History
The tsotsitaal phenomenon originates with one variety known as Flaaitaal or Flytaal, and then Tsotsitaal, which became popular under this latter name in the freehold township ofStructure
A number of Afrikaans terms from Tsotsitaal have maintained in Iscamtho (such as ''niks'', ''vandag'', ''goed'', ''maat'',"daso", "darr", ''vrou'', ''vriendin'', ''mooi''). Also, the taste of Tsotsitaal-speakers for word transformation, language-mixing and word creation has been transmitted to Iscamtho speakers. Thus, linguistic creativity is the main characteristic of the speakers of the Sowetan language. And although it has different varieties, Iscamtho carries a single identity for all of its speakers, who recognize it as one variety, whatever form it takes. This is due to the way the language operates: from one grammar which serves as a matrix, the speaker adds words from other languages (including English, Afrikaans, and different Bantu languages) or typically Iscamtho words. One can also create words by modifying existing ones or by coining completely new terms. Thus, Iscamtho and other tsotsitaals experience continuous evolution. Sometimes, new terms made famous by prominent artists can spread extremely quickly and replace older terms. Iscamtho and Tsotsitaal are very similar in form and in the material which forms their vocabulary. But since the seventies and for political reasons, the use of Afrikaans as a matrix has been excluded in Iscamtho. Due to the popularity of Soweto among Black South African youth, and due also to the importance of Soweto-based artists in the foremost post-apartheid culture,Social meaning
As a gangster language, Tsotsitaal originally was a male-only language. The same applies to Iscamtho. A female speaker would then be identified as either a gangster's girlfriend or a prostitute. For male speakers however, the language quickly acquired a meaning of city-slickness and street-wisdom, and mastering it was the proof that one knew the urban environment well enough to cope and not be threatened. However, as Tsotsitaal became the symbol of the cultural life of Sophiatown (before the area was cleared of its residents in the mid-1950s) it was adopted by a number of women. But only the most independent and self-affirmed women would then become Tsotsitaal-speakers. Due to the importance of gangsterism in Soweto over about four decades and due to the large numbers of Sowetan youths who experienced prison for criminal or political activities in the last two decades of apartheid, the status of Iscamtho changed: from a street language, it became the main language of most youths, started to be spoken within households among the youths, and then between the youths and adults. In the course of the 1980s for the latest, Iscamtho reached the status of mother language for thousands of Sowetan youths, meaning that children learnt Iscamtho in the cradle from their parents along with their family's other languages. Today, the distinction between Iscamtho and urban Zulu or urban Sotho in Soweto tends to be thinner as hundreds of thousands of youths actually speak Iscamtho as a first language. In addition, a post-apartheid evolution has been the adoption of Iscamtho and other tsotsitaals by many female speakers. Especially, many girls in deep Soweto now have Iscamtho as (one of) their native language(s). Iscamtho as a symbol of youth, city-slickness and the multilingualism of the South African democracy (each language is represented in Iscamtho) has become a language proper for both male and female speakers despite some remaining conservative behaviours and considerations towards female speakers. Especially among the younger lesbian community. Iscamtho is often used as a strong identity marker, and many young lesbians appreciate it and use it as their main language. Iscamtho has also become a language used in exchanges with older people, who previously would have been offended to be addressed to in the ''tsotsi'' language. But as native speakers of Iscamtho refuse to be discriminated against, they often impose their language in exchanges, and consider it as respectful as any other.Iscamtho in the media
After the abolition of apartheid in South Africa in 1994, kwaito, already a popular music form in South Africa, and its artists came to embrace the use of tsotsitaal in lyrical content. Because they are associated with urban thugs and the criminal subculture, tsotsitaals and Iscamtho are seen by many as a South African form of gangsta slang. However, the language is more than a mere slang, and is referred to by its speakers as "our language". With the advent of rising middle-class and elite Blacks in South Africa after apartheid and the significance of gold to the South African history and culture, the attitudes prevalent in kwaito music appropriate gold to notions of success and wealth. Because of their urban nature and form, tsotsitaals came to be emblematic of the attitudes of post-apartheid South African black poor youth that were largely apolitical, concerned mainly with a representation of success and wealth. Today, kwaito music using tsotsitaal and more especially Iscamtho can be heard on national radio stations such as YFM (for Youth FM). Some prominent artists such as Zola7 speak Iscamtho when they appear in the media (Zola7 especially has its own regular TV show). Iscamtho is also used in advertisement, for all products which aim at the youths. Finally, Iscamtho has spread on television, through youth programs such as series (especially '' Yizo Yizo''), soapies (''Rhythm City'' or ''Generations'') and entertainment shows. From 2007, a local television station opened in Orlando West, Soweto. Called SowetoTV, this station uses Iscamtho as one of its main languages, together with English, Zulu and Sotho. A number of programs for the youths are in Iscamtho only, such as ''Dlalangeringas'' (which means “Let's speak Iscamtho”). Through the media, and considering the symbolic power of Soweto over black township youths, Iscamtho is influencing young speakers of tsotsitaals in South Africa, and many adopt the words or expressions they discover on television or in kwaito. Thus, Iscamtho directly influences and reshapes local tsotsitaals.Native Iscamtho-speaking communities
