The syntactic ecology of Kaaps

The broad focus of this project is the grammar of Kaaps, a matrilect of Afrikaans spoken on the Cape Peninsula. Generally, Kaaps speakers are multilingual and multidialectal, and Kaaps is one linguistic resource among many, utilised in a range of communicative practices. In accordance with current work in sociolinguistics (e.g. Blommaert 2010; Hornberger & Link 2012; Stroud 2015; Antia 2018), multilingualism – and language more generally – is conceptualised as dynamic, hybrid, and innovative in nature, characterised by high degrees of inter- and intra-speaker variation. Such a conceptualisation of language is conducive to an investigation of Kaaps, which could in one sense be considered a ‘cluster’ of varieties where (sub-) culture and community of practice play important roles (De Vries 2006).

https://sites.google.com/uwc.ac.za/professional-portfolio-erin-pr/research/secoka