Ek het altyd gestruggle met Engels:
speakers justifying ‘matrix language
turnover’ in an historically Afrikaans L1
community
Christine Anthonissen
Dept of Genl Linguistics
Stellenbosch University
Overview
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Language diversity in South Africa
The languages of the Western Cape
Origin and distribution of Afrikaans
Perceived ‘language shift’ from Afrikaans to English
– illustrative data
Evidence of ‘matrix language turnover’
“Premeditated” language shift?
Precursor to language death?
Conclusion – further work
Distribution of official languages in
South Africa
Predominant languages by province
(Census 2001)
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isiZulu (21%), Afrikaans (14%),
Sesotho (13%), English (12%)
Eastern Cape - isiXhosa (83%), Afrikaans (9%)
Free State Sesotho (64%), Afrikaans (12%)
KwaZulu-Natal - isiZulu (81%), English (13%)
Limpopo Sepedi (52%), Xitsonga (22%), Tshivenda (16%)
Mpumalanga siSwati (31%), isiZulu (26%), isiNdebele (12%)
Northern Cape - Afrikaans (68%), Setswana (21%)
North West Setswana (65%), Afrikaans (7%)
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Western Cape - Afrikaans (55%), English (19%), isiXhosa (23%)
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Gauteng -
Distribution of Afrikaans
Distribution of English
Distribution of isiXhosa
Statistics per language
Language
Number of
speakers
% of national population
Regions most widely used
isiZulu
10.7 million
23.8
KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga
isiXhosa
7.9 million
17.6
Eastern Cape, Western Cape
Afrikaans
6.2 million
13.3
Northern Cape, Western Cape
Sepedi
4.2 million
9.4
Limpopo
English
3.7 million
8.2
Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal
Setswana
3.7 million
8.2
North-west, Northern Cape
Sesotho
3.6 million
7.9
Freestate
Xitsonga
2.0 million
4.4
Limpopo
siSwati
1.2 million
2.7
Mpumalanga
TshiVenda
1.0 million
2.3
Limpopo
isiNdebele
712 000
1.6
Mpumalanga
Introduction of Dutch (Afrikaans) and
English to repertoire of SA lanuages
1652: Dutch East India trading company (VOC) officially established
halfway-station ;
Preceding this event were 164 years of trading contact, most after
1497 – thus in the 50 yrs before VOC settlement.
1658:
introduction of slavery to southern Africa; slaves of varying ethnic
backgrounds – most diverse of any recorded slave society (Shell
1994), a ‘polyglot society’; need to communicate not only with
Dutch masters, also with fellow workers (Roberge 2002);
slavery officially abolished in 1808.
1795:
First British occupation; short interlude (1803 – 1806) – by 1820
there were 757 Britons living in Cape Town; British authority
initially had “light touch government”, limited interference in
established Dutch structures.
On the origins of Afrikaans
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Regarded by some as dialectal variant of Dutch;
Sometimes considered a restructured version of Dutch (thus
similar to an L2 variety of the TL) – imperfect L2-acquisition of
Dutch by non-Europeans;
Identified by others as “semi-creole” (McWhorter 1998)
cf. Virgin Islands Creole Dutch which has no inflexional affixes,
vs. Afrikaans which retained the bulk of Dutch derivational
morphology;
Den Besten (1989) suggests the term “fort creole” (less radical
difference from lexifier language than is found in plantation
creoles);
Roberge (2002), although wary of the “Cafeteria Principle”,
claims and illustrates multiple causation.
