Gibson, Hannah and Marten, Lutz and Ndlovu, Sambulo (2024) Encoding politeness in African urban youth languages: Evidence from Southern Africa. Linguistics Vanguard. DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0147
Gibson, Hannah and Marten, Lutz and Ndlovu, Sambulo (2024) Encoding politeness in African urban youth languages: Evidence from Southern Africa. Linguistics Vanguard. DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0147
Gibson, Hannah and Marten, Lutz and Ndlovu, Sambulo (2024) Encoding politeness in African urban youth languages: Evidence from Southern Africa. Linguistics Vanguard. DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2022-0147
Abstract
African urban youth languages (AUYLs) often function as languages of resistance and “anti-languages”, establishing alternative semiotic spaces. In this paper, we analyse the encoding of politeness and respect in AUYLs, drawing on examples from Southern Africa, and show that they have complex systems of politeness marking, comparable to the matrix languages on which they draw. This includes different types of address forms, polite reference forms, and the use of avoidance language. There are lexical and morphological strategies to achieve politeness in AUYLs and these can be used to express both negative and positive politeness. The picture that emerges from this study is consistent with previous findings showing the structural complexity of AUYLs. However, the paper suggests that the presence of complex politeness marking in AUYLs may reflect the complex, and at times ambiguous, relation of AUYLs with established, mainstream norms.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | politeness marking; African urban youth languages; language contact; Sheng; S’ncamtho; Tsotsitaal |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Language and Linguistics, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2024 10:58 |
Last Modified: | 30 Oct 2024 21:04 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/37975 |
Available files
Filename: 10.1515_lingvan-2022-0147.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0