Abstract
This paper considers some unusual uses of NO and YES observed in South African English (SAE) and other languages spoken in South Africa. Our objective is to highlight the fundamentally speaker-hearer-oriented nature of many of these elements, and to offer a formal perspective on their use. We also aim to highlight the value of pursuing more detailed investigations of these and other perspectival elements employed in SAE and other languages spoken in South Africa.
Highlights
Our point of departure in this note is the peculiarity of South African English (SAE) illustrated in (1):
As has hopefully become clear during the course of our discussion, SAE and other languages spoken in South Africa have a rich and diverse inventory of YES- and NOelements, many of which exhibit, both in isolation and in combination, properties that we might not initially associate with affirmation and negation elements
We observe that YES and NO in languages spoken in South Africa appear to be intimately and, crucially, distinctively associated with discourse and, perspectival functions of the kind that modern-day generativists associate with particular clausal domains
Summary
Our point of departure in this note is the peculiarity of South African English (SAE) illustrated in (1):. Beginning with ‘Yes’, or some other affirmative.”, and, in relation to (6), “I would only say this if A appeared shocked or worried, in order to reassure her by saying ‘no’ otherwise I would use ‘yes’ instead” This need for a clear and specific signal that A is concerned in some way is repeatedly highlighted by our informants. SAE speakers do this as a matter of convention, without there necessarily being any specific indicator in the discourse of a need for concern; SAE speakers, as it were, have a default “just in case you’re worried” point of departure, which English English speakers do not typically have In this connection, the observation of one our English English informants is interesting. Our proposal will be that a grammatical system-based consideration underlies the peculiar usage in (1) and (5-6): SAE speakers are able to use no as they do owing to the wider lexico-syntactic make-up of their language
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
