Pretoria Taal, or Pretoria Sotho (affectionately 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, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

and the

Tshwane The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

metropolitan area in South Africa. It is a combination of Sepedi-Tswana and influences from

Tsotsitaal Tsotsitaal is a vernacular derived from a variety of mixed languages mainly spoken in the townships of Gauteng province (such as Soweto), but also in other agglomerations all over South Africa. ''Tsotsi'' is a Sesotho, Pedi or Tswana slang ...

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...

and other Bantu languages of the region. It is spoken by most black residents of all ages and levels of education in

. 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 Tswana (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 Mabopane is a residential suburb in South Africa. It is situated in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, to the north of Pretoria in Gauteng. History Proclamation Mabopane was proclaimed in 1959 as a black-only residential settlement by the th ...

and Hammanskraal regions, which are dominated by

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

-speakers, speak a form that is closely linked to Setswana. The areas

Soshanguve Soshanguve is a township situated about 30 km north of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa along Mabopane, and Ga-Rankuwa. The name Soshanguve is an acronym for Sotho, Shangaan, Nguni and Venda, thus showing the multi-ethnic composition of the ...

Mamelodi Mamelodi, part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, is a township set up by the then apartheid government northeast of Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa. Etymology "Mamelodi" is the name derived from the Sepedi word with the prefix be ...

and

Atteridgeville Atteridgeville 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 settlement was established in 1939, ...

are dominated by Sepedi - Speakers, and speak a form that is closely linked to Sepedi hence the use of words like: Bolela or Nyaka instead of Bua or Batla in

. SoShaNguVe remains the most diverse as the name suggests SOtho (both Setwana and Sepedi) SHAngan ( Tsonga )

Nguni Nguni may refer to: *Nguni languages * Nguni cattle *Nguni people *Nguni sheep, which divide into the Zulu, Pedi, and Swazi types *Nguni stick-fighting * Nguni shield * Nguni homestead *Nguni (surname) Nguni is an African surname. Notable people ...

and

Venda Venda () was a Bantustan in northern South Africa, which is fairly close to the South African border with Zimbabwe to the north, while to the south and east, it shared a long border with another black homeland, Gazankulu. It is now part of t ...

. People in the Garankuwa and

areas would say 'Keya ko nna' for 'I am going home'. Residents of

and

for example would say, 'Ke ya jarateng' they also might use 'keya ko nna' as well. While residents of

for example would say 'keya jointeng or keya dladleng' There is a strong relationship between it and

and

is a fusion of the Dutch language from the Netherlands and local Khoisan and Cape Malay variations.

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 is full of Afrikaans because of its influence during segregation (

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

era), were white people (Afrikaans speakers) were placed in the well developed areas of Pretoria, these areas were considered upper class, since all the new and latest city developments were done in these Pretorian areas. Then the well dressed township dwellers (''kleva'') started having a combination of afrikaans words in their speech, resulting in the language having terms such as ''Dae Man'', ''Ek Se'', ''Daarso'', ''Is waar'', ''Nou die laas'' and ''Jy Verstaan'', which are used on a daily basis. When greeting, people in the Praetorian area use the native Setswana greeting of ''Dumelang''/ ''Ashe'' and the colloquial "Ek Se". 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 used 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.'' Translated in English to: "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 ion'' = 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 ''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 ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

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 The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

, 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