Just found this in the archive - thought I would revive it, was previously started by Tyrone
>I'm an American graduate student in California that just recently finished off five months of undergraduate study in South Africa. I find to my amusement that there are several colloquialisms that appear to have permanently become part of my lexicon, such as "is it," "shame," "nice (pronounced as if 'noyce.'), "lekker," "boykie," and "howzit."
I was wondering if anyone knew the precise differences between S.A. English and standard American English, and what other colloquialisms are commonly used. That, and I'd love to hear more talk about S.A. English, which indeed does sound different in various regions across the country (Cape Town speech sounds different from Durbs, from Jo'burg, from the Free State, etc) <
Thought it would be interesting to hear your views
Tyrone
On the original thread you stated that English was the only official language in SA until 1948. That is incorrect. Until 1925, our official languages were English and Dutch. In 1925 it became English and Dutch OR Afrikaans (meaning you could choose which of Dutch or Afrikaans you wanted to use as official language). Dutch then quickly fell into disuse, and in 1961, when we became a republic, Dutch was dropped completely as official language
=>when we became a republic, Dutch was dropped completely as official language<=
You barbarians!
Tyrone
You mentioned a few Afrikaans which became part of SA English. The word *trek* as in Star Trek, also comes from Afrikaans. So one Afrikaans word has managed to sneak into American English too! :)
I'd be interested in reading how SA English differs phonologically from other varieties of English. I've tried finding some good books/websites on the subject but unfortunately it seems not a whole lot of detailed phonological information is out there for SA English. Can anyone direct me to any good sources (especially if they're online?)...I'd love a whole page full of beautiful XSAMPA/IPA descriptions (most pages I've found are just "folk linguistics," which are interesting but don't help me much).
Will try to find you the info, Kirk. Don't have it on hand as I am not English, but should be able to find it
"is it," = comes from Afrikaans (is dit, pronounced issit)
"shame," = yeh we like that one!!
"nice (pronounced as if 'noyce.'), = that one too!
"lekker," = often pronounced and written as lekka in english. Afrikaans word used in "the food is lekker", it was a lekker party that is a lekker (pretty) woman
"boykie," - affectionate term for a man used in both afrikaans and english (the -kie part comes from afrikaans)
"howzit." = how is it - form of greeting
Tyrone
Ever heard "ja-nee" and "finish and/en klaar"?
Andre, I've heard ja-nee, for sure. =)
en klaar, too!
Believe me, I'm his apartmentmate so I'm around him all the time, and Tyrone is always saying "is it?" and not only the phrase, but with the SA questioning intonation, which falls at the end in this case, as compared to a rising American question statement...it's a true legacy of his time he spent there and says it all the time when most Americans would normally say something like "oh, really?" It's kind of amusing to see how people react when it slips out of his mouth and they don't know how to respond:
Person A: Yeah, so I'm going to the beach right now...
Tyrone: Is it?
Person A: um...is it what?
The other one he most commonly uses is "ach shame," which doesn't cause as much confusion because at least "shame" could be a conceivable response here. The funny thing tho, is that, once again, it has a different intonation than would be expected in American English and for this phrase he pronounces it closer to as if it were "shem" [SEm].
Interestingly, there are few words where SAE really affected his speech...he still speaks Californian/American English but certain highly common phrases such as the ones I mentioned made their way into his everyday speech during his time abroad.
Thanks in advance for looking up any phonetics/phonological information you may have, andre in south africa, I appreciate it.
>Person A: Yeah, so I'm going to the beach right now...
Tyrone: Is it?
Person A: um...is it what? <
LOL!!!
Will do my best to find the information for you Kirk :)
Afrikaans has been influential in the development of South African English. Many Afrikaans loanwords have found their way into South African English, such as "veld", "braai", "boomslang", and "lekker". A few words in standard English are derived from Afrikaans, such as "trek", "spoor", and, of course, apartheid.
Kirk
I believe that website should help you :)