The nature and context of Kaaps: a contemporary, past and future perspective

In this contribution, which serves as orientation for this special edition, the accent falls chiefly on the contemporary manifestation of Kaaps as colloquial variety of Afrikaans, but also on its historic roots and the challenges regarding its future. Besides a reflection on the name “Kaaps” and other alternative names, this language form is described with reference to its origin, traditional speakers, geographic situation, sociolectic nature, linguistic character and its contextual usages. Kaaps is presented as a variety of the dialect group Southwestern Afrikaans which as a form of colloquial Afrikaans refers back historically to the seventeenth century influence of slaves on the formation of Afrikaans and which is currently chiefly manifested as a sociolect associated with the working class of the Cape Peninsula. The social assessment, lingua-political treatment and survival potential of this variety are also reviewed. © Hendricks and CMDR. 2016 Multilingual Margins 2016, 3(2): 6-39 1 This paper is an adapted version of the opening paper I delivered during the symposium on Kaaps at the University of the Western Cape from 19 to 20 July 2012. The title of the paper was ‘The nature and context of Kaaps: a past, contemporary and future perspective’. InTroducTIon1 The language form Kaaps is reflected in utterances like the following, as well as the example materials in in the section 'THE LINGUISTIC NATURE OF KAAPS':: • Aweh, Vader Krismis. Bly om te sien djy’s nog altyd soe mal oor cowboys en kroeks speel. [Hi, Father Christmas. Glad to see you’re still so crazy about playing cowboys and crooks.] (Son, 12/11/2012) • Ma’ nou wat djy op varsity is, dink djy djy’s slimmere as my. [But now that you are at university, you think you are cleverer than me.] (Zulfah Otto-Sallies, Diekie vannie Bo-Kaap, p. 39) • Wel – hoe s’l ’k nou sê – ons het oek maa’ onse aps-en-douns; net soes elke-iene: vandag is die blomme baieng skaa’s, môre kry djy wee’ glad te veel... [Well – how should I put it – we also have our ups and downs; just like everyone: today the flowers are scarce, tomorrow you have far too many...] (S.V. Petersen, ‘In die hart van die stad’) 7 Nature and context of Kaaps © Hendricks and CMDR. 2016 • Djy moet daai mond van jou control. Is bêd vir business. Djy wiet vir jouself times is bêd...! [You must control that mouth of yours. It’s bad for business. You know yourself times are bad...!] (Peter Snyders, Political Joke, p. 9) This language form has its roots in the Cape Peninsula, is still virile, and is chiefly linked, as will be shown later, with the working class of this area. This orienting contribution takes a closer look at the nature and contextual aspects of Kaaps. My approach is linguistic, more specifically variationallinguistic. Accordingly, I consider languages (Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa, Dutch, etc.) to be entities which are each made up of a network of varieties. Theoretically, I favour an egalitarian approach to language diversity. This approach rests on the assumption that the standard variety and colloquial varieties of a language (such as Afrikaans) are intertwined organically (Ponelis 1994:117) and should be regarded as entities on the same level, thus as linguistically equivalent and equally valid codes of communication (Hendricks 2012a:51, 2012b:96). My perspective (of the topic) is, as indicated in the title, chiefly contemporary but also historically and future oriented. Born and bred in the Hantam, I would not be able to pass for a primary speaker of Kaaps, but I can speak and write it in a way. After all, I have been exposed to Kaaps since my childhood – and am thus able to judge the linguistic aspects and use thereof (whether verbal or written) from within. Organisationally, this contribution comprises the following: firstly, the dinstinctive nature of Kaaps is described in terms of its naming, its varying linguistic nature and its social aspects. Thereafter the emphasis falls on its social assessment and lingua-political handling. In closing, the future of Kaaps is touched on with reference to some relevant challenges. Regarding its functional tenor, my approach seeks to be informative, but also speculative and direction-seeking.


