grammatical constraints and motivations for - University of the ...

with his story in Afrikaans as soon as the tour group is referred to, thus switching
is indexical of identity (Myers-Scotton, 2006a; Walters, 2005; Banda, 2005).
As was the case with the previous story, the matrix language, Afrikaans, and
switches occur for more or less the same reasons as previously discussed.
Therefore, I find it more beneficial to discuss the major trends, as far as switching
is concerned in this story, as opposed to carrying out a line-by-line analysis.
In this turn, as is evident in the rest of the discourse, proper nouns (particularly the
names of places) are expressed in English. In this turn the speaker uses “Red
Light District” as there is no suitable and meaningful Afrikaans translation. Other
examples of this phenomenon in the discourse are ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Paris’, ‘The
Hague’ (turn 55), and London (121). The only pace the speaker does choose to
translate into Afrikaans, however, is Cape Town, which he refers to as “die Kaap”
(turns 49 and 162). This may be a possible result of the strong association the
speaker holds between his mother tongue and the city from which he originates.
Also, the variety of Afrikaans he speaks is synonymous with the city of Cape
Town.
Another element which the speaker chooses to communicate in English is that of
time. This is peculiar in that English and Afrikaans have distinct differences in
the way in which time is told. Whereas English uses the word ‘past’ (as in half
past one), Afrikaans uses the word ‘voor’, meaning ‘before’ (as in half voor twee).
Thus, when the aspect of half an hour is communicated, English uses half past the
hour that has just passed, while Afrikaans uses half an hour before the hour that is
yet to come. In addition, Afrikaans speakers also omit the word ‘voor’, saying
“half twee” and not “half voor twee.” In addition, Afrikaans does not rely on the
phrase, ‘‘o clock’, as English does, but simply states the hour. For example,
Afrikaans speakers would translate one ‘o clock as “een uur”, literally translated
as “one hour.”
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