisation of the Xitsonga language and also benefit the speakers of the language as well as scholars and linguists.