The Consonants of Bsae: Current Knowledge and Future Prospects

Abstract

Die konsonante van Swart Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (SSAE) word in hierdie artikel ondersoek Beskikbare navorsingsbevindinge word opgesom en aangebied naas nuwe data oor Tswana-Engels. Die resultate dui daarop dat SSAE nie bale verskil van ‘Respectable’ Suid-Afrikaanse Engels (RSAE) sover dit die konsonantinventaris betref nie. SSAE word gekenmerk dew die afwesigheid van die dentale frikatief [ð] en die neutralisasie van onderskeidings tussen palatale frikatiewe en affrikate. Konsonantklusters in sillabe-aansette is ook baie soortgelyk in SSAE en RSAE, maar SSAE word gekenmerk deur heelwat vereenvoudiging in kodaklusters, veral deur die skrapping van eksplosiewe. Moontlike rigtings vir verdere navorsing word in die slotafdeling voorgehou.

The consonants of Black South African English (BSAE) are investigated in this article. Available research findings are summarised and presented alongside new data from Tswana-English. The results indicate that BSAE does not differ very much from Respectable South African English (RSAE) as far as its consonant inventory is concerned. BSAE is characterised most clearly by the absence of the dental fricative [ð] and the neutralisation of contrasts between palatal fricatives and affricates. Consonant clusters in syllable onsets are also very similar in BSAE and RSAE, but BSAE is characterised by a lot of simplification in coda clusters, particularly by deleting plosives. Some directions for future research are offered in the concluding section.