Bantu Loans In The English-Speaking Multicultural Setting Of South Africa

Abstract.

BANTU LOANS IN THE ENGKISH-SPEAKING MULTICULTURAL SETTING OF SOUTH AFRICA

Olena Avramenko

Department of English Philology, Zaporizhzhia National University, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

Abstract

Background: Globalization, cultural and linguistic exchange have become topical issues in modern linguistics. The focus is on the development and functioning of English as a lingua franca in multicultural settings, such as South African Republic. Having become a varied system, South African English enables communication among numerous autochthonous and migrant communities. The efficiency of language interactions is due to the flexibility of South African English lexicon incorporating vocabulary from various etymological sources, and reflecting multiple aspects of cultures in contact.

Purpose: the research is to examine causes and results of borrowing from the Bantu languages into the lexicon of South African English.

Results: the findings suggest that the South African English lexicon is a friendly-to-borrow system which is adjustable for the needs of interethnic communication and integration of cultures in contact. The Bantu languages provide a productive source of direct and indirect loans including lexical, morphological, structural, and semantic borrowings. There can be a correlation between the etymological sources of borrowing and semantic fields the loans appeal to. It supports the idea about the nonisomorphic categorization of referents in languages. The Bantu loans in South African English are well assimilated units that function to meet speakers’ naming, expressive and pragmatic intentions. The Bantu loans appear in two groups: some function as common to all the varieties of South African English while others are specific to a particular variety spoken as the first or the second language.

Discussion: The English-Bantu contacts are encouraging the formation of a polyethnic identity in the South African republic.

Keywords: South African English, varieties of English, borrowing, Bantu languages, assimilation, multicultural

Vitae

Olena Avramenko is a PhD student of the Department of English Philology, Zaporizhzhia National University. Her areas of research interests include sociolinguistics, language change and variation, multilingualism, intercultural communication, varieties of English, language contacts.

Correspondence: av30el@gmail.com

Article.

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