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The following graph provides and outline of the statistics for mother tongue speakers per language in South Africa: Graph 1: Comparative language use in South Africa (1996 and 2001) www.cyberserv.co.za/~jako/lang/stats.htm Census (2001) results show that 3 673 203 people in South Africa speak English as their mother tongue, constituting only 8.2% of the country’s total population. Afrikaans mother-tongue speakers comprise 13.3% of the country’s population, while the majority of the population speaks Zulu and Xhosa as a first language. The scenario may appear to be as indicated in the foregoing graph and census statistics, however, statistics of the number of speakers do not provide a clear enough illustration of the current linguistic situation in South Africa. Although English only ranks in fifth place in terms of the number of mother tongue speakers (see Graph 1), it is a widely spoken language because a large population in South Africa speak English as a second language. Therefore, the significance of English emerges in terms of the number of people able to communicate in the language, rather than the number of mother- tongue speakers. According to Gough, 33% of Africans have knowledge of English while 89% of Whites and 51% of Coloureds have a speaking ability in English (http://www.ru.ac.za/affiliates/dsae/GOUGH.HTML). Therefore, although 10
English is not the mother tongue of the majority, it is spoken and understood by the majority of the population. Within the South African context, English appears to have the highest status among all the official languages. McCormick (2002b) argues that English is valued because of its status as a lingua franca and its use internationally. Further, McCormick (2002b: 102) states that English is also “… associated with a middleclass, prosperous lifestyle, with generations of city living, and with well-known and prestigious educational institutions.” In Cape Town, many Afrikaans speakers in the Coloured community are opting to send their children to English-medium schools, allowing their children to be educated in a language other than their mother-tongue. It appears as though parents are more concerned that their children are able to communicate in the language associated with an education and upward mobility, rather than the language that has been spoken by previous generations. Ultimately, English is important for tertiary education and employment. According to McCormick (2002b: 101), “speaking English is … the sign of being a city sophisticate, as opposed to a country bumpkin. Young people who want to be thought of as sophisticated and ‘cool’ have to be able to speak English fluently and with panache.” 1.2 Statement of the Problem Deviation from the standard language often has a stigma attached to it. Using two languages in the same utterance often implies that speakers are not fully competent in one language and, therefore, compensate for their linguistic inability by switching to an alternate language. This notion has been a motivating factor for the lack of interest in codeswitching as a research topic prior to the 1970s. According to Chomsky (1965) (cited in 11
Page 1 and 2: GRAMMATICAL CONSTRAINTS AND MOTIVAT
Page 3 and 4: Abstract GRAMMATICAL CONSTRAINTS AN
Page 5 and 6: Declaration I declare that Grammati
Page 7 and 8: Table of Contents Key words .......
Page 9: 1.0 Introduction Chapter 1 Backgrou
Page 13 and 14: everyday communication. The nature
Page 15 and 16: While researchers and sociolinguist
Page 17 and 18: language of the court, education, a
Page 19 and 20: This, then, makes it apparent why C
Page 21 and 22: have always been exposed simultaneo
Page 23 and 24: ) I have eaten an apple. The past t
Page 25 and 26: also instances in which they do not
Page 27 and 28: providing a strong argument that co
Page 29 and 30: 1.10 Outline of the Study Chapter 1
Page 31 and 32: 2.0 Introduction Chapter 2 Social M
Page 33 and 34: “…codeswitching is a form of bo
Page 35 and 36: In this section, I attempt to provi
Page 37 and 38: eferred to as RO) sets between part
Page 39 and 40: example, Afrikaans speakers may swi
Page 41 and 42: Further, Franceschini (1998: 62) st
Page 43 and 44: context in which the speaker finds
Page 45 and 46: 3.0 Introduction Chapter 3 Grammati
Page 47 and 48: codeswitching as they do reflect th
Page 49 and 50: Constituent insertion differs from
Page 51 and 52: In these examples, the main verbs a
Page 53 and 54: 4.0 Introduction Chapter 4 Research
Page 55 and 56: Thus, qualitative research is an in
Page 57 and 58: However, contrary to Auer’s 1984
Page 59 and 60: The transcripts were then analyzed
Page 61 and 62:
5.0 Introduction Chapter 5 Discussi
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Turn Phrase Table 1: Switched conju
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In turns 22, 53, 59 and 63, English
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Unlike in English, when the past te
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similarity to that of Afrikaans due
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Table 7: Afrikaans determiners with
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possessive. However, it appears as
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indefinite articles, ‘a’ or ‘
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The following are examples from the
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Turn Mixed verb Afrikaans equivalen
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In turns 421 and 532, the host subs
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the violation of this constraint, p
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nouns) are used. I have selected a
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What follows are a few switches to
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The next switch is the insertion of
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has chosen to split the phrase into
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The discourse suggests that the hos
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speaker’s close association with
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The next, and final, switch is to A
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of proceedings throughout the show.
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host is being somewhat sarcastic, b
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also of the ways in which language
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6.0 Introduction Chapter 6 Conclusi
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• While conjunctions do agree wit
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References Appel, R & Muysken, P. (
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Hamers, J. & Blanc, M. (2000). Bili
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Ponelis, F. (1993). The Development
Page 115 and 116:
Young, D. (1988). Bilingualism and
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APPENDIX
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First Transcript: Update Kaapse Vla
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52. Clarence: Wilfred? 53. Suster:
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[laughter] 62. Clarence: Die’s (d
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terrace and so I couldn’t go up t
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{So he got an sms back} to say, “
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then you go from Notre-Dame up the
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201. Suster: Yes Clarence, it’s,
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258. Suster Ja {Yes}, my introducti
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322. Suster = = Nou {Now}, Clarence
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376. Suster Will do. Thank you my s
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a short while. Music followed by ad
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ecause … did I really say that, y
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speaker}. En toe stoot hy nou die m
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627. Suster [laughter] 628. Caller
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699. Caller 13 Yes, uh, I know that
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when I say that you do not have a,
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853. Caller 16 = = maar jy en Clare
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for} innerly = = 897. Suster = = ja
Page 155 and 156:
975. Caller 19 Hello Suster. 976. S
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