Morphosyntactic typology, contact and variation: Cape Flats English in relation to other South African Englishes in the Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English
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Rajend Mesthrie
Abstract
In this paper we present an overview of the morphosyntactic features of Cape Flats English, a variety that evolved among people formerly classified “coloured” in South Africa, as distinct from black and white groupings. We do so within the framework provided by Kortmann and Lunkenheimer (2012) in their comprehensive comparison of 235 morphosyntactic features in 74 varieties of English. Three major varieties of South African English featured in the survey (Black, White and Indian South African Englishes). This paper fills the gap in respect of Cape Flats English, which is demographically the major variety of English in the city of Cape Town and environs. The 235 features were rated according to their absence or presence in the dialect, and with due regard to frequency. These judgements were based on descriptions in the literature, heavily supplemented by our own observations and experience of the dialect. We conclude that, statistically, Cape Flats English coheres with all three varieties of South African English in the original survey; but more especially with White South African English. This similarity is in large part due to the influence of Afrikaans in Cape Flats English and White South African English, which has less influence on Black and Indian South African Englishes. In terms of theoretical focus, the paper provides an assessment of the methodology and generalisations of Kortmann and Lunkenheimer (2012). We argue that their typological-cumgeographical approach is a robust one. However, their general conclusion that variety type (pidgin/creole, L2, L1) is more important globally than geographical proximity does not apply in the case of South Africa, where areal and social convergence operates across the L1 vs L2 dichotomy. That the South African varieties should show overall morphosyntactic similarities in global terms, despite the degree of social segregation in the country’s past, is a new insight.
Abstract
In this paper we present an overview of the morphosyntactic features of Cape Flats English, a variety that evolved among people formerly classified “coloured” in South Africa, as distinct from black and white groupings. We do so within the framework provided by Kortmann and Lunkenheimer (2012) in their comprehensive comparison of 235 morphosyntactic features in 74 varieties of English. Three major varieties of South African English featured in the survey (Black, White and Indian South African Englishes). This paper fills the gap in respect of Cape Flats English, which is demographically the major variety of English in the city of Cape Town and environs. The 235 features were rated according to their absence or presence in the dialect, and with due regard to frequency. These judgements were based on descriptions in the literature, heavily supplemented by our own observations and experience of the dialect. We conclude that, statistically, Cape Flats English coheres with all three varieties of South African English in the original survey; but more especially with White South African English. This similarity is in large part due to the influence of Afrikaans in Cape Flats English and White South African English, which has less influence on Black and Indian South African Englishes. In terms of theoretical focus, the paper provides an assessment of the methodology and generalisations of Kortmann and Lunkenheimer (2012). We argue that their typological-cumgeographical approach is a robust one. However, their general conclusion that variety type (pidgin/creole, L2, L1) is more important globally than geographical proximity does not apply in the case of South Africa, where areal and social convergence operates across the L1 vs L2 dichotomy. That the South African varieties should show overall morphosyntactic similarities in global terms, despite the degree of social segregation in the country’s past, is a new insight.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Changing English: global and local perspectives xi
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I. Towards the study of Global English
- Editors’ Introduction to Part I 3
- Crisis of the “Outer Circle”? – Globalisation, the weak nation state, and the need for new taxonomies in World Englishes research 5
- The Ecology of Language and the New Englishes: toward an integrative framework 25
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II. Ongoing changes in Englishes around the globe
- Editors’ Introduction to Part II 59
- The Present Perfect as a core feature of World Englishes 63
- Innovative structures in the relative clauses of indigenized L2 Asian English varieties 89
- Morphosyntactic typology, contact and variation: Cape Flats English in relation to other South African Englishes in the Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English 109
- Omission of direct objects in New Englishes 129
- The definite article in World Englishes 155
- Aspects of Verb Complementation in New Zealand Newspaper English 169
- Extended uses of the progressive form in Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle Englishes 191
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III. Expanding the horizons: lingua franca, cognitive, and contact-linguistic perspectives
- Editors’ Introduction to Part III 219
- A glimpse of ELF 223
- Lending bureaucracy voice: negotiating English in institutional encounters 255
- On the relationship between the cognitive and the communal: a complex systems perspective 277
- Transfer is Transfer; Grammaticalization is Grammaticalization 311
- Subject index 331
- Languages and Varieties index 340
- Author Index 343
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Changing English: global and local perspectives xi
-
I. Towards the study of Global English
- Editors’ Introduction to Part I 3
- Crisis of the “Outer Circle”? – Globalisation, the weak nation state, and the need for new taxonomies in World Englishes research 5
- The Ecology of Language and the New Englishes: toward an integrative framework 25
-
II. Ongoing changes in Englishes around the globe
- Editors’ Introduction to Part II 59
- The Present Perfect as a core feature of World Englishes 63
- Innovative structures in the relative clauses of indigenized L2 Asian English varieties 89
- Morphosyntactic typology, contact and variation: Cape Flats English in relation to other South African Englishes in the Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English 109
- Omission of direct objects in New Englishes 129
- The definite article in World Englishes 155
- Aspects of Verb Complementation in New Zealand Newspaper English 169
- Extended uses of the progressive form in Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle Englishes 191
-
III. Expanding the horizons: lingua franca, cognitive, and contact-linguistic perspectives
- Editors’ Introduction to Part III 219
- A glimpse of ELF 223
- Lending bureaucracy voice: negotiating English in institutional encounters 255
- On the relationship between the cognitive and the communal: a complex systems perspective 277
- Transfer is Transfer; Grammaticalization is Grammaticalization 311
- Subject index 331
- Languages and Varieties index 340
- Author Index 343
