User:Sparks9714/sandbox

Article Evaluation
I'm looking at the article "Sociolinguistics." These are some observations I noted: Addendum 2/26: Overall, there are many components of this article that could be improved. When referring to the questions posted in the training exercise:
 * The article has been rated C-Class, so it is not yet up to the A-Class standard of completeness
 * There has not been discussion on the talk page since what looks like 2008
 * The first sentence in the overview is a bit wordy with repeating words
 * Pronoun usage and passive voice make initial two paragraphs a bit hard to read
 * Second paragraph has no citation
 * Patchy citation in the second paragraph as well
 * The "Applications" sections should not include a hypothetical example, but actual case studies of sociolinguistics in action--instead of just talking about Labov, maybe look at his rhoticity study in NYC department stores
 * The "Traditional Sociolinguistic Interview" Section doesn't have single citation! This section could also use a specific study or studies as examples.
 * There are also some basic editing issues like capitalization--I capitalized the headings
 * It seems like the idea of "prestige" and class differentiation is the main focus of the article, which is a highly limiting view of sociolinguistics. Language serves many social functions, not just organizing prestige groupings
 * Some key terms, like pragmatics, practice, indexicality, variant, variable, marker, indicator and the basic material of language studied (morpheme, phoneme, syntax, for instance) are not defined or exhaustively addressed
 * Many case studies could be analyzed instead of loose general hypothetical, which are peppered throughout the article
 * Several links do not work, including the Labov link in the "External Links" section
 * The article moves into a discussion of Standard versus Non-Standard varieties without first explaining the meaning of these terms and the historical context of the idea of standardization
 * Some case studies are highlighted (see "Social Network") though these could generally be explained in a little more detail
 * Everything in the the article is relevant to sociolinguistics, although the content seemed to disproportionately address class issues, which is (albeit an important) only part of sociolinguistics. Forming community bonds/microcultures (also mentioned in the article), identifying oneself with certain groups, changing speech to conform to parameters of a situation, and pragmatics are all examples of things that are not as thoroughly addressed in the article. This was distracting.
 * The article was, on the surface, neutral, but disproportionately looked at one area of sociolinguistics (see above). There was not clear advocacy for one theory of sociolingusistics, for or against the discipline, or another form of persuasive argument made by the editor(s).
 * See above for overrepresented viewpoint. The methods and foundations of sociolinguistics, placed into one poorly cited paragraph, are severely underrepresented in the article.
 * Some of the links tested no longer work. See above for specific examples.
 * Not all facts are cited. See above. However, those facts cited do come from reputable sources like scholarly books and journals, and the works of key figures like Labov.
 * See above list for terms and ideas mentioned in class that are not included in this article. We have not discussed some of the class- and power-based terms included in the article, including Restricted and Elaborated Code and Covert Prestige, although idea about how language varieties produce and reflect inequalities have been addressed (e.g. the evolution of a "Standard."
 * It doesn't look like the article is part of any WikiProjects

Article Evaluation: South African English

 * This is the article I chose for the Adding to Wikipedia Assignment
 * The article is Start-Level and rather short, so lots of work can be done.
 * There are fewer than ten sources cited for the entire thing, and the leading paragraph is not fully cited or organized very well.
 * I plan to adjust the leading paragraph so it creates a better flow for the key points on this topic. This includes breaking down each feature of South African English without going into too much detail or using too much jargon.
 * Given the lack of citations, most of the information will have to be confirmed or removed. Thus, much of my work will involve fact-checking.
 * The sections on Pronunciation and Vocabulary provide a good groundwork, but do not follow from the hefty leading paragraph that talks about all the different varieties of South African English.
 * Not much is said about the social functions of the various varieties and of South African English's place in a broader world context.
 * Sections could be added about History, Geographic Distribution, and any particular grammar quirks of this category.
 * Some of the sources are obscure or popular, like the Chicago Tribune. These are not ideal, and should be corroborated/replaced by scholarly, peer-reviewed, objective works.
 * So much of the Vocabulary section is not cited that the whole thing might have to be completely scrapped.
 * There hasn't been activity on the Talk Page since 2006.

Preliminary List of Sources
Branford, William.A Hand-Held Dictionary of South African English: Some Problems of English Lexicography in a Multilingual Context., 1978, ProQuest, http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/docview/58084164?accountid=8360.