InTroducTIon 1
The language form Kaaps is reflected in utterances like the following, as well as the example materials in in the section 'THE LINGUISTIC NATURE OF KAAPS':: This language form has its roots in the Cape Peninsula, is still virile, and is chiefly linked, as will be shown later, with the working class of this area.
This orienting contribution takes a closer look at the nature and contextual aspects of Kaaps. My approach is linguistic, more specifically variationallinguistic. Accordingly, I consider languages (Afrikaans, English, isiXhosa, Dutch, etc.) to be entities which are each made up of a network of varieties. Theoretically, I favour an egalitarian approach to language diversity. This approach rests on the assumption that the standard variety and colloquial varieties of a language (such as Afrikaans) are intertwined organically (Ponelis 1994:117) and should be regarded as entities on the same level, thus as linguistically equivalent and equally valid codes of communication (Hendricks 2012a(Hendricks :51, 2012b. My perspective (of the topic) is, as indicated in the title, chiefly contemporary but also historically and future oriented. Born and bred in the Hantam, I would not be able to pass for a primary speaker of Kaaps, but I can speak and write it in a way. After all, I have been exposed to Kaaps since my childhood -and am thus able to judge the linguistic aspects and use thereof (whether verbal or written) from within.
Organisationally, this contribution comprises the following: firstly, the dinstinctive nature of Kaaps is described in terms of its naming, its varying linguistic nature and its social aspects. Thereafter the emphasis falls on its social assessment and lingua-political handling. In closing, the future of Kaaps is touched on with reference to some relevant challenges. Regarding its functional tenor, my approach seeks to be informative, but also speculative and direction-seeking.
The alternative name 'Kaapse Vernakulêre Afrikaans' ['Cape Vernacular Afrikaans'] rightly indicates that Kaaps is by nature a form of Vernacular Afrikaans 3 (a countrywide phenomenon) as manifested in Cape Town and environs. Vernacular Afrikaans is, according to Ponelis (1998:5), a distinctive form of colloquial Afrikaans, which, inter alia, © Hendricks and CMDR. 2016 (a) has a hyper-informal slant, (b) is deeply under the influence of English, (c) is subject to relatively rapid renewal and change, and (d) is spoken especially by people from the lower social class but also by people from the middle and upper class. In a later work (Ponelis 2009) Ponelis uses the term 'demotiese Afrikaans' ['demotic Afrikaans'] as alternative name for 'Vernacular Afrikaans'. He also states categorically that demotic Afrikaans occurs nationally and that Cape Vernacular Afrikaans is only one of its manifestation forms: The users of demotic Afrikaans occur throughout the Afrikaans language community, in all regions, in all social groups, from barely literate to learned bigwigs. This thus means that Cape Vernacular Afrikaans is only one form of demotic Afrikaans, but not the only one by far.
The use of 'Kaapse Afrikaans' ['Cape Afrikaans'], as alternative for 'Kaaps', could create confusion, as in some works on Afrikaans language variation (Ponelis 1987(Ponelis :9, 1989aBotha 1989:127) the term 'Kaapse Afrikaans' is used synonymously with the term 'Suidwestelike Afrikaans' ['Southwestern Afrikaans'] in order to refer to the colloquial Afrikaans spoken in that area of South Africa, known earlier as 'Suidwes-Kaapland' (the Southwestern Cape), and currently as 'die Wes-Kaap' ['the Western Cape']. As such, the name 'Cape Afrikaans' covers besides Kaaps (as chiefly working class language form typical of the Cape Peninsula) also other colloquial distinctions in the Western Cape such as Boland, Swartland and Overberg Afrikaans (Ponelis 1987(Ponelis :9, 1998. 4 It is indeed interesting to note that 'Kaaps' is no recent name. Nienaber (1952:63-65) points out that during the Dutch and early English rule at the Cape, specifically in the period before the Great Trek and the establishment of the Boer republics, 'Kaaps' was used locally as well as by foreigners as a shortened name for ' Kaaps-Hollands' ['Cape Dutch'] when referring to the South African form of Dutch, used at the Cape in the seventeenth century and thereafter. It also turned up as component in a number of alternatives for 'Kaaps-Hollands', including 'Kaapsch Taaleigen' [own Cape language] and 'Kaapschen tongval' ['Cape tongue/dialect']. These earlier names seem to correspond conceptually and/or regarding range value with the terms 'Cape Afrikaans' and 'South western Afrikaans' (as used by Ponelis). Kaaps (as primarily working class variety) is thus linked by name with Cape-Dutch as earlier layer of the Afrikaans language.

