Dictionary Unit for South African English

24/08/2026

The Dictionary Unit for South African English congratulates Senior Editor, Ms Bridgitte Le Du, on her appointment as an Honorary Fellow of the South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR).

SADiLaR inaugurated new honorary fellows, strengthening a growing network of expertise

The South African Centre for Digital Language Resources (SADiLaR) inaugurated four distinguished scholars as honorary fellows on 17 August 2026, marking an important milestone in strengthening collaboration, knowledge exchange and innovation in digital language resources and the digital humanities.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4xTxSCa

09/08/2026

🇿🇦 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 🇿🇦

South African English is replete with titles and terms of respect or endearment for women of all generations. An exceptionally early instance is 𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗼𝘀𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗻𝗮, used in English contexts since 1899 as a respectful mode of address to a girl or young unmarried woman of status. The majority of examples enter South African English from the mid-20th century onwards, however, such as 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗼𝘁𝗶 denoting a newly-married woman or daughter-in-law. 𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗮, the now very widespread term of address used both respectfully and familiarly, was initially recorded most often as a title prefixed to a name, e.g. 𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗮 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 for the celebrated South African singer and activist, Miriam Makeba.

𝗔𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲, functioning in South Africa as a respectful term for an (older) woman who is not a blood relation, probably arose in imitation of 𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲, from the latter’s use with the same broader meaning in Afrikaans. IsiZulu-derived 𝗴𝗼𝗴𝗼 begins to be recorded in English only in the 1980s, for an elderly woman or grandmother referred to with respect or affection. The preceding generation is likewise encompassed in South African English via the borrowing 𝗼𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗷𝗶𝗲, which illustrates the occasional quirkiness of the language variety given the literal derivation ‘little great grandmother’.

💻 Find the full entries in the online Dictionary of South African English at:
𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗼𝘀𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗻𝗮 https://dsae.co.za/entry/inkosazana/e03295
𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗼𝘁𝗶 https://dsae.co.za/entry/makoti/e04492
𝗠𝗮𝗺𝗮 https://dsae.co.za/entry/mama/e04515
𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗲 https://dsae.co.za/entry/auntie/e00403
𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 https://dsae.co.za/entry/tannie/e07077
𝗴𝗼𝗴𝗼 https://dsae.co.za/entry/gogo/e02711
𝗼𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗷𝗶𝗲 https://dsae.co.za/entry/oumagrootjie/e05437

🔎 For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English visit www.ru.ac.za/dsae.

15/07/2026

🚦 The term 𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗼𝘁 is a South African regionalism rarely used elsewhere in the world, but so deeply embedded in everyday local usage that many South Africans only discover that its meaning can be cryptic when travelling abroad.

The word has inspired countless instances of cross-cultural confusion. Visitors to South Africa have reportedly searched in vain for a street-side humanoid after being told to "turn right at the robot". Similarly South Africans abroad often discover that mentioning they are "at a robot" elicits puzzled responses.

South Africa's first traffic robot was installed in Johannesburg in 1929, followed by Durban in 1930 and Cape Town's first three in January 1932, one of them in Darling Street near the Castle of Good Hope. Early newspaper articles praised these traffic lights for reducing confusion at busy intersections.

🔎 Find the full entry in the online 𝗗𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 at https://dsae.co.za/entry/robot/e06032.

ℹ️ For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English go to https://www.ru.ac.za/dsae.

16/06/2026

On this Youth Day, the Dictionary Unit for South African English honours the students of 1976 whose courage transformed South Africa’s educational landscape and shaped South Africa's future.

Their pursuit of justice reminds us that classrooms are not only spaces of learning — but of empowerment and change. Let us continue building institutions where every voice matters and every language thrives.

Background image: South African History Online https://sahistory.org.za/article/june-16-soweto-youth-uprising

15/06/2026

The Dictionary Unit for South African English would like to extend our grateful acknowledgement to Rhodes University for the recent article 'From Aardvark to Zol' celebrating the human story behind the publication of A Dictionary of South African English on Historical Principles in 1996.

Now out of print, this monumental work of scholarship is only accessible through the online edition, available at www.dsae.co.za.

Before Google, there was the filing cabinet.

