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In fact, English is the mother tongue of only 8% of the population, but it is becoming more and more important.
During the apartheid regime (1948-1994) in the Republic of South Africa there were only 2 official languages - English and Afrikaans - a kind of Dutch interspersed with French, German, Xhosa (Xhosa), Malaysian and Portuguese. However, the black population of South Africa spoke more English, considering Afrikaans the language of their main oppressor. English was a symbol of progress and prestige.
In our time in South Africa, English retains its leading position. It dominates in business, finance, science, Internet communication, government, education, radio and television broadcasting, media, and the music industry. The President of the country, Jacob Zuma, for whom the Zulu language is native, makes his speeches exclusively in English.
But, given the similar position of the English language in South Africa, can we say that it is close to one of the 2 dominant norms - British and American? To what extent do the vocabulary and phonetic structure reflect the local flavor?
South African English was constantly drawn from Dutch and Flemish, as well as many other languages, local or that appeared here as a result of European colonization. Due to this and other factors, communicating with the inhabitants of South Africa may not be so easy: of course, South African English has vocabulary that is unique to this variant of English. This is usually attributed to Afrikaans or Zulu influence. Pay attention to the following words:
- takkies, tackie or tekkie - sneakers (American) - trainers (British) - sneakers
- combi or kombi - a minivan, like the Volkswagen Kombi
- bakkie - pick-up truck - pickup truck
- lekker - nice - good
- dagga - cannabis - marijuana
- braai - barbecue - barbecue
- jol - party - a party.
One of the features of the South African dialect, due to local color, is the use of the word 'ja' [= 'yes'] (Afrikaans influence) in all situations where the English speaker says "yes, yeah or well".
Also, South Africans often say 'ja-nee' (literally 'yes-no', which means partial agreement with the expressed point of view or opinion). This combination is used everywhere, although it is recognized as a deviation from the language norm, and in formal situations, for example, in court or during a job interview, it is not used.
On the other hand, there are words borrowed from both American and British English.
With American words, everything is somewhat simpler: these are the well-known mom (in the British and Australian version mum), freeway or highway (British English 'motorway'), cellphone (British and Australian English - mobile).
The vocabulary that South African English owes to British English needs to be paid closer attention. So, for example, there are words that are common to British and South African English, but are used in different meanings.
Table 1. Features of South American English
| british english |
South African English |
|
|
bond |
security; connection (what connects people) |
mortgage |
|
packet |
packaging, package |
shopping plastic bag |
|
cafe |
Cafe |
small shop; minimarket; what the British call a convenience store |
|
circle |
circle, circumference |
roundabout |
In addition, it often happens that words borrowed from British English have long been out of use in Foggy Albion itself. These are, for example, geyser (=water-heater, boiler), robot (=a traffic light).
There are other difficulties in communicating with South Africans. For example, if you are late for a tour in the morning and order orange juice in a cafe, do not tell them to bring it to you just now, otherwise you risk missing the bus and getting to the place on your own.
This is due to the fact that South Africans non-standard (compared to British and American norms) use both the word 'just' and the word 'now'. The combination 'just now' does not mean 'this very minute', but 'in a while' or 'later' (up to several hours). 'Now now' can be used for a period of time from a few minutes to half an hour.
This is how Alexis Ditkowski, an American who works as a volunteer in South Africa as part of the Kiva program (microfinance for small businesses in third world countries with an underdeveloped banking system), describes her acquaintance with the expression 'just now'.
Table 2. Meaning of Just now in South American English
| I was making tea and asked my husband's five year-old cousin if he'd like some. |
| 'Just now' he said. |
| So I quickly made some tea, brought him a cup, and couldn't figure out why he so was surprised to see me and so disinterested in his cup of tea. |
| 'I wanted it 'Just now', he said. |
| 'Right,' I replied. 'And I just brought it to you….' |
| Fortunately, his mother intervened and informed me that 'just now' doesn't mean 'right now', nor does it mean 'just a moment ago'. |
| It actually means 'perhaps in a bit' or 'I'm not really interested but I'm going to put you off gently' or 'yeah, that's a nice idea – let's leave it at that'. |
The word 'just' in relation to place also does not have a strictly limited meaning, as in British English. If you are told that the nearest ATM is 'just around the corner', 'just there' it is quite possible that you will have to stomp several blocks in search of this cash machine.
As for the phonetic features of the language, they are so diverse and great that it will be quite difficult to tell about all of them. The task is complicated by the need to use purely linguistic vocabulary, which will surely have a lulling effect on you. Therefore, as a “seed”, I will say that in many words that came from Afrikaans, the letter g is pronounced as -x, as in the Scottish word "loch" or the German "achtung".
