Imagint excusations: Missionary English in the nineteenth century Cape Colony, South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This case study of the English of early missionaries operating in South Africa in the first half of the nineteenth century serves three main functions. Firstly, it characterizes the interlanguages of some German and Dutch missionaries, which are interesting in their own. right, historically and theoretically. Secondly, it points out the disparity between the actual patterns of use we find in the missionary letters and characterizations of their abilities and repertoires by modern linguists. Finally, it suggests an important early source for the propagation of English in a variety of territories, missionary English is a missing ingredient in ‘New English’ scholarship which needs to be studied closely.