According to Statistics South Africa, the 1991 and 2001 census shows that about 8,6% of the South African population use English as a home language, but in the world of science and commerce over 45% of the population communicates in English, respectively. With English as the lingua franca, the country should be savoring the success of hosting well over 400 000 soccer tourists as projected by Cape Town Routes Unlimited, the official tourism destination marketing organisation for Cape Town and the Western Cape.
Although South Africa as a travel destination offers great vistas and a cultural experience, there are some secrets of how the people communicate, in this scenario your Standard English will not suffice, here are some words you could learn to beat them at their own game.
The ABC of South African English
White South Africans mostly speak English and Afrikaans, (which developed from Dutch spoken by settlers in the Cape), languages spoken by black South Africans are: isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, sePedi, seSotho, seTswana, siSwati, tshiVenda, xiTsonga. The country’s embrace of multilingualism is not just seen in its constitution, but how these languages influence each other, and that South Africans understand or speak more than one language. Here are some of the popular words understood by most South Africans.
Babbelas (buh-buh-lass), refers to a hangover, which your typical soccer fan could suffer from after a torrid game between Uruguay and France on 11 June at the Cape Town, Green Point Stadium. Maybe you’ll be on your way to Durbs, the city of Durban, where Germany is up against Australia on 13 June. If Jozie (jo-zee), the city of Johannesburg (South Africa’s largest city) is your destination of choice, you can watch South Africa play against Mexico on 11 June, however, don’t be surprised if you hear a beautiful noise coming from the cheering fans, that could be the vuvuzela(voo-voo-zeh-lah), a colourful plastic trumpet with the sound of a foghorn, the word is from the isiZulu word for making noise.
Prepare to make some more noise, when the commentator shouts laduma!(la-doo-mah), a cheer for goals scored. Eish(aysh) an expression of surprise or frustration could be blurted out by the fans if their striker should miss a goal. It would be quite eina (ay-nuh or ay-nar) meaning painful or sore if your team should lose. However, your loyalty to your team could mean that you’ll probably argue for why they lost, but your adversaries might say is it?(as one word: izit), the equivalent of saying “is that so”. Others could just say nê (neh),really, often used sarcastically. But you can end the verbal feud with a simpleja (yes) response.
Proudly South African
The people of South Africa are known for their warmth and hospitality enshrined in what is called ubuntu, a southern African humanist philosophy that says a person is a person through other people. Ubuntu might not be such a new term to you because Madiba, former President Nelson Mandela as he is affectionately known, promoted this notion during his reign as South Africa’ s first democratically elected president.
Talking Street Wise
Boet (like book with a t) and bru (brew) are affectionate words for brother, boet from the Afrikaans word for brother, bru is the shorter version. When you greet a bru you can always say howzit, meaning how are you? If you do meet a bru, he can eventually become your chommie, friend from the English chum, and when the two of you make a wise decision not to drink and drive, a taxi, not the metered kind with single passenger, but a minibus is a good option. If you prefer to walk, pasop (pus-orp), watch out for other cars by walking on the pavement (sidewalk) and crossing were there are robots (traffic lights) at pedestrian crossings, doing otherwise could make you a mampara (mum-puh-rah), a silly person, a word from the Sotho language.
Eating South African
After the games and you decide to catch up on some of the highlights you can have a braai (br-eye) barbecue with friends. Boerewors (boor-uh-vors), a savoury sausage, served with pap or mealie meal (mih-lih) maize or corn would be firm favourite for your new chommie(s). A delicious sarmie (sandwich) or sosatie (soh-saa-tee) kebab on a stick, would complement your dop (alcoholic drink) or cooldrink/colddrink, a soda, very well. Don’t forget to try some biltong(bill-tong), it is dried and salted meat from ostrich, kudu or red meat.
The 2010 World Cup promises to be a real jol (jawl) party, remember some of these words when you are in Mzansi (m-zun-zee) another word for South Africa, and have a lekker (lekk-irr with a rolling r) good, time.
Visit the Mail & Gurdian Online, to read more about South African English words.
Alfred Thutloa - Hi, Interests Languages and cultures – Language and culture define us, they are the essence of who we are and how we see ...
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