BROOKES, H. (2004), A Repertoire of South African Quotable Gestures. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 14: 186–224. doi:10.1525/jlin.2004.14.2.186

“English in Africa.” English in Africa, vol. 5, no. 1, 1978, pp. 80–81. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40238421.

Murphy, M. L. "Defining People: Race and Ethnicity in South African English Dictionaries." International Journal of Lexicography, vol. 11, no. 1, 1998, pp. 1-33, ProQuest, http://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.library.arizona.edu/docview/58338129?accountid=8360.

Silva, Penny. “The 1820 Settlement: Some Aspects of Its Influence on the Vocabulary of South African English.” English in Africa, vol. 5, no. 1, 1978, pp. 61–70. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40238417.

Taylor, Tim. “Anthropological Linguistics.” Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 36, no. 4, 1994, pp. 521–524. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30028394.

Watts, H. L. “English in Africa.” English in Africa, vol. 7, no. 2, 1980, pp. 90–91. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40238480.

Initial Drafting Stage
Last week I listed several additions I want to make and numerous issues I would have to address in order to improve the South African English article. I might have to work around some content while scrapping a lot of it, considering that much of it is uncited or sourced from poor sources like newspapers. Since I have already brainstormed things to add and areas to improve, I'm going to spend this week organizing a preliminary plan for how I will approach this essay: I acknowledge that this is an ambitious outline, and that I probably will not be able to provide an exhaustive breakdown for each of these sections. The sections I plan to focus on primarily are the phonologic and sociolinguistic sections, for these are the ones that apply most to our course. The social aspects of the variety will likely be further broken down into more specific sections, based on what information I find.
 * 1) Look through the article and delete uncited/improperly attributed material. This might make the piece a lot shorter, but plagiarism cannot be anywhere in an article I plan to improve.
 * 2) For any uncited information that seems particularly important, I will takenotes on what it says and then see if I can find an appropriate source to back this information up.
 * 3) Consolidate and beef up the References. Right now, there is a References and a Bibliography section, and I have no idea why. Also, as I use my sources to add information, I will incorporate them into the article.
 * 4) Create a good leading section to replace the current one, which goes into a lot of detail about particular varieties of South African English. My leading section will define my topic, and briefly outline the article to come with subsections listed in order of appearance.
 * 5) This is my rough idea of how to structure the sub-topics of my article:
 * 6) Geographic distribution of South African English
 * 7) History about the origins of South African English varieties
 * 8) This section will include any information about sub-varieties that can be spared from the existing article
 * 9) Phonology
 * 10) I will focus on any particularly salient features
 * 11) I will probably only go into detail about those varieties for which I can easily find literature
 * 12) This section will probably be my biggest focus
 * 13) Grammar
 * 14) Morphology
 * 15) For the above two sections, I will include any particulars about South African English that make it stand out from other English varieties and seem particularly salient based on the literature
 * 16) Vocabulary
 * 17) Any lexical peculiarities I can spare from the existing article will go here
 * 18) Sociolinguistic application
 * 19) I'm not sure exactly how this section will take shape yet. It will depend on what I find in the article I read about South African English and the dynamics of status, power and community that have become evident through various studies.

South African English Article Drafting
Lead Section

South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA ) is the set of English dialects spoken by native South Africans.

History
British colonizers first introduced English to the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding operation at the Cape. The goal of this first endeavor was to gain control of a key Cape sea route, not to establish a permanent settler colony. However, the first major influx of English speakers arrived in 1820. About 5000 British settlers, mostly rural or working class, settled in the eastern Cape. Though the British were a minority colonist group (the Dutch had been in the region since 1652, when traders from the Dutch East India Company developed a post), the Cape Colony governor, Lord Charles Somerset, declared English an official language in 1822. In order to spread the influence of English in the colony, officials began to recruit British schoolmasters and Scottish clergy to occupy positions in the education and church systems. Another group of English speakers arrived from Britain in the 1840's and 1850's, along with the Natal settlers. As Lass writes, these were largely "standard speakers" like retired military personnel and aristocrats. The third wave of English settlers arrived between 1875 and 1904, and brought with them a diverse variety of English dialects. These last two waves did not have as large of an influence on South African English (SAE), for "the seeds of development were already sown in 1820." However, the Natal wave brought nostalgia for British customs and helped to define the idea of a "standard."

