English
is one of the eleven official languages in South Africa, with
around 9% of the population claiming English as a first
language, 15% Afrikaans, and 75% African languages, notably
one of the Bantu languages. English is widely used in the
government, education, business, and the media. Recently,
South African English has been gaining recognition as an
autonomous variety. There are a number of dictionaries of
South African English, including Silva (1996). The population is currently 44 million.
Reading Branford, W. (1994)
English in South Africa. In Burchfield, R.W. (ed.) The
Cambridge History of the English Language Vol. 5.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 430-496. Silva,
P. (1997) The lexis of South African English: Reflections
of a multilingual society. In Schneider, E. W. (ed.) Englishes around the world, 2: pp.159-176. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.