Tsotsitaal

Tsotsitaal By Jordan Springer Tsotsitaal (or Flaatitaal, as it is more commonly known) like American English, is a combination of many languages. It is based upon Afrikaans, which itself is a variation of Dutch. Tsotsitaal also features many African languages, including Bantu, Tswana, and Zulu, as well as English. There is another variation of Tsotsitaal, known as Iscamtho or Isicamtho. However, unlike Tsotsitaal, Iscamtho is based on African languages, particularly Zulu. Like many languages, Tsotsitaal has some history behind it. It was originally developed for and by gangsters, as it was hard to understand and the gangsters could speak of their affairs in public. As the gangsters were looked up to by the black youth of South African townships, the young began to use the language as a symbol of defiance. As a result, Tsotsitaal became a language a sort of “street language” in the fifties and was used by the young black males of townships, particularly the Sophiatown township of Johannesburg. The most self-assured of females would use it too, but it was usually thought that any female who used it was a prostitute or the girlfriend of a gangster. However, in the seventies, speaking the language began to be viewed as sympathizing with the racist government. So, the use of Tsotsitaal began to drop off, and it is rarely, if it all spoken today. However, Iscamtho is still used to this day, and it represents individuality and freedom.