Origins and first speakers of Afrikaans
Roberge (2002): Convergence Model of the formation of Afrikaans
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Dutch of superstrate community was highly variable
Jargonized forms of Dutch (and English) emerged among
indigenous khoekhoe – served as medium of interethnic
communication (MIC)
Africans and Asians with no common language used jargonized
versions of superstrate Dutch – stable Cape Dutch Pidgin by
1710
MIC drew on range of resources: metropolitan Dutch, Cape
Dutch Pidgin, Creole Portuguese, Malay, Khoekhoe dialects –
innovation
Speech of locally born slaves became elaborated form of Cape
Dutch MIC, but not medium for community solidarity (MCS)
From 1710 a variation continuum – ‘Cape Dutch Vernacular’
(Deumert 1999, 2001)
Terminology
Language shift:
 “when a community gives up a language completely in favour of
another one” (Fasold 1984: 213)
 “where the possibility exists that one language will give way
partially or completely to another” (NWT Literacy Council 1999:10)
Matrix Language Frame model
Matrix Language vs Embedded Language in code-switching:
 asymmetry in the participation of the languages involved in codeswitching (NB is the open/closed-class distinction (Joshi1985);
distinction between content/system morphemes (Myers-Scotton
1993; Myers-Scotton et al 1995, 2000, 2002)
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identifiability of Matrix Language
preference for Matrix Language structure, elements
Indicators of language shift
in Western Cape Afrikaans community
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First language
Family language
Language of education
Patterns of use in religious practices
Self-reported proficiency
Language preference of 3rd generation
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Matrix language turnover
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Matrix Language Turnover hypothesis
1. Classic code switching:
Language A matrix, Language B embedded
2. Composite code switching:
composite of Languages A and B as matrix
3a. Matrix language turnover:
Language B matrix, Language A embedded
3b. Monolingualism in Language B
(Myers-Scotton 1998; Deuchar & Davies (2009)
Data
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Participants selected – three generations; generation 1 & 2
from Afrikaans L1 families who chose to raise their children as
L1 speakers of English
Semi-structured interviews:
participants specifically asked to reflect on which language
they regard to be their L1;
generation 2 specifically asked to motivate language
choice in bringing up and schooling their children
2003:
3 families, 12 individuals representing 3 generations;
2008/9: 13 families, 30 individuals representing 3 generations
2003:
8-9 hrs recorded;
2008/9: 12-14 hrs recorded
Transcription in progress
Excerpt: generation 1
Maar, Engels is ‘n iets
wat jy oral
mee kan gaan. Want
But, English is a something that you everywhere with can go.
as jy / in baie lande
Because if you / in many countries
wat jy kan gaan / praat Engels sê hulle. / So ek kannie daar, as ek nou hiervandaan af gaan / ek het in
that you can go / speak English, say they. / So I can NEG there, if I now
here-from
go / I AUX in
Durban gewees vir ‘n paar / vir ‘n week/ as jy daar gaan / selfs jou eie mense praat nie met jou
Durban p.been for a few / for a week / if you there go / even your own people talk NEG with you
Afrikaans nie / hulle almal
praat nie Afrikaans nie./ Ek het in Johannesburg gewees vir twee drie
dae/
Afrikaans NEG / they everyone talk NEG Afrikaans NEG / I AUX in Johannesburg p.been for two three days /
ek het sewe maande daar gewerk / djy moet Engels praat /
of
jy
nou nie / kan of nie maar
I AUX seven months there p.work / you must English speak / whether you now NEG/ can or not but
djy moet praat. / So Afrikaans is vir jou
/ goed/ djy’t
grootgeword daarmee …
you must speak. / So Afrikaans is for you / good / you-AUX were raised therewith
Excerpt: generation 2
Wel Jean, jy weet um / die Strand se gemeenskap / veral die Moslem gemeenskap /
Well Jean, you know um / the Strand POS community / specially the Moslem community/
hulle het ‘n neiging
om hulle taal
te meng /
soo om vir hulle in Afrikaans
they have a tendency to their language mix (non-fin) / so-o to for them in Afrikaans
te laat grootword /ek dink nie hulle sal
die Afrikaans gepraat het as ‘n standaardtaal
nie /
(cause) grow up / I think NEG they would the Afrikaans p.speak AUX as a standard language NEG/
dit was een van my primêre redes /tweedens / vir akademiese redes / soos ek jou al voorheen gesê het /
that was one of my primary reasons / secondly / for academic reasons / as I you earlier p.say AUX/
ek het by UWK geswot /um / dit was oorheersend Afrikaans aan die begin / maar soos ek byvoorbeeld
I AUX at UWC p.swot / um / it was predominantly Afrikaans in the beginning / but as I for example
in my derde jaar en wat ek my HOD doen / was-it um / oorheersend Engels / en um /
in my third year and that I my HDE p.do / was-it um / predominantly English / and um /
jy moet baie navorsing gedoen het so jy moet baie vertaling gedoen het en dit was vir my
you must much research p.do AUX so you must much translation p.do AUX and that was for me
een van die stuikelblokke
eintlik dat / um / omdat jy oorheersend Afrikaans praat /
one of the stumbling blocks actually that / um / because you predominantly Afrikaans speak /
Excerpt: generation 3
JF4-3a When my dad, um / he stayed in town / so it was / kind of mixed Afrikaans English
/um / and then when we grew up um / my schooling is a bit different to my sister’s /
cause I started out with Afrikaans for three years until grade three
JF
You were the eldest?
