DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2706-6185/46/38-41
Javid Babayev
Nakhchivan State University
PhD in philology
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-2472-0006
cavidbabayev@ndu.edu.az
Characteristics of South African English
Abstract
The article studies the phonetic and lexical features of South African English, along with other official languages in the Republic of South Africa. Analyzing the statistics, it turns out that English is the fourth most widely spoken language here, after the local languages Zulu and Khosa, and the first foreign language of the Republic of South Africa, Afrikaans of Dutch origin. The first foreign language was brought here by the Dutch about 400 years ago. Dutch, like English, is a language of Germanic origin. Although this language has long been the language of trade and administration, after Lord Charles Somerset declared English the official language in the country in 1822, English-speaking officials and teachers were involved in the education sector. This further strengthened the promotion and spread of English in the country. As a result, the previously dominant Afrikaans language has begun to give way to English.
Keywords: Afrikaans, South African English, zulu, Dutch, khosa, swati