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Article: Surfing through the languages.(South Africa's official multilingualism)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 24, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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EYEBROWS were raised at the rugby world cup when South Africa's television commentary broke periodically into Xhosa. Most of the eyebrows belonged to whites, since rugby has long been the preserve of Afrikaners and English-speaking people. Without warning or subtitles, the commentary jumped between all three tongues. African languages, once regarded in a paternalistic way as little better than a quaint ethnic tradition, are being taken seriously. While politically correct and aesthetically appealing, the egalitarian language policy causes bewilderment.
Under South Africa's new constitution, there are 11 official national languages. None, constitutionally, is more ...