Ulimi lwenkululeko: Township ‘women's language of empowerment’ and homosexual linguistic identities

abstract

The repertoire of South African females in the Nguni language cluster is remarkably diverse. Considering not only so-called ‘standard’ languages, but also different varieties, sociolects, ethnolects and registers, the linguistic diversity of South Africans is even more noteworthy. In this focus we explore a language variety termed isiTsotsi, which if employed by females, is often associated with lesbianism in KwaZulu-Natal. The masculinity historically and traditionally linked to isiTsotsi is the reason why there exists the common perception among men that females who do employ isiTsotsi-varieties must be lesbians. While many urban lesbians may indeed make use of the variety, this paper shows that the female use of isiTsotsi does not represent an exclusively homosexual register, but rather a context-dependent sociolect that African streetwise women employ to empower themselves. Hence, female isiTotsi-speakers are not necessarily representative of lesbian society in South Africa. Rather, they represent a new generation of emancipated African females who are capable of communicating their freedom and equality in relation to men.

keywords:

• Tsotsi language
• isiTsotsi
• lesbianism
• township
• female identities
• streetwisdom