South African English

E2048
dialect of English variety of English

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.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (7)

Label Occurrences
South African English canonical 5
Black South African English 1
Cape Flats English dialect 1

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 South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Black South African English

Coloured South African English ⓘ
South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Indian South African English

South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: 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 (11)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

English → hasMajorVariety → South African English ⓘ
South African English → hasVariant → South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: White South African English
South African English → hasVariant → South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Black South African English
South African English → hasVariant → South African English self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Indian South African English
Australasian English → sharesFeatureWith → South African English ⓘ
Zulu → loanwordsInto → South African English ⓘ
Indians in South Africa → language → South African English ⓘ
English American → relatedEthnicGroup → South African English ⓘ
this entity surface form: English South African
Cape Flats → hasCulturalFeature → South African English ⓘ
this entity surface form: Cape Flats English dialect
Chatsworth → languageSpoken → South African English ⓘ
this entity surface form: South African Indian English
Modern English → hasVariety → South African English ⓘ