SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS IN A ZULU BEAD COLOR COMMUNICATION-SYSTEM

Zulu beadwork articles are known to carry messages encoded in bead col ours. This is conceivable if colours can be freely arranged, but less so for conventionally prescribed colour sequences. The isishunka colou r convention of the Mchunu people (Natal, South Africa) arranges 7 def ined colours in a fix sequence of 17 positions. This complex syntax le nds itself to testing by formal criteria to what extent such syntactic constraints would enforce series of fixed set phrases. Over 400 beade d items of homogenous origin were analyzed statistically. Within the c onventional syntax several degrees of freedom for the formulation of i ndividual messages exist: Some colours are preferably used or placed o n prominent positions, others frequently avoided. Typical syntax devia tions also exist. Beaded items reveal a preference for ornamental colo ur symmetries, still allowing individual messages. The complex isishun ka convention seems to have been invented for aesthetical rather than communicative reasons.