Universität Hannover, Philosophische Fakultät
Hauptseminar: English in Africa
WS 2006/07, 7. Semester
Hannover, den 04. 01. 2007

English in South Africa

by: Joachim von Meien

List of Contents

1) Introduction 2

2) The History of South Africa  4

2.1 Ancient History and Dutch Colonization 4
2.2 From the arrival of the English at the Cape until the Boer Wars 5
2.3 From the Union of South Africa until the Era of Apartheid 7
2.4 The Apartheid Era 8
2.5 The present day situation in South Africa 10

3) English in today’s South African Society 11

3.1 Multilingualism or English Unilateralism  11
3.2 English in the Media  13
3.3 English in Education  14

4) White South African English 16

4.1 Classification of White South African English 16
4.2 Phonology  17
4.3 Grammar  18
4.4 Vocabulary  18

5) Black South African English  20

5.1 Classification of Black South African English  20
5.2 Phonology  21
5.3 Grammar  22
5.4 Vocabulary, Discourse Patterns and Code Switching 23

6) Case Study: Phonological Analysis of a BSAFE speaker  25

6.1 The speaker and the text 25
6.2 Vowels  26
6.3 Consonants and Suprasegmental Features  28

7) Conclusion  29

8) Bibliography and Sources 31

1) Introduction

English came to South Africa through colonization by the end of the 18th century. Around 200 years later it is widely spoken in Africa’s most southern country although it is not the sole official language. It equally shares that status together with Afrikaans and nine African indigenous languages – at least in theory. This paper is supposed to characterize the development and current status of the English language in South Africa. The multicultural state has an eventful and dramatic history. It is important to outline and explain that varied history in this linguistic paper because it had a major effect on language spread and development in South Africa, which has since the arrival of the Europeans never been completely linguistically homogenous. English in South Africa can not be understood without taking a closer look at more than 300 years of eventful history. Chapter two is going to give an overview of that history referring thereby to different recognized historians and their works.

After that there will be a closer look at the status of English in today’s South African society. The next chapter has three different focuses. It will take a closer look at the governmental policy of multilingualism and its outcomes in practice. Also the role of the English language in the media and education system of South Africa will be examined. The question needs to be answered, which trends for the future are becoming obvious concerning the role of English in South Africa. Will it be extended in the future or rather suffer from competition through other languages? What is today’s image of English in comparison to the other “imported” language, namely Afrikaans?

After having finished the general description of SAE there will be a closer look at its linguistic features. Two major kinds of South African Englishes will thereby be distinguished: White South African English (WSAFE) and Black South African English (BSAFE). Both will be examined in chapters four and five. An examination of different language elements, such as phonology, vocabulary, grammar and discourse patterns will be provided to get an imagination about what is meant when talking about WSAFE or BSAFE.

The theoretical knowledge gained in chapters four and five will then be applied in a phonological analysis of a Black South African speaker of English, namely a 17 year old girl with Zulu background. The sound sample was obtained from International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA) under http://web.ku.edu/idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica8.mp3. The interesting question is, whether the theoretical symptoms of BSAFE can be observed while listening to the speaker or whether there are differences to the typical theoretical constructs of BSAFE as being outlined in chapter five. The paper will hopefully be able to make the interesting story that lies behind SAE more accessible to the reader and also highlight the numerous potentials but also past struggles and current potential problems of English in South Africa.

2) The History of South Africa

2.1 Ancient History and Dutch Colonization

When writing a history about South Africa and having the development of English in the country in mind, the first crucial point to start with is the colonisation of the Cape of Good Hope. Before doing so here is at least a very brief overview of what happened before the European settlers arrived and brought with them their languages.

Around 500 B.C. Bantu peoples¹ moved into South Africa, mainly in small groups by way of the Great Lakes (cf. Walker 1965: 7). Before that they had lived in the area of the River Niger Delta. In the area of what is now South Africa they lived together with the Bushmen (the so called KhoiKhoi) who intermingled with another type of Bushmen which resulted in the ethnic group of the Khoisan. The Bantu people began spreading near the coast, in the Highlands and the northeast of today’s South Africa and began to mix with the Khoisan. Because there are no written documents left, the early history of South Africa is almost exclusively based on archaeological findings and their interpretation. The first Europeans to set foot in South Africa were the Portuguese. Shipwrecked persons reported from meetings with Xhosa² as soon as in late 16th century (cf. Hagemann 2001: 24). The Portuguese dominated the trade routes around the Cape of Good Hope for a few years until the Dutch East India Company decided to establish a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in order to give shelter to passing ships on their way to East Asia.³

In order to do so an expedition under Jan van Riebeeck reached the Cape of Good Hope on April 6 1652. That arrival has an immense importance for South African history as Ross points out: “In political and constitutional terms, the modern South African state is the lineal descendant of van Riebeeck’s settlement.” (1999: 21) Shortly after the establishment of the settlement, Dutch farmers began to push ahead further into the interior of the country and established a farming system which could provide the settlement with agricultural goods. Together with the Dutch arrival at the Cape many other peoples from different regions were streaming into the area around the Cape of Good Hope. Germans and Scandinavians as well as French Huguenots escaping from religious suppression by King Louis XIV. (1638 – 1715). Also the Dutch brought with them a big number of slaves, mainly from Madagascar and Indonesia. Often the slaves got married to Dutch settlers and got offspring, which is the reason for the so called Cape Coloureds.⁴ The spread of Dutch settlements soon led to an inevitable crash with the indigenous KhoiKoi which was very disadvantageous for the latter. The KhoiKhoi were expelled from their traditional land and often became victims of unknown European diseases. Resistance was easily broken with the help of superior European weapon technology. The basis for today’s Coloured population in South Africa (not to mix up with the Cape Coloureds) can to a big extend be seen in a mixture between Khoisan, Europeans and imported slaves from the time of Dutch Colonisation.

2.2 From the arrival of the English at the Cape until the Boer Wars

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1 Bantu means „people“ in many Bantu languages. Bantu is a very general term, standing for more than 400 different ethnic groups in Africa which are united by a common language family. The German linguist Wilhelm Bleek (1827-1875) first used the term in his Comparative Grammar of South African Languages, first published in 1862.

2 The Xhosa people are a group of people of Bantu origin.

3 The way by ship to East Asia became necessary for European traders because the Ottoman Empire had spread and threatened the way on land.

4 Cape Coloureds are the descendants of South African imported slaves. They mainly live in the Western Cape province and most often have Afrikaans as their mother tongue.