english in south africa les 2
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English in South Africa- Historical Background, Global Context -
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Before British involvement
History of languages in South Africa is always a history of economyand social conditions.
Especially the history of European languages serve as an obviousway to understand access to resources and economic life
1652Dutch settlers
Cape Colonycentred around Western Cape
Some British influencetraders, and for example group ofshipwrecked traders with Zulus (late 17th century)
Durban
Xhosa loreEnglish speaking castaways late 18th century
clan abelungu
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The British needed the Cape
1795First British Occupation
1803retaken by the Batavian republic
strongly dependent on French state Napoleon takes Holland in Napoleonic wars (1805-15)
1806British take Cape Colony
Settlement1820Eastern Cape area~4000 settlers
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The Settlers
Political movement by Tory government (traditional, conservative as opposed to Labour)
to stave off pressures for more radical reform in Britain
July of 181950 000 pounds to assist people to emigrate
to the Cape to a better life
government seen as aiding the people of Britain
also to stop flow of British citizens to America (which wasthen independent)
to increase the English-speaking population of the capeand create a buffer zone (Zuurveld)
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Organisation
Men with capital form parties 10 or more men and their families
pay deposits (that you get back in instalments on arrival)
free transport and food to the Cape
head of the party allocated land according to number of men
full title to land after 3 years of occupation and cultivation
Double situation desire to send men with money there
but also system of poverty relief
Some wealthy men, but mostly people with just enough to pay thedeposit and form joint parties
the idea of the leader didnt come into being majority were working class people, and skilled craftsmen
Mostly English, but also Irish and Scottish contingents e.g. Thomas Pringle, Bonaparte Blenkins!
located in different areas to avoid conflict between people of
different tastes and manners e.g. Irish-English
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A Leap in the Dark
The Colonial Department had no idea of the conditionsthey would face
conflict with Xhosa
lack of knowledge
misrepresentation no government support
natural disasters (drought in South Africa) Extremely stressful, and the whole idea was really an
irresponsible scheme on the part of the Britishgovernment
I am an afflicted stranger in a strange land
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Roots of South African English
Roots of SAfE:
the first childhood groups of the children of the 1820 settlers
first generation born in Africa
Their English:
almost half from London and Home Counties (surroundingLondon)
of lower-middle and working-class backgrounds
Southern English
Thirty regional and social dialects (cockney, Sloane english, etc.)developed into a homogenous speech pattern
promoted by social levelling and stressful conditions in seriouslyimpoverished frontier society
no stratification in language
shared schools and rural communities
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The Second Wave
1848 to 1862:
Natal settlements (Byrne settlers)
Attempt to settle land after British conquered Kwazulu-Natal(map)
Craftsmen, professional people, struggling aristocrats, retiredmilitary personnel
sources more from Midlands and north of England
strong desire to remain English, and a more positive association withEngland
social life, identity, behaviour
conservative English
Byrne was uninformed about the SA reality
land had been sold to speculators
too far from towns
not enough
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The Third Wave
1866discovery of diamonds (Kimberley)
1886discovery of gold (Johannesburg)
This caused an inflow of immigrants from all over
the world Standard southern British Englishwell educated, high
social status
to other areas of the country (diamond and goldfields)
overshadowed local Englishes with authority this influence maintained until World War 2
Conservative English (next class)not common today
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Local influences
Influences of Black, Indian, Afrikaans and Coloured Englishes especially from Afrikaans
proximity of communities:
The advance of the 19th century saw Cape Settler society becomingprogressively less a product of its history and more of its environment. Inter-marriage and social mingling with the Afrikaner community did not efface the
English identity of settler descendants, but contributed towards modifying theirsocial values towards frontier values [...] The social forces behind suchimitation [of phonological variables] was the accommodation of, for example,a Settler son to the Afrikaans-English of an Afrikaner wife. [...] Through moreextensive contact, particularly in the Cape Midlands, Settler descendant andAfrikaner had grown to resemble one another to an extent that, ironically, theyshared the same social image in the early days of the mining cities [of the1860s] (- Lanham)
The net result is that we can distinguish three Englishes Conservative
Respectable
Extreme
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Anglicisation
2nd occupation: aggressive policy of anglicisation 1814: English firmly established as official language of the colony
Ban on Dutch in schools and official use
Lord Charles Somerset: they were only about 30000 in number, and itseems absurd that such a small body of people should be allowed toperpetuate ideas and customs that were not English in a country that had
