Magaba, Victoria2025-10-132025https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2089-7479http://hdl.handle.net/10394/43647Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics and Literary Theory, North-West University-- Potchefstroom CampusThis thesis focuses on filling the particular research gap of investigating the linguistic landscape of the black community in what is currently Klerksdorp, a mining town in the North West Province, South Africa. Information about the area dates back to the mid-1830s, but the focus has primarily been on the two white groups from Europe (the Dutch from the Netherlands and the English from England), and subsequent studies in South Africa have more broadly mainly focused on their history and languages. One of these two prestigious languages is a variant of Dutch, which later came to be known as Afrikaans, and the other is English, which was brought to South Africa with the arrival of the British in the early 19th century. When the Afrikaners left the Cape Colony, they headed inland by crossing the Vaal River, thus ending up settling in Klerksdorp. At the time of these incursions, the Batswana, whose language is Setswana, were the original inhabitants of what is now Klerksdorp. Their language was later influenced by the arrival of white people who spoke Afrikaans (a variant of Dutch), and later, their language was further influenced by the arrival of the English. This study investigates how the two European prestigious languages have influenced the Setswana spoken in this area. As employees of the Afrikaans-speaking white people, the Batswana, who were residents in the area, had to learn Afrikaans for economic opportunities as the Afrikaners owned land seized from black people, and in addition, they had senior positions in government, in the mines, etc. When the British arrived in the area years later, some ended up being involved in mining, but the majority were mostly tradesmen as Klerksdorp had developed into a fully-fledged town by 1888. This resulted in local residents also learning to communicate with the new arrivals from England in English. Language contact between Setswana and Afrikaans resulted in Setswana speakers including some Afrikaans words and expressions in their speech when they were interacting socially with other black people. Later, when English became commonly used through trade and eventually schooling, this resulted in borrowing and code-switching from Afrikaans and English as part of the Setswana spoken in Klerksdorp. Based on the above, the study firstly addresses the dominance of Afrikaans and/or English vis-a-vis the Setswana spoken in Klerksdorp both pre-94 and post-94; in the case of the latter, this is when the democratic government came into power, thereby allowing the free movement of people, which brought change to the linguistic landscape. Secondly, the study analyses how borrowing and codeswitching from Afrikaans and English by Setswana speakers created contact-induced language change. Participants’ age, gender and residential area (a proxy for social class) were used as social variables for determining how linguistic change likely manifested in Klerksdorp. The study analyses such borrowing and code-switching in the Setswana spoken in Klerksdorp by applying a mixedmethods research methodology, which combines both a quantitative and qualitative approach. The quantitative approach involved looking at the numbers/percentages of speakers using certain borrowings, and at how often speakers apply code-switching; while the qualitative approach was focussed on determining the broad linguistic trends of borrowing and code-switching and how these relate to social differences in the speech community. In addition to broad trends, the findings also highlighted how non-linguistic factors such as the setting, topic, and the relationship between participants, context, age and the level of education all contribute to the dynamics of how interlocutors apply the linguistic phenomena of borrowing and code-switching. Finally, the analysis of the data also highlighted the influence of a third language, Sesotho, an African language whose speakers are geographically close to Klerksdorp. South Africa is a multilingual country, thus communities like the study population in Klerksdorp often adapt to the influence of other local languages because of extensive language contact.enBorrowingCode-switchingAfrikaans and EnglishSetswanaLanguage contactLinguistic trendsLinguistic repertoire and multilingualismThesis