South African English: a sociolinguistic investigation of an emerging variety.

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dc.contributor.authorDa Silva, Arista B.
dc.date.accessioned2008-06-11T10:39:16Z
dc.date.available2008-06-11T10:39:16Z
dc.date.issued2008-06-11T10:39:16Z
dc.description.abstractAbstract The following study gives a descriptive account of eight vowel variables in two varieties of South African English spoken in present-day Johannesburg, along with a domain analysis of language use of black South Africans and a qualitative assessment of language attitudes of black and white students attending the University of the Witwatersrand. The eight vowel variables are compared to those varieties documented in the literature known as English-Speaking South African English (ESSA English) and Black South African English (BSAE), an L2 variety spoken by black South Africans. Many of the dialectological studies of varieties of South African English in the past have dealt solely with “white” South African English (ESSA English), which usually has included dialects of L1 English speakers and white Afrikaans speakers. In comparison, BSAE has received considerably less attention regarding its development and phonetic description. It is argued that BSAE does not exist as one single entity due to drastic differences in levels of proficiency among black South Africans, and that BSAE varieties in Johannesburg have radically been changing, with access to English in schools being one of the primary social factors. The elimination of segregated schools has had a dramatic effect on the varieties of English spoken in the Johannesburg area, and thus, can no longer be categorised neatly into ethnolects. The analysis of the phonetic variables, the investigation of language use (English vs. an African language) of black students along with a discussion of language attitudes of both black and white students reveal that there are two distinct lects of speakers in the sample population. Each lect was then analysed in terms of its social variables, i.e., ethnicity, educational background and gender. The social composition of each lect suggests a shift from BSAE among L2 speakers of English to a variety closer to that of their white counterparts, and in some cases, contradicts the variants predicted by the BSAE variable system.en
dc.format.extent49197 bytes
dc.format.extent2232821 bytes
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dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
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dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10539/4955
dc.language.isoenen
dc.titleSouth African English: a sociolinguistic investigation of an emerging variety.en
dc.typeThesisen
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