Beginning in 1968, scholars at Rhodes University set out to record South African English as it had never been recorded before; one index card at a time, eventually filling almost 300,000 cards.

The result: the first historical dictionary of South African English, published in 1996.

Thirty years on, we look back at the people behind the pages.

Read the full story: https://www.ru.ac.za/latestnews/dsae_human_story.html

📸 Ntomb’Zekhethelo Ncanana

Dictionary Unit for South African English

11/06/2026

A televised address in April 2020 saw one of the earliest and most publicised uses of the word 𝘇𝗼𝗹 as a verb, when South African Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma curbed the enthusiasm of “those who zol” (smoke hand-rolled ci******es) by extending a Covid-era ban on to***co products.

The minister’s statement was lampooned in David Scott’s parody of the South African national anthem, which in turn revived several slang terms for ci******es and to***co, such as 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗷𝗶𝗲, 𝘀𝗸𝘆𝗳 and 𝗴𝘄𝗮𝗮𝗶. 𝗗𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗮 – one of the oldest South African English words, dating back to 1670 – also received honourable mention.

🔊 Turn up the volume to listen to the pronunciation of zol.

🎵 Follow the link to The Kiffness channel on YouTube for David Scott's "Nkosazan' Dlamini Trafficker (SA's New National Anthem)":
https://youtu.be/J_sVuwrN-ro?si=WYH03VcYi6bsKOzQ.

💻 Access full entries in the online Dictionary of South African English:
🇿🇦 zol http://dsae.co.za/entry/zol/e08027
🇿🇦 entjie http://dsae.co.za/entry/entjie/e02269
🇿🇦 skyf http://dsae.co.za/entry/skyf/e06590
🇿🇦 gwaai http://dsae.co.za/entry/gwaai/e02852
🇿🇦 dagga http://dsae.co.za/entry/dagga/e01888

🔎 Find more South African English words related to smoking and drug use: http://dsae.co.za/filter?cat=Food_Drink_and_Drugs:Smoking_and_Drug_Use

For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English visit http://www.ru.ac.za/dsae

05/06/2026

In South African English, the word nyala (variant inyala) derives from Xitsonga nyala and isiZulu inyala, naming the spiral-horned antelope Tragelaphus angasii. Documented in English since the mid-1800s, it illustrates lexical borrowing and the embedding of indigenous languages in our lexicon.

🇿🇦 Find the full entry for nyala in the online Dictionary of South African English at http://dsae.co.za/entry/nyala/e05290.

🔎 For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English visit http://www.ru.ac.za/dsae/

📷 Image: Martyn Drabik-Hamshare, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

25/05/2026

The Dictionary Unit for South African English celebrates !

Today we honor our continent’s resilience and diverse cultures. The South African English word , borrowed from the Nguni languages, embodies our connectedness to each other and the spirit of giving that we celebrate on this day.

Find the entry for ubuntu in the online Dictionary of South African English at: https://dsae.co.za/entry/ubuntu/e07415.

For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English visit https://www.ru.ac.za/dsae.

01/05/2026

🇿🇦 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀' 𝗗𝗮𝘆! 🇿🇦

Today we honour every worker who builds, serves and uplifts our nation.

Find the entry for Workers' Day in the online Dictionary of South African English at https://dsae.co.za/entry/workers-day/e07931.

For more information about the Dictionary Unit for South African English visit https://www.ru.ac.za/dsae.

27/04/2026

🇿🇦 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗮𝘆! 🇿🇦

Freedom Day existed in South African English usage decades before its official promulgation as a national holiday. The origins of the word are rooted in anti-apartheid resistance and can be traced back to 1950 when the liberation movement recognised June 26 as the initial Freedom Day, a day of protest, solidarity and historic defiance that paved the way for the freedom we celebrate today.

In 1994, South Africa’s post-apartheid government designated 27 April as Freedom Day, in commemoration of the first democratic elections held in South Africa.

Follow the link https://dsae.co.za/entry/freedom-day/e02479 to access the entry for Freedom Day in the online Dictionary of South African English.

Find out more about the Dictionary Unit for South African English at https://www.ru.ac.za/dsae.