Pretoria Sotho (also called by its speakers) is the urban

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

of the black residents of the Tshwane metropolitan area in South Africa. It is also spoken in the townships and villages around Brits, and has been gaining momentum in

Rustenburg Rustenburg (; , Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch: ''City of Rest'') is a town at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain range. Rustenburg is the most populous city in North West (South African province), North West province, South Africa (549 ...

. It is based on the

Tswana language Tswana, also known by its Endonym and exonym, native name Setswana, is a Bantu language indigenous to Southern Africa and spoken by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho language, Northern Sotho and Sotho lan ...

, particularly the Sekgatla dialect spoken in Hammanskraal, with major contributions from

Northern Sotho Sepedi, also known as Northern Sotho, is one of South Africa’s twelve official languages and belongs to the Bantu language family, specifically the Sotho-Tswana group. The language is spoken mainly in Limpopo Province, and to a lesser exten ...

and minor contributions from Southern Sotho,

Nguni languages The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa (mainly South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini) by the Nguni people. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Tsonga, Ndebele, and Swati. The appellation "Nguni" derives from t ...

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

, and English. Though it is most commonly used in informal situations, it is also used in schools and at political events in which people have different language backgrounds. Standard Setswana and Northern Sotho (represented by Sepedi) are not commonly used in schools except in SeTswana and Northern Sotho lessons. Pretoria Taal (or Sepitori) is mutually intelligible with SeTswana and Northern Sotho. It is a very dynamic and fluid language that changes over time. Words such as ''stelle'', ''stocko'' and ''wadijaja'' are new concepts used and did not exist a decade ago. Another interesting feature is that different parts of the city of Tshwane have different variations of the language. The Garankuwa, Mabopane and Hammanskraal regions, which are dominated by Tswana-speakers, speak a form that is closely linked to Setswana. The areas Soshanguve, Mamelodi and

Atteridgeville Atteridgeville also recently known as “Pheli” is a township located to the west of Pretoria, South Africa. It is located to the east of Saulsville, to the west of West Park; to the north of Laudium and to the south of Lotus Gardens. The ...

are dominated by Sepedi speakers and speak a form that is closely linked to Sepedi, hence the use of words such as Bolela or Nyaka instead of Bua or Batla in Tswana. SoShaNguVe remains the most diverse as the name suggests SOtho (both Setwana and Sepedi) SHAngan (

Tsonga Tsonga may refer to: * Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa * Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique and South Africa. * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) ...

) Nguni and Venda. People in the Garankuwa and Mabopane areas would say 'Keya ko nna' for 'I am going home'. Residents of Mamelodi and

for example would say, 'Ke ya jarateng' they also might use 'keya ko nna' as well. While residents of Soshanguve for example would say 'keya jointeng or keya dladleng' There is a strong relationship between it and

and Tsotsitaal.

is a fusion of the Dutch language and local Khoisan and Cape Malay variations. Tsotsitaal is a form of Afrikaans which is used in urban South Africa, originally by thugs trying to disguise their language. It was soon associated with being cool and with the times, and broader society began to use it. Many criminals in urban areas were former mine workers, construction workers and farmers. In revolt against the industrial oppression and the apartheid regime in general, gangs began participating in criminal activities and would plot and scheme in crowded township environments. The people of Mamelodi like to incorporate the variations of other Pretorian townships. So most of the words used in other places are either considered obsolete or are adopted into the ever changing language. So you could say "Sepetori se metsi" which has multiple means depending on context in this it would mean that Sepetori is new. In the Pretoria area, this became the language of ''di kleva''(well-dressed township-dwellers who were trendy and up to speed with cultural developments). The high social status that came with being recognized as a ''kleva'' resulted in a growing number of people speaking that way. Tsotsitaal thus went from being a cult-like secret code to being a medium of communication in the urban areas around Gauteng. Sepitori contains Afrikaans influences due to the language’s prominence during

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Well-dressed township dwellers (''kleva'') started utilising a combination of Afrikaans words in their speech, resulting in the language having terms such as ''Dae man'', ''Ek sê'', ''Daarso'', ''Is waar'', ''Nou die laas'', and ''Jy verstaan'', which are used on a daily basis. When greeting, people in the Pretorian area use the native Setswana greeting of ''Dumelang''/ ''Ashe'' and the colloquial "Ek sê". The latter is preferred by the youth, while the former is generally used by elders and in official community events. Sepitori has a separate set of words to use when talking about money. The people of the Pretoria-Tshwane area use words such as ''nyoko'', ''zaka'', ''lechankura'' and ''maphepha'' to refer to money. An example of a sepitori passage would be: : ''Eintlek, s'pitori ke nthwe e te kopantshang wabona? Ge re ova s'pitori, a se gore re nyaka goba snaaks. Die ding ke s'praka sa rona. Re tlha ver le yona wang verstaan? Re ka seno betha sdudla mo spacing.'' : "Actually, sepitori is a thing that just goes with the flow, you see? When we speak sepitori it's not that we want to be rude. It's our language; we have been using it for a long time so we can't just abandon it." References to monetary figures In Sepitori then English : * ''5 bob'' = 50 cents * ''Dolla'' = 1 rand * ''Bois/Pond'' = 2 rands * ''Arr 5/Lekopi/Half mug'' = 5 rands * ''Jacket'' = 10 rands * ''Choko'' = 20 rands * ''5 Jacket/5 nought/Pinkies'' = 50 rands * ''Klipa'' = 100 rands * ''Leplanka/Custard/2 Klipa'' = 200 rands * ''Tao/Stena/Blocko'' = 1000 rands * ''Meter/Ferrari'' = 1,000,000 randsKhumo Thage: Literary Cartographer A common expression in Pretoria is "dilo di nametse RunX" which means that things are going good. Sepitori is fast becoming a first language. It is not known how many people speak it, as it is mixed, informal language with Sepedi and Setswana. If it is understood to be a language of its own, it would be the most spoken language in the northern parts of

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

and the eastern parts of the North-West Province, particularly Brits area because of its proximity to Pretoria. Among young people in the City of Tshwane, it has become a primary language of communicating with each other.

References

{{Languages of South Africa Bantu-based pidgins and creoles Sotho-Tswana languages Languages of South Africa Pretoria City colloquials

Further reading

References