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TALA. (Indian). "Place." In architecture, a tier, especially, one of the tiers of the superstructure over the shrine in a south Indian style temple.

TAPGAT. (Afrikaans). See under MORTICE.

TAPPEN. (Afrikaans). See under TENON.

TEMPORARY SHELTERS. May have been erected for a variety of reasons such as providing overnight shelter to travellers or to house a dying person's final hours.

TENON. Common carpentry used to denote the projection left at the end of a piece of timber which is housed in a socket, or mortise, made to receive it. (Afrikaans: tappen).

TERUGHELLING. (Afrikaans). Also referred to as Skuins. See under BATTER or RAKE.
Thanga. (tshiVenda). The hard reed underlay between the timber roof structure and the thatch cover above.

Thapalego. (sePedi). Ring beam.

THATCH. A roof covering formed of reeds, straw, heath or other materials. (Afrikaans: dekgras or dekriet).

THATCHING GRASS OR REED. Various types of this material are available in the southern African region and often two or more may be employed by the rural thatcher within the same structure. The following are the most popularly used by local thatchers:

Hyparrhenia turta: abounds in the Natal mountain areas.
Hyperphilia dissoluta: northern and eastern Transvaal.
Thamnochortus insignis, also known as Dekriet or Cape Thatching Reed: found in the Albertinia and Riversdale districts of the Cape.
Hyparrhenia dregeana: Natal midlands and mountain areas.
Hyparrhenia filipendula: coastal regions of Zululand.
Thamnochortus erectus and Thamnochortus specigerus, the latter is also known as Dekriet: Cape coastal regions.
Chondropetalum tectorum: widespread in the Cape region.
Phragmites australis, also known as Norfolk reed: widespread throughout southern Africa. It is also known as umHlanga.

THATCHING HORSE. A timber beam which is suspended by means of rope from the apex or the ridge of a roof to be thatched. This enables the live load of the thatcher to be distributed over a wide area when the covering process has reached the middle and upper roof slopes and he or she is forced to stand upon work already completed. Referred to in the Transkei as a sitibile, a term also used to denote a riding stirrup. Also known as a Thatching Stirrup. (Afrikaans: dekkersbalk).

THATCHING NEEDLE. See under STITCHING NEEDLE.

THATCHING PADDLE. See under LEGGETTT. (Afrikaans: dekspan).

THATCHING STIRRUP. See under THATCHING HORSE.

THATCHING TWINE. Can consist of a number of materials including grass ropes, woven vegetable fibres, certain types of barks, lianas or monkey ropes as well as commercially-available twine and tarred cord. These are used in conjunction with a metal or wooden stitching needle to fix the thatch to the battens. (Afrikaans: dekgrastou).

THEMBU. Nguni-speaking group residing in the central region of the Transkei. The people are more correctly known as the abaThembu.

Thokho. (tshiVenda). Timber wall posts.

TIE BEAM. A horizontal or slightly cambered beam connecting the principal rafters of a roof. (Afrikaans: bindbalk).

TILES. Thin plates of baked clay used to cover roofs. (Afrikaans: dakpanne).

TILTING FILLET. Roof timber used in the treatment of the eaves to provide tension in the reed. (Afrikaans: wiplat).

TIRTHA. (Indian). A holy site; a place of pilgrimage.

Tlhomeso. (seTswana). Timber rafter.

TONG-EN-GROEF. (Afrikaans). See under PLOUGHED-AND-GROOVED.

TOPPUNT. (Afrikaans). See under APEX.

TORANA. (Indian). An arch; a portal; or a gateway. The heaven of thirty-three Vedic gods, situated above Mount Meru; it is presided over by Indra/Sakra. The early wooden forms, with sculpted uprights and slightly curved open scroll-type cross-pieces decorated with reliefs, influenced the forms of later stone toranas.

TORING. (Afrikaans). Also referred to as Spits. See under STEEPLE.

TORINGSPITS. (Afrikaans). See under SPIRE.

TORINGSPITS-OPENINGE. (Afrikaans). See under SPIRE LIGHTS.

TOU. (Afrikaans). See under TWINE or YEALM.

TRALIE. (Afrikaans). See under TRELLIS.

TRANSOM. A horizontal mullion or cross-bar in a window. (Afrikaans: kalf).

TRAP. (Afrikaans). Also referred to as Spil. See under NEWEL.

TREKBOERS. Name given to migrant Dutch pastoralists who, during the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries, settled in the more arid regions of the Cape.

TRELLIS. An open grating or lattice-work, either of metal or wood. (Afrikaans: tralie).

TRIKUTA. (Indian). "Three-hall"; a triple-shrined structure.

TRIRATHA. (Indian). "Three-ratha"; the side of a pedestal or building that is offset so that its length is divided into three sections.

TROGILUS. (Afrikaans). See under SCOTIA.

TRUSS. A frame built to carry a roof or other load, its component members being designed to act either in tension or compression. (Afrikaans: raam, in general, or dakkap, when applied to roofs).
Tshiaramo. (tshiVenda). The lintel over an opening.

Tshiludza. (tshiVenda). The apex to a conical roof structure.

TSHITANGA. (tshiVenda). Term used to describe a kitchen or indoor cooking area. It plays an important role in the structure of a Venda homestead in that it permits the wife to screen visitors before they are permitted to visit the husband.

Tshiukhuvha. (tshiVenda). A threshold.

Tshivhaso. (tshiVenda). The hearth, quite literally, “a place for burning”. This was the original name of Sibasa, which was then distorted by white colonial administrators to its present form.

TSONGA. An indigenous group inhabiting the eastern littoral belt of southern Africa from Kosi Bay northwards to Sofala in Mocambique. As a result of the Difaqane some groups moved westwards and settled in an area immediately south of Venda which is today known as Gazankulu. The people are more correctly known as the vaTsonga and their language is referred to as siTsonga.

TSWANA. A group indigenous to the interior of southern Africa who are today generally regarded by anthropologists as belonging to a larger Sotho/Tswana identity. Although they originally populated much of the highveld region, the events of the Difaqane forced many of them to move westwards. Today they inhabit Botswana, parts of the western Transvaal, the northern Cape as well as a small enclave in the Thaba 'Nchu district of the Orange Free State. The people are more correctly known as the baTswana and their language is referred to as seTswana.

TSWANA ARCHITECTURE. The Tswana are best known for their use of circular plan, cone on cylinder dwellings surrounded about their full perimeter by a wide verandah. This form is known to have been built in the western Transvaal, northern Cape and eastern Botswana region since the 1600s and probably earlier. Although most such structures today comprise a single living cell, in the past they are known to have reached a high degree of sophistication, including in their plan a number of sleeping and storage areas. Settlement is generally made according to clan affiliations, but the scarcity of water in the region has led to the growth of large urban centres which, in the past, have been estimated to have achieved populations of between 10,000 and 20,000 persons.

TUSSENSTYL. (Afrikaans). See under MULLION.

TWINE. See under THATCHING TWINE. (Afrikaans: tou).

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