Sub-Varieties of South African English
Several SAE sub-varieties have emerged, accompanied by varying levels of perceived social prestige (see Prestige: Sociolinguistics). Roger Lass refers to a system of three sub-varieties, termed the "The Great Trichotomy" that was first used to categorize Australian English varieties and subsequently applied to SAE. Identified primarily with White South Africans, the SAE "Great Trichotomy" was first developed by Mitchell and Delbridge. "Conservative SAE", closely approximates England's standard Received Pronunciation and is associated with the upper class; "General SAE" is a social indicator of the middle class; and "Broad SAE" is associated with the working class, closely approximating the second-language Afrikaner variety called Afrikaans English. These terms were later replaced by the terms "Conservative SAE," "Respectable SAE," and "Extreme SAE" by L.W. Lanham. In both terminology systems, overt social prestige decreases from Conservative SAE to Broad/Extreme SAE. least two sociolinguistic variants have been definitively studied on a post-creole continuum for the second-language Black South African English spoken by most Black South Africans: a high-end, prestigious "acrolect" and a more middle-ranging, mainstream "mesolect". Other varieties of South African English include Cape Flats English, originally associated with inner-city Cape Coloured speakers, and the Indian South African English of Indian South Africans. Further offshoots include the first-language English varieties spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians, Swazilanders and Namibians.

Contributions to English worldwide
Several South African words, usually from Afrikaans or other indigenous languages of the region, have entered world English: those relating to human activity include apartheid; commando and trek and those relating to indigenous flora and fauna include veld; vlei; spoor; aardvark; impala; mamba; boomslang; meerkat and wildebeest.

Recent films such as District 9 have also brought South African and Southern African English to a global audience, as have television personalities like Die Antwoord, Austin Stevens and Trevor Noah.

Large numbers of the British diaspora and other South African English speakers now live in Australia, Britain and Canada and may have influenced their host community's dialects to some degree. South African English and its slang also has a substantial presence in neighbouring countries like Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia. English accents vary considerably depending on region and local ethnic influences.

English Academy of Southern Africa

Some words peculiar to South African English include takkies, tackie or tekkie for sneakers (American) or trainers (British) (however, it would also be perfectly suitable for a South African to refer to the shoes as running shoes in a formal context), combi or kombi for a small van similar to a Volkswagen Kombi, bakkie for a pick-up truck, kiff for pleasurable, lekker for nice, donga for gully, robot for a traffic light, dagga for cannabis, braai for barbecue and jol for party. South Africans generally refer to the different codes of football, such as soccer and rugby, by those names.

There is some difference between South African English dialects: in Durban the local form is very strongly Received Pronunciation English-based, while its Eastern Cape counterpart has a strong Afrikaans influence. Although differences between the two are sizeable, there are many similarities.

Notes from Initial Drafting 3/25/2018

 * I deleted a lot of the uncited material present in the article.
 * I added to the Lexicon (formerly Vocabulary) section
 * I added History and Sub-Varieties sections
 * Much of my initial work involved overhauling the article and deciding what material should be spared.
 * I made use of three key sources in this initial draft--each section will require the addition of several more sources to be complete
 * Part of plagiarism avoidance and having a broad, balanced article will involve citing multiple authors for each topic. Thus, I will work on expanding each section, and adding substantially to the Phonetics/Vocabulary sections, in the next week or two.

Paragraph on Indian South African English
Indian South African English (from now on ISAE) is a sub-variety of SAE that developed among the descendants of Indian immigrants to South Africa. As Rajend Mesthrie writes, the Apartheid policy, in effect from 1948-91, prevented Indian children from interacting with L1 speakers of English heritage in places like schools, hospitals, and universities. This separation caused ISAE to develop characteristics that distinguish it from SAE, though the sub-variety still contains phonological and lexical features that allow it to fit into the broader SAE category.

Sociolinguistically, ISAE can be divided into three "'sub-lects," called the "'basilect'", "'mesolect'", and "'acrolect'". These terms describe varieties of a given language on a spectrum of similarity to the colonial version of that language. The "basilect" variety is least similar to the colonical language, the "acrolect" is most similar, and the "mesolect" is a middle-ground between the two poles. Among contemporary ISAE speakers, basilect speakers are generally older, L2 speakers with generally little education; acrolect speakers closely resemble colonial Natal English speakers, with a few phonetic/syntactic exceptions; and mesolect speakers fall somewhere in between, distinguished by several different syntactic features. Mesthrie discusses another "'sub-lect'" that he terms "'pre-basilectal'". This variety describes second- or third-generation English speakers "who have difficulties expressing themselves in English'".

