New Dictionary Makes Sense to ‘Skollies’

It could easily be a conversation between two rogues in downtown Johannesburg: “Jislaaik manne, don’t be a bunch of bangbroeke. Let’s go for a jol. Strue’s Bob, we’ll have a lekker dop and some dagga.”

Sure you know “apartheid” and “trek,” but this is English, too--South African style. Translation: “Come on, guys, don’t be scared. Let’s party. I promise we’ll have a nice drink and some cannabis.”

As this fictional exchange between “skollies” shows, many South African English words are unknown--and largely unpronounceable--outside their native land.

Oxford University Press has set out to change that with its 825-page Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles, published in Britain in August and also available in the United States.

Twenty-five years in the making, the dictionary documents the growth of South African English since the Dutchman Jan van Riebeeck founded Cape Town in 1652.

Work on the tome began at the peak of apartheid, when blacks had to carry a “dompass” to show their identity, and “black jacks” (police) patrolled the streets of black townships in “mellow yellows” (official vans).

It ended in 1994, the year South Africa held its first all-race elections and danced a delighted “toyi-toyi” as the black majority finally gained “amandla” (power).

Between lay a maelstrom of tragedy and prejudice that left its imprint on the language, said Penny Silva, head of the unit at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, that produced the dictionary.

“Here we live on the edge, so South African English is a vibrant, absorbent language,” she said. “It has been changed by politics and the many other languages in this country.”

Estimates based on the 1991 census indicate that only 10% of South Africans have English as their home language, although about 45% can speak the language.

Many whose first language was English were apolitical or opposed apartheid, but this did not prevent a raft of racist terms from entering the language.

They include “rooinek” (redneck) for English people, who burned easily in the African sun; “rockspider” and “hairyback” for the Dutch-descended Afrikaners; “gammat” for people of mixed race; “muntus” and “Bantu” for blacks.

These are falling out of use “as sensitive people realize they are offensive,” Silva said.

Already outlawed is “kaffir,” a derogatory term for blacks, although its entry spanning a dozen pages and a slew of uses shows how common it was. The dictionary describes it as “offensive in all senses and combinations.”

Similarly, most South Africans now avoid “Bantu.” Although accepted internationally as meaning a collection of African peoples and languages, it is rejected by black South Africans because apartheid leaders used it. “Bantustans” were the arid regions where blacks were supposed to live away from whites.

Now, South African English increasingly is absorbing words from its nine official black languages, Silva said. “Toyi-toyi” is the dance of black protest; “skebenga” is a gangster; “bangalala” is a Zulu aphrodisiac made of powdered roots.

Other Zulu words are already entrenched: “lobola” (dowry), “bonsella” (bonus) and “fundi” (expert), which is derived from “umfundisi,” the Zulu word for teacher.

In keeping with the dictionary’s title, many entries focus on South Africa’s tortured past.

“Biko Day” marks the anniversary of the death in police custody of Steve Biko, a leading figure in the “black consciousness” movement that worked for solidarity among oppressed black people.

Inevitably, President Nelson Mandela has his own entry, but his disgraced ex-wife, Winnie, does not.

Humor dry as the Karoo desert comes forth in “Chateau Cardboard,” local wines sold in cardboard boxes, and “rugger bugger,” defined as “an aggressively masculine (young) male, fanatical about sport, enthusiastic about group drunkenness.” Wealthy, horse-owning couples live in “mink and manure” districts; teachers who go on strike take part in a “chalkdown.”

The next edition will include “stopstreet” for stop sign and “servitude” for passageway. And there’ll be “come short,” meaning get into trouble, even die--typical understatement from a country that has seen so much killing.