Translanguaging in kasi-taal: Rethinking old language boundaries for new language planning
Keywords:
translanguaging, hybridity, kasi-taal, language boundaries, townships
Abstract
This paper examines discursive language practices among Black township natives who consider kasi-taal, a hybrid urban variety from major Black townships in Johannesburg, their home language. Firstly, an analysis of 20 dialogue samples that were collected from second-year university students from five townships reveals that traditional linguistic boundaries between indigenous African languages have been re-negotiated to express expanded views of the self. Secondly, the study shows that expansion of linguistic codes is enhanced by common substrate systems in the Nguni and Sotho languages, lexical borrowings, semantic shifts and morphological derivations from Afrikaans and English as source languages. Using a translanguaging framework, I argue that kasi-taal languaging practices challenge traditional conceptualisations of language and provide a window into future possibilities for merging African languages. Implications for future research based on the study’s findings are highlighted at the end of the paper.Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Published
2014-01-29
How to Cite
Makalela, L. (2014). Translanguaging in kasi-taal: Rethinking old language boundaries for new language planning. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 42, 111-125. https://doi.org/10.5842/42-0-164
Issue
Section
Articles
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).