"What makes South African English different? Have you ever wondered where the words ‘gogga’, ‘tsotsi’ and ‘larney’ come from? Did you know that the first sentence uttered by a South African in English may have been spoken by a Khoikhoi man in 1613? South African English is unique and is made up of several varieties. This entertaining and informative book looks at the forms of English spoken here, where they come from and how they fit into the spectrum of world Englishes. Humorous and engaging, it is packed with common expressions, slang, grammatical variations and distinctive South African words and phrases, including ‘just now’, ‘busy waiting’ and, of course, ‘eish’. The book explores the influence of Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and other languages on English as it is spoken in the diverse context of South Africa. It considers the social implications of language, questions notions of correctness and incorrectness, and celebrates South African English for its innovations and expressiveness. Eish, but is it English? is a book for everyone who is interested in the way we use language and make it our own. "

Issues for Nov. 1957- include section: Accessions. Aanwinste, Sept. 1957-

"Remixing multilingualism" is conceptualised in this book as engaging in the linguistic act of using, combining and manipulating multilingual forms. It is about creating new ways of 'doing' multilingualism through cultural acts and identities and involving a process that invokes bricolage. This book is an ethnographic study of multilingual remixing achieved by highly multilingual participants in the local hip hop culture of Cape Town. In globalised societies today previously marginalized speakers are carving out new and innovating spaces to put on display their voices and identities through the creative use of multilingualism. This book contributes to the development of new conceptual insights and theoretical developments on multilingualism in the global South by applying the notions of stylization, performance, performativity, entextualisation and enregisterment. This takes place through interviews, performance analysis and interactional analysis, showing how young multilingual speakers stage different personae, styles, registers and language varieties.

An innovative and insightful exploration of varieties of English in contemporary South Africa.