-
7/29/2019 South African English and African American English
1/5
South African
English and AfricanAmerican English
-
7/29/2019 South African English and African American English
2/5
South African English (SAE)
English came to South Africa through colonizationby the end of
the 18th century.
During the early occupation days, especially afterthe second
occupation when British rule became
more permanent, the language of the government,schools, legal
system and business was English.
Around 200 years later it is widely spoken inAfricas most
southern country although it is not
the sole official language.
-
7/29/2019 South African English and African American English
3/5
African American English (AAE)
This dialect is spoken by a large population of
Americans of African descent
Generally used in casual and informal situations,
and is much more common among working class
people.
African Americans from the middle class
backgrounds with the higher levels of educationare now more
likely to be speakers of SAE.
E.g: U.S President Barack Obama
-
7/29/2019 South African English and African American English
4/5
Phonological differences between AAE
and SAE
r deletion except before the vowels.
SAE AAE
guard God
nor Gnaw
sore Saw
poor Poefort fought
-
7/29/2019 South African English and African American English
5/5
Syntactic differences between SAE and
AAE
Deletion of the verb Be
SAE AAE
He is nice / Hes nice He nice
They are mine / theyre mine They mine
I am going to do it I gonna do it
How beautiful youre How beautiful you
Here Im Here I
