Complexity in word-formation processes in New Varieties of South African English

Abstract

The research question posed in the article is whether South African English (SAE) has reached Phase four of Schneider's (2007) Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes. This phase is characterised by early indications of linguistic convergence between the Indigenous and Settler strands. In the article, the focus is on lexical innovation and morphologically complex forms in a corpus of approximately 703 300 words from the Vaal Weekly community newspaper. The data are analysed according to semantic domains and morphological structure. To determine if SAE has gone beyond Phase three of Schneider's (2007) model, three criteria are proposed: generality, acceptability and codification in dictionaries. The results show that lexical innovations in the semantic domains are often loanwords originating from the culture of the indigenous strand. There is considerable evidence supporting Phase four among lexical innovations: widespread semantic diffusion, a considerable degree of acceptability, as indicated by use in other newspapers, and codification in the South African Concise Oxford Dictionary. The results for the morphology of complex words show that most of these forms are unique to the Vaal Weekly. The generality and more than negligible degree of acceptability of compounding also indicate that SAE has reached Phase four, but derivational processes, while revealing some generality for negation, otherwise fail to meet the criteria of acceptability and codification. The majority of the analyses support a conclusion that SAE has entered Phase four, but morphologically complex forms are not yet conclusive in this respect.

Black South African English on the radio

“…In line with Schneider's model, the BSAE features discussed here attest to the notion that the STL strand has changed due to continuous contact with local languages and thus has expanded the IDG variety. One study that also shows a continuum of BSAE between nativization and endonormative phases is van Rooy and Terblanche () which shows words of complex morphology that are divided between these phases in the corpus of the Vaal Weekly . As the media has an influence on the listeners and readers in both cases, it is possible to infer a high chance for the acceptance, spread, and stabilization over time of the non‐standards forms (IDG).…”

“…The work of Buthelezi () shows that although most BSAE features were teacher‐induced, there was a general cross‐linguistic influence of African languages especially in the lexical‐semantic shifts of words such as “lobola” for bride price and “sekororo” for a jalopy, because the African experience of these comparable concepts have different nuances from those of the traditional native speakers of English. A more recent study by van Rooy and Tereblanche () revealed that words like “spaza shop” for tuckshop and “eish” as an emphatic marker appeared with higher frequencies in the corpus generated from the Vaal Weekly newspaper. Mother‐tongue influence was perhaps forcefully argued in a positive light through what is referred to as Bantu language logic.…”

“…Recent studies on BSAE (e.g. van Rooy and Terblanche ) have shed some light that some of the BSAE features have entered phase 4 of Schneider's (; ) dynamic model even though some of the morphologically complex vocabulary forms cannot as yet be accounted for in terms of this phase. Naturally therefore, there is a need for more systematic corpus studies assessing the educated BSAE variety as well as a close scrutiny of its phases of development and stabilization factors.…”

New reflections on the evolutionary dynamics of world Englishes

“…He finds this pattern to be more advanced in Inner Circle varieties (at an average frequency of 39.9%) than Outer Circle ones (14.8%), and there, in turn, more advanced in South‐East Asian varieties (Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines) than elsewhere (Kenya, also India), all largely in line with predictions derived from the Dynamic Model. Werner () compares the co‐occurrence behavior of certain time adverbials with the present perfect or the past tense (PT), respectively, in 12 varieties (carrying out a cluster analysis on ICE corpora data). He finds an increased ‘PT‐friendliness’ as an indicator of endonormativity in advanced (phase 4 or close) varieties. Van Rooy and Terblanche (: 407) seek to investigate whether South African English has proceeded beyond phase 3, into phase 4, using corpus data on lexis and looking into the criteria of ‘generality, acceptability and codification’ (). They find this assumption fully confirmed for lexical innovation (words having been fully incorporated and accepted) and largely but not wholly for morphologically complex forms (unique to the newspaper corpus analyzed).…”

The story of South African English:A brief linguistic overview

“…14 Research currently underway at the North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, is investigating whether or not young white female South Africans are attempting to emulate their black peers in this regard. On a lexico-morphological level, Van Rooy & Terblanche (2010) have found a growing convergence between white and black speakers of SAfE. Mesthrie (2010) has broadened the investigation to include all ethnic groups (white, black, coloured and Indian) and concludes , in his study of GOOSE-Fronting among young middle-class South Africans and with a few `ifs and buts', that ``middle-class, L1 English-speaking South African students of all backgrounds are fronting the GOOSE vowel''; thus a sign of the possible development of a new, deracialised, middle-class variety of SAfE.…”