| Summary: | Abstract
The following study gives a descriptive account of eight vowel variables in two varieties
of South African English spoken in present-day Johannesburg, along with
a domain analysis of language use of black South Africans and a qualitative assessment
of language attitudes of black and white students attending the University of the
Witwatersrand.
The eight vowel variables are compared to those varieties documented in the
literature known as English-Speaking South African English (ESSA English) and Black
South African English (BSAE), an L2 variety spoken by black South Africans. Many of
the dialectological studies of varieties of South African English in the past have dealt
solely with “white” South African English (ESSA English), which usually has included
dialects of L1 English speakers and white Afrikaans speakers. In comparison, BSAE has
received considerably less attention regarding its development and phonetic description.
It is argued that BSAE does not exist as one single entity due to drastic
differences in levels of proficiency among black South Africans, and that BSAE varieties
in Johannesburg have radically been changing, with access to English in schools being
one of the primary social factors. The elimination of segregated schools has had a
dramatic effect on the varieties of English spoken in the Johannesburg area, and thus, can
no longer be categorised neatly into ethnolects.
The analysis of the phonetic variables, the investigation of language use (English
vs. an African language) of black students along with a discussion of language attitudes
of both black and white students reveal that there are two distinct lects of speakers in the
sample population. Each lect was then analysed in terms of its social variables, i.e.,
ethnicity, educational background and gender. The social composition of each lect
suggests a shift from BSAE among L2 speakers of English to a variety closer to that of
their white counterparts, and in some cases, contradicts the variants predicted by the
BSAE variable system.
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