Nowadays in Soweto, possibly up to 500,000 youths speak Iscamtho as their main language or one of their main languages. Some of them have learnt it from birth, and master Iscamtho better than any other language. As the South African Constitution provides for everyone to be educated in his/her native language, linguistic problems in the educational system are an important issue in Soweto: children considered by the authorities as being Zulu- or Sotho-speakers are educated in those languages. But the languages used at school are the standard ones. As a result, many pupils face comprehension problems, as they don't really know those rural standards. Some can miss up to 30% of the information which they receive. And teachers are so far not allowed to use Iscamtho, although many of them do it informally. Also, the issue of language in the judicial system suffers from the non-recognition of Iscamtho. South African citizens have the right to be tried in their language, but dispositions are only provided for the 11 official languages of the country. As a consequence, first-language Iscamtho-speakers face inequalities compared to the rest of the population, as they might be tried in a language which is not the one they master best. On the contrary, when trying to use “their” language at court, they rarely have the opportunity to be supported by a translator who can understand this language, as translators are recruited for their competence in one or more of the 11 official languages. One should consider that what occurs with native Iscamtho-speaking communities can also be applied to other tsotsitaal speaking communities in South Africa, in the Black townships as well as in the Coloured townships, where Afrikaans-speaking populations have their own tsotsitaals. More often than not, when celebrated in the media capacity or space, tsotsi taal speakers are presented in a manner in which the older generations of such a culture would be described; fairly violent, conniving and restless. This kind of media portrayal usually spreads the logic; like all marginalized and unofficial languages; that there is not or cannot be a voice of reason, intelligence, love or even respect among its speakers. This then, may just be the reason as to why the language is being unrecognized by many communities and institutions. There is however a very distinct level of respect accompanied by the language that many may not understand. When a fellow tsotsi taal speaker sees and meets another; a very profound sense of respect and belonging can be witnessed. The term "ka" followed by what the western world would normally call a fist bump was traditionally a shortened versioned term for "kasi" meaning township - a proud expression indicating where one was from - the townships.See also
* Historical dialects of Afrikaans *''Notes
;Relevant reading *Aycard, P. 2008. Speak as You Want to Speak: Just Be Free!, A Linguistic-anthropological Monograph of First-language Iscamtho-speaking Youth in White City, Soweto: Master's thesis, African Studies Centre. Leiden: University of Leiden, Netherlands. *Brookes, Heather. 2016. Urban youth languages in South Africa: A Case Study of Tsotsitaal in a South African Township. ''Anthropological Linguistics'' 56.3-4: 356-388. *Childs, G.T. 1997. The Status of Isicamtho, an Nguni-Based Urban Variety of Soweto, in Spears, A.K. and Winford, D. (ed.). The Structure and Status of Pidgins and Creoles, Including Selected Papers from the Meeting of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, p. 341–367. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. *Glaser C. 1991. Bo-Tsotsi: the Youth Gangs of Soweto, 1935–1976, Portsmouth, N.H.; Heinemann, Oxford: James Currey. *Glaser C. 2005. Whistles and Sjamboks: Crime and Policing in Soweto, 1960–1976, in South African Historical Journal, n°52, p. 119–139. *Hurst, Ellen. 2015. "Overview of the tsotsitaals of South Africa; Their different base languages and common core lexical items." ''Global Repertoires and Urban Fluidity. Youth Languages in Africa'', Nico Nassenstein and Andrea Hollington, (eds.) 169-184. Berlin: de Gruyter. *Junction Avenue Theater - Purkey, M. & Stein, P., 1993, Sophiatown Theatre play: Publisher unknown. *Molamu, L. 2003. Tsotsitaal: A Dictionary of the Language of Sophiatown. Pretoria: UNISA. *Ntshangase, D.K. 2002. "Language and Language Practices in Soweto, in Mesthrie, R. (ed.), 2002, Language in South Africa, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 407–418. *Satyo, S.C. 2001. Kwaito-speak: A Language Variety Created for the Youth by the Youth, in Ridge, E.; Makoni S. & Ridge, S. (ed.). Freedom and Discipline: Essays in Applied Linguistics from Southern Africa, p. 139-148. New Delhi: Bahri Publications. *Slabbert, S. and Myers-Scotton, C. 1996. The Structure of Tsotsitaal and Isicamtho: Code-Switching and In-Group Identity in South African Townships. Linguistics 34, p. 317–342.External links