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Language in South Africa

Rajend Mesthrie editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:17th Oct '02

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Language in South Africa cover

A wide-ranging 2002 guide to language and society in South Africa. The book surveys the most important language groupings in the region in terms of wider socio-historical processes; contact between the different language varieties; language and public policy issues associated with post-apartheid society and its eleven official languages.This is a comprehensive and wide-ranging 2002 guide to language and society in South Africa. As the authors demonstrate, the South African context offers a treasure trove of data and examples for linguistic and sociolinguistic study. The book surveys the most important language groupings in the region in terms of pre-colonial and colonial history; contact between the different language varieties, leading to language loss, pidginization, creolization and new mixed varieties; language and public policy issues associated with the transition to a post-apartheid society and its eleven official languages. It details the history of indigenous languages, the impact of European languages upon them, and of transformations to the European languages themselves. Written by a team of leading researchers, all the chapters are informed by the importance of socio-political history in understanding questions of language. The book will be welcomed by students and researchers in language and linguistics, sociology, anthropology and social history.

"[A] very handsome book, beautifully edited, carefully proofread, and produced on thick paper in elegant fonts." Christina Bratt Paulston, University of Pittsburgh, Language in Society

ISBN: 9780521791052

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 27mm

Weight: 840g

504 pages