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SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH

DAGMAR MATĚJOVSKÁ

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HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA AND SA ENGLISH

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  • 3 waves of settlement (from 1795)
  • 1910 – English and Dutch
  • 1925 –Dutch replaced by Afrikaans
  • 1948 – 1994 – Afrikaans (SA Dutch)
  • 1994 – English, Afrikaans and 9 Bantu languages

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  • Natal variety of English – standard
  • Cape colonial English + SL Afrikaans-English – stigmatised, low status

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�ENGLISH AS THE FIRST LANGUAGE�THE SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL CENSUS 2011��

  • 4 892 623 speakers, i.e. 9.6% of the national population
  • Mostly in Western Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal
  • In 2022 – the SA population 19.8 % (51,7 mil. 62 mil.)

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DISTRIBUTION OF THE POPULATION BY THE FIRST LANGUAGE SPOKEN (IN %)

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CLASSIFICATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN LANGUAGE (SAE)

  • White South African English (WSAE)
  • Black South African English (BSAE)
  • Indian South African English (ISAE)
  • Cape Flats English (CFE)

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BLACK SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH (BSAE)

„Non standard“ variety of English

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    • Basilect
    • Mesolect
    • Acrolect

primary = primary school

religious = religious studies

rurals = rural places

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he vs. she – can be substituted for each other

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father of me = my father

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INDIAN SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH (ISAE OR INSAE)

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    • Basilect
    • Mesolect
    • Acrolect – the most similar to colonial native English

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Wrong –wrong things = many wrong things

One-one time = occasionally

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How´s mother-all? = How´s your mother and the others at home?

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He look-afters the baby = …looks after…

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CAPE FLATS ENGLISH (CFE)

Originally inner city of Cape Town

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Adjoining areas ´The Cape Flats´

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´Coloured English´

He didn´t have no respect for his mother.

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Loan words from Afrikaans

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Mos = indeed, of course

Maar = but

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WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH (STANDARD)

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  • Cultivated (Conservative) – associated with upper class

(approx. RP)

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  • General (Respectable) – middle class social indicator

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  • Broad (Extreme) – working class and/or Afrikaans descent

(approx. the SL Afrikaans English)

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PHONOLOGY - MONOPHTHONGS

KIT /I/ = [ǝ]

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The image

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/ði:/ /'ImIdȝ/

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[ðǝ] ['ǝmǝdȝ]

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PHONOLOGY - MONOPHTHONGS

DRESS /e/ = [e]

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TRAP /æ/ = [ɛ]

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The red apple

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/ðǝ/ /red/ /æpǝl/

[ðǝ] [red] ['ɛpǝl]

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PHONOLOGY - MONOPHTHONGS

CLOTH /ɒ/ = [ɑ]

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STRUT /ʌ/ = [ɜ]

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NURSE /ɜ:/ = [ø:]

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The hot sun burns

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/ðǝ/ /hɒt/ /sʌn/ /bɜ:nz/

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[ðǝ] [hɑt] [sɜn] [bø:nz]

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PHONOLOGY - DIPHTHONGS

FACE /eI/ = [eI] or [e:]

PRICE /aI/ = [aI] or [a:]

SQUARE /eǝ/ = [e:]

MOUTH /aʊ/ = [ɐʊ] or [ɐ:]

GOAT /ǝʊ/ = [œʊ] or [œ:]

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Buy now and pay over there

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/baI/ /naʊ/ /ǝnd/ /peI/ /'ǝʊvǝ/ /ðeǝ/

/ba:/ /nɐʊ/ /ǝnd/ /pe:/ /'œʊvǝ/ /ðe:/

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PHONOLOGY - CONSONANTS

/t/ = [tˢ]

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/r/ = [ɾ]

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/h/ = [ɦ]

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The poor behaviour of the writer

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/ðǝ/ /pɔ:/ /bI'heIvjǝ/ /ǝv/ /ðǝ/ /'raItǝ/

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/ðǝ/ /pɔ:/ /bI'ɦeIvjǝ/ /ǝv/ /ðǝ/ /'ɾaItˢǝ/

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PHONOLOGY - CONSONANTS

/x/ = [x]

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Gogga = bug

[xoxǝ]

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Gamtoos

[x]amtoos

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Hello, how are you

Barbecue

Conference/meeting

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Hello, how are you

Barbecue

Conference/meeting

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Hello, how are you

Barbecue

Conference/meeting

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Hello, how are you

Barbecue

Conference/meeting

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Hello, how are you

Barbecue

Conference/meeting

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SLANG

Braai

Indaba

Kwela-kwela

Howzit

Bra/bru

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Friend

Conference/meeting

Barbecue

Hello, how are you

Taxi or police pick-up van

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SOURCES:�

Bowerman, S. (2008). White South African English: phonology. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Varieties of English. Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Vol. 4. (pp. 164-176).

Finn, P. (2008). Cape Flats English: phonology. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Varieties of English. Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Vol. 4. (pp. 200-222).

Mesthrie, R. (2008). Indian South African English: phonology. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Varieties of English. Africa, South and Southeast Asia Vol. 4. (pp. 164-176).

van Rooy, B. (2008). Black South African English: phonology. In R. Mesthrie (Ed.), Varieties of English. Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Vol. 4. (pp. 188-199).

Trudgill, P., & Hannah, J. (1985). International English. A guide to Varieties of Standard English (2nd ed.). Edward Arnold by Athenaeum Press Ltd.

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Statistics South Africa. (2012). Census 2011. Census in brief. Retrieved October 14, 2023, from

https://census.statssa.gov.za/assets/documents/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf

South African English. (2023, October 3). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English

Lean English Pronunciation. (2022, September 2). The South African Accent & South African English Pronunciation [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBU6EGL_qDM&t=216s

Category:19th-century maps of South Africa. (2023, March 23). In Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:19th. century_maps_of_South_Africa#/media/File:6_of_'My_Command_in_South_Africa._1874-78._Comprising_experiences_of_travel_in_the_colonies_of_South_Africa_and_the_independent_states_..._With_maps'_(11131371243).jpg

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