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Syntactic variation in language shift: The relative clause in South African Indian English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Rajend Mesthrie  and
Timothy T. Dunne
Rajend Mesthrie
Affiliation:
University of Cape Town
Timothy T. Dunne
Affiliation:
University of Cape Town
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Abstract

This article examines syntactic variation in an English dialect that has emerged from the process of language shift. South African Indian English has a wide variety of relative clauses that can be categorized as follows: (a) standard, (b) almost standard, (c) substrate influenced, (d) discourse governed. Of some interest is the occasional appearance of left-branching relative clauses and correlatives normally associated with object-verb (OV) languages. Social patterning of the relative clause is examined according to the parameter standard/nonstandard and according to the use made of certain relativization strategies by specific groups of speakers.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 1990 , pp. 31 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

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