Taalvariasie by 'n groep laag-besoldigde Afrikaanssprekende mans en vroue

[摘要] The aim of this study is to investigate marked linguistic phenomena in the spoken language of agroup of (elderly) white Afrikaans-speaking men and women who were economically active inJohannesburg and surrounding areas between 1920 and 1940.For this purpose, tape recordings of twelve male railway workers and twelve female factoryworkers who fall into a lower socio-economic group were transcribed and analysed as faithfullyas possible. Tape recordings of five white male and five white female Afrikaans-speakingteachers of more or less the same age as the first group, but belonging to a higher socio-economiccategory, were also analysed and transcribed as a basis for comparison. Distinct phonological,syntactical and lexical phenomena indicating signs of language contact were observed in thelanguage of the speakers in the various groups under investigation. Significant differences mayalso be observed in the language of the men and women in the different socio-economic groups,with the language of the men and women in the lower socio-economic group and that of those inthe higher socio-economic group clearly exhibiting gradual differences.Contrary to what was initially expected, men do not necessarily adhere more strictly tostandardised language in speech than do women, and few significant characteristics typify thelanguage of men and women in this period.The original expectation of finding relics of spoken Afrikaans from the pre-standardisation phaseamongst the speakers selected was not fulfilled since the linguistic phenomena recorded aregenerally still heard in colloquial Afrikaans today. Furthermore, no traces of Dutchification wereto be found in the case of the speakers selected. Dutchification apparently did not take place atlower socio-economic levels.From this study it is clear that the interaction between social stratification and language variationplays an important role, as do the problems surrounding language norms and social norms. Inthis study of variation, attention is also paid to language normalisation and standardisation, and tolanguage variation and social stratification prior to a discussion of the language of men andwomen.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand