Embedded Files
Supervision
The syntax of discourse particles in Kaaps
PhD in progress by Chevãn Van Rooi
(supervising with Theresa Biberauer & Marjo Van Koppen)
This is a syntactic study which will focus on lexical items whose primary function is to mediate the interaction between a speaker and a hearer in a given context. Traditionally, syntactic research has not focused on such elements. To address this lacuna in syntactic research, Wiltschko (2021) proposes a framework, the Interactional Spine Hypothesis (ISH), which allows one to analyse the elements in question as part of syntax. This study intends to expand upon the ISH by using evidence from Kaaps data. Special attention will be given to the use of discourse particles such as ne, kamalikes, mos, etc. Another goal of this study is to understand possible variations in discourse particles in relation to socio-linguistic intricacies. Overall, this study aims to contribute to the documentation and description of Kaaps grammar, provide an analysis of discourse particles in Kaaps, and provide insight into how Kaaps fits into the West Germanic language family. The study will adopt a mixed methods approach in which both secondary (e.g., corpora of previously collected spontaneous speech from around the Cape Flats) and primary data (e.g., speakers’ acceptability judgments) are considered.
Extraposition and optionality:
an investigation of information
packaging in Paarl-Kaaps
(supervising with Theresa Biberauer)
MA in progress by Lawren Smith
Kaaps is a highly marginalised and stigmatized variety of Afrikaans which forms a part of the identity of many individuals. There is a misconception that Kaaps is a language that is mostly spoken in Cape Town; yet many people in surrounding areas also identify as Kaaps speakers. One of these is Paarl, which is situated in the Boland region. This study thus aims to do morpho-syntactic research on Paarl-Kaaps by investigating how speakers employ various grammatical phenomena, specifically extraposition, doubling and raising, to “package” information and to construct their identity. The processing and analysis of the data will employ a mixed methods approach, as the coding and processing of the data will make use of quantitative methods while the analysis will be done with qualitative methods.
MA completed by Chevãn Van Rooi
(supervised with Theresa Biberauer)
The primary goal of this study is to provide a detailed and sharply focused sociosyntactic description and analysis of an aspect of clausal word order variation in Kaaps. Kaaps is a grammatically understudied, historically rich and marginalised variety of Afrikaans. Special attention is given to the use of verb-second (V2) and verb-third (V3) in relation to sociolinguistic variables such as location, language background and age. V2 and V3 refer to the position of the verb in a sentence and are typical properties of West Germanic languages. The study aims to understand possible variations in V2 and V3 and to locate this variation in relation to sociolinguistic intricacies. Syntactic patterns gathered from this research will contribute to the documentation and description of Kaaps grammar, to our understanding of word order variation in Kaaps and in Afrikaans more generally, and they will also provide insight into how Kaaps fits into the West Germanic language family.
An investigation of the interactionally sensitive pronominal system in Kuils River Kaaps
MA in progress by Jessica Albertyn
(supervising with Theresa Biberauer)
This study’s empirical focus is the pronominal system, which is more elaborate in Kaaps generally than in Standard or “School” Afrikaans. Specifically, Kaaps speakers employ both (i) the [d]-initial forms found in spoken Standard Afrikaans, like multi-functional pronominal dit (‘it/that/this’), locative daar (‘there’) and demonstrative daai (‘that’), and (ii) reduced [d]-less counterparts of these forms – it, haar and haai respectively. The dissertation aims to contribute to the systematic description of the grammars of the Kaaps varieties spoken throughout the Cape Peninsula. It focuses on Kuils River Kaaps, drawing on data from the Kuils River Sub-Corpus (KRSC) of the SEcoKa Corpus of Kaaps. The proposed study investigates the distribution of these elements both quantitatively and qualitatively, paying particular attention to the role of contextual (discourse and interactional) factors in regulating speakers’ use of their expanded pronominal inventory.