JF4-3a Ja. /at school / and then I went to an English and Afrikaans school but I was in the
Afrikaans class /so / all my lessons were in English up until I finished / high school /
whereas with Tasneem and him …
JF4-3b I started from English and been going right through / but now at University its
Afrikaans mainly / its Stellenbosch University …
JF
At Stellenbosch? / Do they use Afrikaans?
JF4-3b Yes, mainly. / My lectures are in Afrikaans
JF
Which Department are you in?
JF4-3b In the B.Com Department
JF
B.Com.?
Motivation for change of L1
in new generation of speakers
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Prestige, status of English – referent power;
… die status van Engels /Engels is beskou /was beskou as ‘n elitetaal
the status of English / English was seen / was seen as an elite language
(J4.2)
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Own limited fluency perceived as handicap
…Ek het altyd gestruggle met Engels
I always struggled with English
… die kinders is ek bly voor / hulle’t nie nodig om om die hoekie te
staan / as daar Engels gepraat word
(E6.1)
… I am pleased for the children’s sake / they don’t need to hide around
the corner / when English is being spoken
Motivation for change of L1
in new generation of speakers (cont.)
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Educational / academic advantage
… Ek het gevoel ek willie he^ my kinders moet deur daai / daai um trauma
gaan nie (lag) sal ek it maar nou so se^ want dit was vir my nogal baie erg /
want op kollege het ons / ons notas alles Afrikaans gekry maar dit was vir my ‘n
baie groot sprong op universiteit toet ek nou moes die Engels vertaal het en s- /
dat allie boeke hoofsaaklik in Engels was en ek wou nie gehad het my kinders
moes daardeur gaan nie
( JF1.2)
I felt that I don’t want my children to go through that / that um trauma (laugh)
shall I put it that way because it was really quite bad for me / because at
college we had / our notes all in Afrikaans but it was ‘n big step to university
when I had to translate the English and s- / that all the books were mainly in
English and I did not want my children to go through the same thing
Motivation for change of L1
in new generation of speakers (cont.)
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Political history; lack of emotional attachment
… … ook as ons liewer hulle in Engels grootmaak want /destyds/ was daar mos
nou nie sprake van Stellenbosch Universiteit wat Afrikaans sou wees waar my
kinders welkom sou wees nie, verstaan jy?
(JF2.2)
…also I we rather raised them in English because / at the time / there was no
thought of Stellenbosch University that would be Afrikaans where my children
would be welcome, you know?...
… en dan ook as gevolg van die land se beleid / eh die die apartheids-kwessie
dat hulle jou nie wou erken het as mede-Afrikaner of as medeAfrikaanssprekende / eh jy’t nie trots gevoel saam oor jou taal nie / alhoewel jy
baie lief was vir jou taal
(JF4.2)
… and then also as a result of the country’s policy / eh the the apartheidissue
that they didn’t want to acknowledge one as a fellow-Afrikaner or as fellow
speaker of Afrikaans / eh one didn’t feel joint pride in the language / although
one really liked your language
Motivation for change of L1
in new generation of speakers (cont.)
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Social mobility, access to employment, the international
world
Engels is iets wat jy oral mee kan gaan
English is something that you can take with you anywhere you go
(EG6.1)
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The Afrikaans standard
… ek dink nie hulle sal die Afrikaans gepraat het as ‘n standaardtaal nie / dit
was een van my primere redes
(JF3.2)
… I don’t think they would have spoken the Afrikaans as a standard language /
that was one of my primary reasons
Matrix language turnover as precursor to
language shift, English monolingualism?
Participants from 13 families
 Generation 1: AFRIKAANS matrix language
2/9 participants indicated early bilingual development
– English as ideal/preference
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Generation 2: AFRIKAANS matrix language
3/15 participants indicated preference for English
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Generation 3: ENGLISH matrix language
1/18 participants gave impression of greater affinity
for Afrikaans in social context
Conclusion
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Language shift across three generations
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An historically Afrikaans L1 community has, to a considerable
degree, premeditatedly given up Afrikaans in favour of English L1
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Replacement of Afrikaans is partial – not ‘complete’
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Matrix language turnover – English has become the matrix language
of new generation
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English language change – L2 grammatical structures, contactinduced change ... developing a “new English”
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Effects on Afrikaans in South Africa not yet calculated
Suggestions for further work
Beyond qualitative work – quantitative survey in 3 Cape Town
metropolitan areas with varying socio-economic conditions
Language change in “Kaapse Afrikaans” community in relation to
(i) the future of Afrikaans
(ii) the emergence of a New English (Kachru, McArthur)
Systematic checking of code-switching as indicator of
(i) matrix language
(ii) profile of bilingual speech patterns
(iii) extent of process of language shift