Article published in:
English World-Wide
Vol. 41:2 (2020) ► pp. 193–224

Ethnic variation in the phonology of Namibian English

A first approach to Baster English

| Bielefeld University
| Bielefeld University
| University of Regensburg
Studies on the pronunciation of Namibian English (NamE) have shown strong evidence for ethnically conditioned variation within the NamE vowel system. Thus, NamE should not be seen as a monolithic entity but rather as a group of ethnically and/or socially conditioned varieties. In this paper, we undertake a first approach to Baster English, a potential ethnic variety of NamE. The Rehoboth Basters constitute a unique ethnically mixed Afrikaans-speaking group from South Africa, who settled in Namibia in the 19th century and are known for their strong sense of a separate local and ethnic identity. Triangulating the results of a quantitative questionnaire on language attitudes and acoustic analyses of vocalic features in informants’ pronunciation, we demonstrate how the Basters’ unique identity translates into linguistic practice in a multi-ethnic and multilingual environment.
Keywords: World Englishes, Southern African Englishes, English in Namibia, Namibian English, ethnic variation, Baster English, Rehoboth Basters, phonetics, phonology, acoustic phonetics
Published online: 09 June 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.00046.sch
References

References

Bekker, Ian
2009 “The Vowels of South African English”. Ph.D. Dissertation, North-West University.Google Scholar
2014 “The kit-Split in South African English: A Critical Review”. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 32: 113–131. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bekker, Ian and Bertus Van Rooy
2015 “The Pronunciation of English in South Africa”. In Marnie Reed, and John M. Levis, eds. The Handbook of English Pronunciation. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, 286–300. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Boersma, Paul, and David Weenink
2018 Praat: Doing Phonetics by Computer (version 6.0.40) http://​praat​.org (accessed June 13, 2018).
Bowerman, Sean
2008 “White South African English: Phonology”. In Rajend Mesthrie, ed. Varieties of English. Vol. 4: Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Berlin: De Gruyter, 164–176.Google Scholar
Britz, Rudolf G., Hartmut Lang, and Cornelia Limpricht
1999 Kurze Geschichte der Rehobother Baster bis 1990. Göttingen: Klaus Hess Publishers.Google Scholar
Buschfeld, Sarah
2014 “English in Cyprus and Namibia: A Critical Approach to Taxonomies and Models of World English and Second Language Acquisition Research”. In Sarah Buschfeld, Thomas Hoffmann, Magnus Huber, and Alexander Kautzsch, eds. The Evolution of Englishes: The Dynamic Model and Beyond. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 181–202.Google Scholar
[ p. 216 ]
Buschfeld, Sarah and Alexander Kautzsch
2014 “English in Namibia: A First Approach”. English World-Wide 35: 121–160. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2017 “Towards an Integrated Approach to Postcolonial and Non-Postcolonial Englishes”. World Englishes 36: 104–126. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Buschfeld, Sarah and Anne Schröder
2020 “English and German in Namibia”. In Raymond Hickey, ed. English in the German-Speaking World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 334–361.Google Scholar
Carstens, Peter
ed. 1984 The Rehoboth Baster Nation of Namibia. [Translation of Maximilian Beyer 1906 Die Nation der Bastards]. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.Google Scholar
De Decker, Paul
2016 “An Evaluation of Noise on LPC-Based Vowel Formant Estimates: Implications for Sociolinguistic Data Collection”. Linguistics Vanguard 2: 1–19. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Deumert, Ana
2009 “Namibian Kiche Duits: The Making (and Decline) of a Neo-African Language”. Journal of Germanic Linguistics 21: 349–417. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Di Paolo, Marianna, Malcah Yaeger-Dror, and Alicia B. Wassink
2011 “Analyzing Vowels”. In Marianna Di Paolo, and Malcah Yaeger-Dror, eds. Sociophonetics: A Student’s Guide. London: Routledge, 87–106.Google Scholar
Dierks, Klaus
2002 Chronology of Namibian History: From pre-Historical Times to Independent Namibia (2nd ed.). Windhoek: Namibia Scientific Society.Google Scholar
Donaldson, Bruce C.
1993 A Grammar of Afrikaans. Berlin: De Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ejikeme, Anene
2011 Culture and Customs of Namibia. Santa Barbara: Greenwood.Google Scholar
Finn, Peter
2008 “Cape Flats English: Phonology”. In Rajend Mesthrie, ed. Varieties of English. Vol. 4: Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Berlin: De Gruyter, 200–222.Google Scholar
Flynn, Nicholas
2011 “Comparing Vowel Formant Normalization Procedures”. York Papers in Linguistics Series 2: 1–28.Google Scholar
Franz, Kuno and Robert Budack