The morphological (in-)dependence of the auxiliary het (‘have’) in Kaaps: a study of speaker-writers' intuitions
The morphological (in-)dependence of the auxiliary het (‘have’) in Kaaps: a study of speaker-writers' intuitions
MA in progress by
X-nita Stuurman
The main objective of the present study is to consider various aspects to accommodate all Kaaps speakers in the hopes of creating a writing system that benefits all Kaaps speakers, suggest and provide tools to lay out a foundation to develop specific materials and aids to use in schools and other settings for Kaaps Afrikaans. The paper will focus on how Kaaps users choose to represent word boundaries with the word het. The study aims to discover how often het enclitised compared to the opportunity to do so, word categories hosting the enclisis, whether het is an auxiliary or a lexical verb. The study aims to find out whether het is more likely to be an auxiliary or lexical verb, het.AUX more likely to be an enclitic when it is in second position or when it is sentence final, and finally whether het.LEX more likely to be an enclitic when it is in second position or when it is sentence final.
List of Honours' theses
List of Honours' theses
2024. H. Claassen. Subject-verb agreement in the English of Worcester Afrikaans speakers. Honours' thesis. In progress.
2024. K. Heckrath. Subject-verb agreement in the English of Elsies River Kaaps speakers. Honours' thesis. In progress.
2024. J. Cooke. Subject-verb agreement in the English of Strandfontein Kaaps speakers. Honours' thesis. In progress.
2023. M. Aashiq Narker. Discourse particles in Mitchells Plain Kaaps. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2023, Cum Laude.
2023. Matamela Tshamano. Effects of noun classification on the cognitive categorisation of objects: an exploratory study of Tshivenda. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2023, Cum Laude.
2023. Rajaa Majiet. Omissions in the nominal domain of Arabic-Afrikaans: Abu Bakr Effendi's Bayân al-Dîn. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2023.
2022. Jessica C. Albertyn. Object drop by multilingual speakers in Kuils River: An initial exploration. Honours’ thesis. Co-supervisor: Theresa Biberauer. Completed 2022, Summa Cum Laude.
2020. X-nita Stuurman. Exploring micro-linguistic features of Kaaps on Facebook. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2020.
2020. Larnelle Lewies. Linguistic features of Kaaps registers in a church setting. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2020.
2019. Chevãn C. Van Rooi. P-Drop in Kaaps Expressions of Accompaniment. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2019, Summa Cum Laude.
2019. Kãmilah Kalidheen. Syntactic Islands in Kaaps. Honours’ thesis. Completed 2020.
Talks
2024. Pretorius, E. Title to be declared. Keynote speaker. 3rd Kaaps Symposium. 15-16 August. Woodstock, Cape Town.
2021. Pretorius, E. & C. Van Rooi. Saam jou chommies: variation and change in Kaaps comitative PPs. Presentation given at the 9th Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP9). 2-4 December. Cape Town, South Africa.
2019. Biberauer, T. & E. Pretorius. Variation and complexification in the Kaaps D-system. Presentation given at the 8th Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP8). 28 - 30 November. Durban, South Africa.
2019. Biberauer, T., E. Pretorius, C. Van Rooi & F. Butoni. Microvariation in the Afrikaans pronominal system: variation in Kaaps. Workshop on Morphosyntactic Variation: 19 July, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
2019. Biberauer, T. & E. Pretorius. Variation triggering remorphologisation in Kaaps. Presentation given at the 34th Comparative Germanic Syntax Workshop (CGSW 34). 14-15 June. Konstanz, Germany.
2018. Biberauer, T. & E. Pretorius. The Syntactic Ecology of Afrikaaps: an initial exploration. Presentation given at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Language Association of Great Britain (LAGB): 11-14 September 2018, Sheffield, England.
2018. Biberauer, T., E. Pretorius, F. Butoni. A spectacular vernacular: initial explorations into some core properties of Afrikaaps grammar. Presentation given at the 7th Southern African Microlinguistics Workshop (SAMWOP7). 29 November - 1 December. Thohoyandou, South Africa.
Report abuse