South African English

E2048

South African English is the variety of English spoken in South Africa, characterized by distinctive pronunciation, vocabulary, and influences from Afrikaans and indigenous African languages.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf dialect of English
variety of English
closelyRelatedTo British English
hasCharacteristic distinctive pronunciation
distinctive vocabulary
lexical borrowings from Afrikaans
lexical borrowings from Bantu languages
rhoticity generally absent
vowel system distinct from British English
hasInfluenceFrom Afrikaans
Xhosa
Zulu
other indigenous African languages
hasPhonologicalFeature distinct realization of KIT vowel
merger patterns influenced by Afrikaans phonology
non-rhotic postvocalic /r/
hasVariant Black South African English
Coloured South African English
Indian South African English
White South African English
hasWord bakkie (meaning pickup truck)
braai (meaning barbecue)
eish (expression of surprise or dismay)
howzit (informal greeting)
is it? (used as discourse marker)
ja (meaning yes, from Afrikaans)
just now (with local temporal meaning)
kiff (slang for cool or great)
lekker (meaning nice or good)
now now (with local temporal meaning)
robot (meaning traffic light)
shame (with distinctive pragmatic use)
takkies (meaning sneakers or trainers)
historicallyInfluencedBy Afrikaans-accented English
British English
Received Pronunciation
languageBranch Germanic languages
languageFamily Indo-European languages
languageSubbranch West Germanic languages
recognizedAs one of the major varieties of World Englishes
spokenIn South Africa
usedAs lingua franca in South Africa
usedBy speakers of diverse ethnic backgrounds in South Africa
usedIn business in South Africa
education in South Africa
government in South Africa
media in South Africa
writingSystem Latin alphabet

Referenced by (9)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
South African English ("White South African English")
South African English ("Black South African English")
South African English ("Indian South African English")
hasVariant
Cape Flats ("Cape Flats English dialect")
hasCulturalFeature
English
hasMajorVariety
Indians in South Africa
language
Zulu
loanwordsInto
English American ("English South African")
relatedEthnicGroup
Australasian English
sharesFeatureWith

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