2015 Krieg und Frieden im Basterland. Windhoek: Padlangs Publications.Google Scholar
Frydman, Jenna
2011 “A Critical Analysis of Namibia’s English-Only Language Policy”. In Eyamba G. Bokamba, Ryan K. Shosted, and Bezza Tesfaw Ayalew, eds. Selected Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference on African Linguistics: African Languages and Linguistics Today. Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project, 178–189.Google Scholar
Gough, David
1996 “Black English in South Africa”. In Vivian de Klerk, ed. Focus on South Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 53–78. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
“
History”. n.d. Rehoboth Basters http://​rehobothbasters​.com​/history​.php (accessed October 1, 2018).
Honorof, Douglas N., Jill McCullough, and Barbara Somerville
2000 “Comma Gets a Cure” http://​www​.dialectsarchive​.com​/comma​-gets​-a​-cure (accessed December 15, 2018).
Kachru, Braj B., Yamuna Kachru, and Cecil L. Nelson
eds. 2009 The Handbook of World Englishes. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Katjavivi, Peter H.
1988 A History of Resistance in Namibia. Paris: Unesco Press.Google Scholar
Kaulich, Udo
2003 Die Geschichte der ehemaligen Kolonie Deutsch-Südwestafrika (1884–1914): Eine Gesamtdarstellung (2nd ed.). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
[ p. 217 ]
Kautzsch, Alexander and Anne Schröder
2016 “English in Multilingual and Multiethnic Namibia: Some Evidence on Language Attitudes and on the Pronunciation of Vowels”. In Christoph Ehland, Ilka Mindt, and Merle Tönnies, eds. Anglistentag 2015 Paderborn: Proceedings. Trier: WVT, 277–288.Google Scholar
Kautzsch, Alexander, Anne Schröder, and Frederic Zähres
2017 “The Phonetics of Namibian English: Investigating Local Features in a Global Context”. Paper presented at the IAWE Conference, Syracuse University.
Kendall, Tyler and Erik R. Thomas
2018 Vowels: Vowel Manipulation, Normalization, and Plotting in R (version 1.2–2) https://​cran​.r​-project​.org​/package​=vowels (accessed June 13, 2018).
Kirkpatrick, Andy
ed. 2010 The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. London: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kisler, Thomas, Florian Schiel, and Han Sloetjes
2012 “Signal Processing via Web Services: The Use Case WebMAUS”. Talk presented at Digital Humanities Conference 2012, Hamburg University.
Kjæret, Kristin and Kristian Stokke
2003 “Rehoboth Baster, Namibian or Namibian Baster? An Analysis of National Discourses in Rehoboth, Namibia”. Nations and Nationalism 9: 579–600. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Kortmann, Bernd, and Edgar Schneider
eds. 2004 A Handbook of Varieties of English. Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Limpricht, Cornelia
2012a “Families and Farms: ‘Mixed’ Marriages in Rehoboth during German Colonial Times”. In Cornelia Limpricht, ed. Rehoboth, Namibia: Past and Present. Windhoek: Solitaire Press, 146–196.Google Scholar
2012b “Out of Rehoboth – Her Story: Johanna-Susanna Mouton-Wahl and her Entanglement in German History.” In Cornelia Limpricht, ed. Rehoboth, Namibia: Past and Present. Windhoek: Solitaire Press, 198–244.Google Scholar
2012c “Preface”. In Cornelia Limpricht, ed. Rehoboth, Namibia: Past and Present. Windhoek: Solitaire Press, 6–7.Google Scholar
Limpricht, Cornelia and Hartmut Lang
2012 “The Trek of the Rehoboth Basters”. In Cornelia Limpricht, ed. Rehoboth, Namibia: Past and Present. Windhoek: Solitaire Press, 8–21.Google Scholar
Louw, Anna M.
2010 “Language Maintenance and Shift among the Rehoboth Basters of Namibia ca. 1868–2008”. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Cape Town.Google Scholar
Maho, Jouni F.
1998 Few People, Many Tongues: The Languages of Namibia. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.Google Scholar
Melchers, Gunnel, and Philip Shaw
2011 World Englishes (2nd ed.). Abingdon: Hodder Education.Google Scholar
Mesthrie, Rajend
ed. 2008 Varieties of English. Vol. 4: Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Berlin: De Gruyter. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2012 “Second-Language Varieties: English in Africa – A Diachronic Typology”. In Alexander Bergs, and Laurel Brinton, eds. English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2092–2106.Google Scholar
“
Namibia”. n.d. The World Factbook. Washington: Central Intelligence Agency https://​www​.cia​.gov​/library​/publications​/resources​/the​-world​-factbook​/geos​/wa​.html (accessed November 19, 2018).
[ p. 218 ]
Pütz, Martin
1995 “Attitudes and Language: An Empirical Investigation into the Status and Use of English in Namibia”. In Martin Pütz, ed. Discimination through Language in Africa? Perspectives on the Namibian Experience. Berlin: De Gruyter, 245–284. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schiel, Florian