become part ofthe British Empire 1822proclamation that all documents to be in English from 1825
all government posts and communication in English
juries for instance only in Englishexample of justice system problems andtranslation
importing Church of Scotland clergy in Dutch Reformed Church anglicised Scots
Mission Education in black schools
Imperial history in schools, teachers required to coerce studentstowards English
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Language Politics - historically
Anglicisations effect on language politics:
Contributed to many issuesGreat Trek, Anglo-Boer War
Policy of anglicisation until 1910
English and Dutch official languages
not in reality accepted by rulers British official: the principle of the equality of the two languages had
consistently been rejected by us from the start
Anglicisation until 1948National Party win and instituteAfrikanerisation policies
1953: Bantu Education Actimposing Afrikaans in black schools(rather than English)
reactionpreference for English
1976 Soweto uprising
English became seen as the language of liberation
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Classification of SAE
Northern hemisphere Extra Terrestrial Englishes (ETEs)
America (1607), Canada (1583 and 1713), Irish in a sense (somefeatures)
17th to early 18th century
Southern hemisphere ETEs SAE, Zimbabwean, Australia (1788), New Zealand (1792)
Different relationships
e.g. America cut itself off
developed own vocabulary too
gas, drugstore, muffler current cultural dominance is changing this again
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Southern English
This doesnt refer to the southern hemisphere rather to the part ofEngland where it has its origin
The term is not very informative
We will not study the source in detail
Some features
Vowel categories (Wells standard lexical sets) STRUT/FOOT distinction (strutcut) (foot - good)
TRAP/BATH distinction (trapcat) (bathhalf)
The earlier an ETE was established the more archaic the features will be.
American English has no TRAP/BATH distinction
Southern hemisphere ETEs are typically non-rhotic
Southern ETEs are in most ways typically British, as opposed to American.Not only in pronunciation.
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Vocabulary
BRITISH SAE USA
petrol petrol gas(oline)
bum, arse bum, arse ass
dustbin dustbin garbage-can
chemist chemist drugstore
silencer silencer muffler
dinner-jacket dinner-jacket tuxedo
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Sources for studying Early South African English
Mostly letters and diaries The best known is one called the Chronicle of Jeremiah
Goldswain sawyer from Buckinghamshire
emigrated to eastern Cape in 1820
kept detailled diary
linguistic fame for his personalised spelling system used to make deductions about
vowel shifts in SAfE
use of adjectives as adverbs
various other linguistic phenomena Also missionary accounts
not common mans language
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Sources: Letters to the Governor
Everyday language
Very far from the Queens English
distinction:
letters by common man letters by professional letter writers
exploitation
language as powerful social excluder
real letters much more interesting
uneducated writing strongly influenced by speech patterns (which is not to say that we should look only at this, or
underestimate the importance of educated teachers etc)
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Letters to the Governor: Examples
Its with the Depost umility I take up my unworthy pen to adrees you Butfeeling fuley asurd that God has emplanted in your simpathesingmind to much of his Blessed Sons example to be angry with anorphen like me who now humbley Beags that your kind Benovelentwill Grant me a Colonial Pass at it is my Determination to Bind myselfas an aprentice for three years But inconsiquence of having noColonial pass I cannot. I have apied to Captn Camble and to CaptnSomerset in his time and now remain in Mr H Huntly Employ atGrahamstown. If your Goodness will grant the foresaid Believe me Ishall feel my self in duty bound to pray for your Honnours wellfair
So I remain your humble and h servant
To his Excelence the Governer - CO158(130)
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Letters to the Governor: Examples
I have been visited by Gika once this year who conducted himselfvery friendly while present but very differently after his departurewhile he was here some one of the institution informed him that aforce was coming against him from the colony to regain the cattlewhich his people had stollen. Is ... to demand recompence for themurders which his people had done on his leaving this he felt
very unhappy and after remaining three days he departed whenhe went according to the custom of this country some of the
poeple who reside here went with him what they call half wayaccordingly when they came to the first Caffre Kraal the [Xhosas]came all together to salute him
- Joseph Williams, 1818
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Input survivals in SAE
Traits that can be found in settler letters, and stillexist
In L1 speakers (e.g. continuous use) and L2speakers (transferred/evolved use)
Some examples: Adjective with infinitive
I am lazy to acquire the skills
They are incapable to provide for themselves in an agriculturalpursuit
I have a wife and two children in London who have objected toaccompany me here (replaces gerund)
Never instead of didnt (usually not ever)
but I never got any pass yet
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Input survivals in SAfE
Omission several categories, typically determiners, e.g.