As Mesthrie notes, ISAE resembles Indian English in some respects, possibly because the varieties contain speakers with shared mother tongues and/or because early English teachers were brought to South Africa from India. One major sociolinguistic difference between the two varieties is that while ISAE is considered "hyper-colloquial", Indian English has been labeled "bookish" and even "Latinate". Mesthrie mentions four education-related lexical features shared by ISAE and Indian English: tuition(s), which means "'extra lessons outside school that one pays for'"; further studies, which means "'higher education'"; alphabets, which means "'the alphabet, letters of the alphabet’"; and by-heart, which means "'to learn off by heart'". Mesthrie suggests that these common lexical items demonstrate the influence of Indian English teachers in South Africa.

Phonologically, ISAE shares several similarities with Indian English, though certain common features are decreasing in the South African variety. For instance, consonant retroflexion in phonemes like /ḍ/ and strong aspiration in consonant production (common in North Indian English) are present in both varieties, but declining in ISAE. Syllable-timed rhythm, instead of stress-timed rhythm, is still a prominent feature in both varieties, especially in more colloquial sub-varieties.

Extra things I want to add today to SAE article
From The story of South African English: A brief linguistic overview

Ian Bekker

Phonetics


 * The FLEECE vowel (from Wells' lexical sets) is pronounced with the lengthened monophthongal /i:/ phoneme.In contrast, other Southern Hemisphere Englishes like Australian English and New Zealand English have a diphthongized FLEECE vowel (/əi/).

Lexical items

Words borrowed from other south african languages:

braai--barbecue from Afrikaans

indaba--conference, meeting from Zulu

ag--discourse marker from Afrikaans meaning oh! colloquial

must closer to the polite should/shalll

Extra uncited stuff from article:

The two main phonological indicators of South African English are the behaviour of the vowels in kit and bath. The kit vowel tends to be "split" so that there is a clear allophonic variation between the near-front and central. The bath vowel is characteristically open and back in the General and Broad varieties of SAE. The tendency to monophthongise both and  to  and  respectively, are also typical features of General and Broad SAE.

Like English in south-east England, such as London, South African English is non-rhotic (except for some Afrikaans-influenced speakers, see below) and features the trap–bath split.

and has a strong tendency to be voiced initially.

Paragraph on Black South African English
Black South African English, or BSAE, is a variety of English used by native speakers of an indigenous South African tongue. BSAE is considered a "new" English because it has emerged through the education system among second-language speakers where English is not the majority language. According to the Central Statistical Services, as of 1994 about 7 million black people spoke English in South Africa. Historically, BSAE has been considered a "non-standard" variety of English, inappropriate for formal contexts and flawed by the influence of indigenous African languages. This variety originated in the South African school system, when the 1953 Bantu Education Act mandated the use of native African languages in the classroom. When this law was established, most of the native English-speaking teachers were removed from schools. This limited the exposure that black students received to standard varieties of English. As a result, the English these students learned developed patterns of pronunciation and syntax distinct to BSAE. Some of these characteristic features can be linked to the mother tongues of the early BSAE speakers. The policy of mother tongue promotion in schools failed, and in 1979, the Department of Bantu Education allowed schools to choose their own language of instruction. English was largely the language of choice, because it was viewed as a key tool of social and economic advancement. However, by 1990, most education were still second language English speakers, and native African languages were still used widely in the classroom. Access to English thus remained constrained, and most students had little exposure to varieties of English besides BSAE.

=== NOTE: I considered adding a photograph but hesitate because there are already so many images in the article. I will think about whether I can contribute a useful image, but the image space is pretty full. ===

More Editing 4/22
White South African English was largely influenced by the norms of Southern British English.

SAE is considered an extraterritorial (ET) variety of English, or a language variety that has been "transported" outside its mainland home. More specifically, SAE is a Southern hemisphere ET originating from later English colonization in the 18th and 19th centuries. Zimbabwean, Australian, and New Zealand varieties are also Southern hemisphere ET Englishes. SAE resembles British English more closely than it does American English due to the close ties that South African colonies maintained with the mainland in the 19th and 20th centuries. However, with the increasing influence of American pop-culture around the world via channels like television, American English has become more familiar in South Africa. Indeed, some American lexical items are becoming alternatives to comparable British terms.