1999 “Automatic Phonetic Transcription of Non-Prompted Speech”. In Ohala, John J., ed. Proceedings of the XIVth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS 99). San Francisco, 607–610.Google Scholar
Schneider, Edgar
2011 English around the World: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schreier, Daniel, Peter Trudgill, Edgar W. Schneider, and Jeffrey P. Williams
eds. 2010a The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2010b “Introduction”. In Daniel Schreier, Peter Trudgill, Edgar W. Schneider, and Jeffrey P. Williams, eds. The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1–14. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schröder, Anne and Klaus P. Schneider
2018 “Variational Pragmatics, Responses to Thanks, and the Specificity of English in Namibia”. English World-Wide 39: 338–363. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Schröder, Anne and Frederic Zähres
fc. “English in Namibia: Multilingualism and Ethnic Variation in the EIF-Model”. In Sarah Buschfeld, and Alexander Kautzsch eds. Modelling World Englishes: A Joint Approach towards Postcolonial and Non-Postcolonial Varieties Edinburgh Edinburgh University Press
Schröder, Anne, Frederic Zähres, and Alexander Kautzsch
fc. “The Phonetics of Namibian English: Investigating Vowels as Local Features in a Global Context”. In Anne Schröder ed. The Dynamics of English in Namibia Amsterdam John Benjamins
Simo Bobda, Augustin
2000 “The Uniqueness of Ghanaian English Pronunciation in West Africa”. Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 30: 185–198.Google Scholar
Stell, Gerald
2014a “Social Identities in Post-Apartheid Intergroup Communication Patterns: Linguistic Evidence of an Emergent Nonwhite Pan-Ethnicity in Namibia?” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 230: 91–114.Google Scholar
2014b “Uses and Functions of English in Namibia’s Multiethnic Settings”. World Englishes 33: 223–241. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
2016 “Trends in Linguistic Diversity in Post-Independence Windhoek: A Qualitative Appraisal”. Language Matters 47: 326–348. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Erik R.
2011 Sociophonetics: An Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Tonchi, Victor L., William A. Lindeke, and John J. Grotpeter
2012 Historical Dictionary of Namibia (2nd ed.). Lanham: The Scarecrow Press.Google Scholar
Trudgill, Peter and Jean Hannah
2017 International English: A Guide to Varieties of English Around the World (6th ed.). London: Routledge. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Van Rooy, Bertus
2008 “Black South African English: Phonology”. In Rajend Mesthrie, ed. Varieties of English. Vol. 4: Africa, South and Southeast Asia. Berlin: De Gruyter, 177–187.Google Scholar
[ p. 219 ]
Van Rooy, Bertus and Gerhard van Huyssteen
2000 “The Vowels of BSAE: Current Knowledge and Future Prospects”. South African Journal of Linguistics 18: 15–33. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wallace, Marion
2011 A History of Namibia. London: C. Hurst & Co.Google Scholar
Watermeyer, Susan
1996 “Afrikaans English.” In Vivian De Klerk, ed. Focus on South Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 99–124. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wells, John C.
1982 Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Williams, Jeffrey P., Edgar W. Schneider, Peter Trudgill, and Daniel Schreier
2015 Further Studies in Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wissing, Daan
2018 “Afrikaans Phonology: The Rounded and Unrounded Mid-Central Vowels”. Taalportaal http://​www​.taalportaal​.org​/taalportaal​/topic​/pid​/topic​-14613250407051826 (accessed August 31, 2018).
Wolf, Hans-Georg
2010 “East and West African Englishes: Differences and Commonalities”. In Andy Kirkpatrick, ed. The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes. London: Routledge, 197–211.Google Scholar
Zähres, Frederic
2016a “Vowels in Namibian English: Investigating the nurse-work Vowel Split”. M.A. Thesis, Bielefeld University.Google Scholar
2016b “A Case of Code-Switching in Namibian Keyboard-to-Screen Communication”. 10plus1: Living Linguistics 2: 31–46.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 6 other publications

Buschfeld, Sarah
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 169 ff. Crossref logo
Schneider, Edgar W. & Anne Schröder
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 275 ff. Crossref logo
Schröder, Anne
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 1 ff. Crossref logo
Schröder, Anne, Frederic Zähres & Alexander Kautzsch
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 111 ff. Crossref logo
Stell, Gerald
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 21 ff. Crossref logo
Zähres, Frederic
2021.  In The Dynamics of English in Namibia [Varieties of English Around the World, G65], ► pp. 135 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 september 2021. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.