She explains me then I write it (preposition)
The men hockey club (possessive s)
We came back from holiday last week (article/noun-determiner)
Prepositions
by used for besides, at, with He left it by the house.
for used for of Im scared for these exams.
in used for at She was very good in this job.
over used for about He complains over it.
under used for among Sickness under the flock.
with used for along She has insisted that Tome come with.
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Input survivals in SAfE
Also in L2 Englishes e.g. Cape Flats English
Dative of advantage I bought me a car
Unstressed do I do think that it would be a good idea.
He did present a letter to the magistrate.
Double negative no man never was more embarassed
Noun plurals progresses, evidences, sufferings
It is difficult to say with certainty at which point these deviationsstartedare they from the source, or from later influence (e.g. by
Afrikaans) Complex situation of language learning in South Africa
Next: sociophonological description of South African English (Thetrichotomy)
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South African English Vocabulary
bakkie- a utility truck, pick-up truck
bergie- refers to a particular subculture of vagrants in Cape Town (fromAfrikaans 'berg', mountain, originally referring to vagrants who shelteredin the forests of Table Mountain.) Increasingly used in other cities tomean a vagrant of any description.
bioscope- cinema, movie theatre (now dated)
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South African English Vocabulary
billion- as in the UK this officially means a million million. Nowadays theAmerican usage (one billion is one thousand million) is almostexclusively used.
biltong- dried meat, similar to jerky
biscuit- same as American cookie, in South Africa, cookieis used forcupcake
boerewors- spicy sausage from (Afrikaans) "farmer-sausage" (usuallymade with beef)
bonnet- hood of a car
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South African English Vocabulary
braai- a barbecue, to barbecue (from Afrikaans braaivleis)
brinjal- eggplant (from Portuguese berinjela, also used in IndianEnglish)
bundu- a wilderness region, remote from cities (from Shona bundo,meaning grasslands)
bunking- playing hooky, skipping school/class
bunny chow- loaf of bread filled with curry, speciality of Durban,particularly Durban Indians
cafe- when pronounced "caffee" refers to a convenience store not acoffee shop (originally such stores sold coffee and other basic items)
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South African English Vocabulary cool drink, cold drink- soft drink, fizzy drink not necessarily
chilled
cubby hole- car glove compartment
dagga- marijuana
donga- a ditch of the type found in South African topography(from Zulu, 'wall')
dorp, dorpie- small town, off the beaten track
erf plural erven - a plot of land for a building (from CapeDutch).
flat- as in Britain this is used for an apartment
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South African English Vocabulary how's it- hello, how are you, good morning (despite being a
contraction of 'how is it', howzitis almost exclusively a greeting, andseldom a question)
Go so long- from Afrikaans gaan solank
is it?- an all purpose exclamative, equivalent to "really?", "uhuh
indaba- conference (from Zulu, 'a matter for discussion')
jam- a fruit preserve spread whether containing pieces of fruit ornot, never called ajellyin South Africa
just now- idiomatically used to mean later, or in a short while
Now now- from the Afrikaans nou-nou in a little while
koki, koki pen, a fibre tip coloured art pen (from a local brand name) kombi- any type of minivan (from the Volkswagen 'Kombi' van)
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South African English Vocabulary
lobola- traditional African bride-price
location- an urban area populated by black, coloureds orIndians (dated, replaced by the term township in commonusage)
main road- what is generally called a high streetinBritain
matric- school-leaving certificate or the final year ofhighschool or a student in the final year, short formatriculation
mielie- an ear of maize (from Afrikaans mielie)
mielie meal- used for both maize flour and the traditionalporridge made from it similar to American grits, the latteralso commonly known by the Afrikaans wordpap
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South African English Vocabulary
muti- traditional medicine
naartjie- a tangerine (from Afrikaans)
now now- idiomatically used to mean soon (sooner thanjust now)
robot, robots- besides the standard meaning, in South Africa this isalso used for traffic lights. The etymology of the word derives from adescription of early traffic lights as robot policemen, which then gottruncated with time.
samoosa- Indian samosa
shebeen- illegal drinking establishment (also used in Scotland)
shongololo- millipede (from Zulu and Xhosa, ukushonga, to roll up)
sosatie- a kebab on a stick
spanspek- a cantaloup (from Afrikaans)
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South African English Vocabulary
sucker- used for both a popsicle (frozen sucker) and a lollypop
takkies- sneakers, trainers (from Afrikaans tekkies)
taxi- shared taxi (usually a minibus taxi) as well as taxicab
township- large residential suburb lacking city infrastructure, in
particular the areas allocated to non-white South Africans underapartheid
veld- wide open rural spaces