THe vArIATIonAl-lInguIsTIc vIew oF KAAps
From a variational-linguistic perspective, i.e. dialectically and socio-linguistically, Kaaps is relatively nuanced. 5 This nuanced character will subsequently be 4 For Van Rensburg 'Cape Afrikaans' has the same range value as 'South western Afrikaans' because he (Van Rensburg 1989:439) explicates that the three dialect collections of Ponelis (1987:9), i.e. South western, North western and Eastern Afrikaans, match his own trichotomy: 'Cape Afrikaans', 'Orange River Afrikaans' and 'Eastern Border Afrikaans'. His elucidation of 'Cape Afrikaans', using only examples from the erstwhile Slave Afrikaans and the contemporary colloquial Afrikaans of Coloured and/or Muslim speakers in the Cape Peninsula (Van Rensburg 1989:449-451), may however create the impression that the term 'Cape Afrikaans' is only applicable to the latter. 5 Carstens (2003:291) states in this regard, 'It is difficult to exactly define "Cape Afrikaans". It is mainly limited geographically to the Cape environs (thus a geolect), but it also shows characterics of social stratification (thus a sociolect).' elucidated with reference to the linguistic status, early traces, geolectic nature and the speaker corps of this language form.

The linguistic status of Kaaps
Regarding its linguistic status, Kaaps should be regarded as a variety of Afrikaans -not as a language or language form alongside Afrikaans. The alternative name 'Cape Afrikaans' implicitly alludes to the fact that Kaaps is essentially a form of Afrikaans. Furthermore Kaaps is, as is clear from the component 'vernacular' in the aforementioned alternative names 'Cape Vernacular Afrikaans' (Ponelis 2009) 6 and 'Cape Vernacular-Afrikaans' (Du Plessis 1987:130), more specifically a colloquial variety of Afrikaans, thus a form of spoken Afrikaans. As such, Kaaps, together with all other distinguishable colloquial varieties of Afrikaans, is organically linked to, and thus in interaction with, Standard Afrikaans as commonly used unitary variety.

The early traces of Kaaps
Kaaps is one of the oldest varieties of Afrikaans, and its development coincides with that of Afrikaans as a language at large. Accordingly, Kaaps can be regarded, historically speaking, as a linguistic offshoot of two consecutive periods of colonial rule at the Cape, i.e. the Dutch or VOC period until about the end of the 18th century, and English rule from the beginning of the 19th century. In this regard, Ponelis (1987:5-7;1989a:11;1999a) points out that during the formative phase of Afrikaans it was especially the influence of Malay and Low Portuguese (the dominant languages of slave communication) which caused the transformation of Dutch to Afrikaans-Dutch, through language influence (borrowing) and language interference.
These early traces of Kaaps can be associated with contemporary sociolinguistic research, which focuses on the origin and use of so-called 'supervernaculars' as reflection of 'superdiversity', i.e. a social phenomenon that has manifested in cities like Antwerp and Cape Town since the 1990s. Accordingly, one could argue retrospectively that Kaaps took root in the period of Dutch rule at the Cape and the early years of English rule, and that it was utilised as a sort of supervernacular within a social context, specifically a slave context, which could be typified as superdiverse, or as multinational and multicultural.

The geolectic nature/geographic situation of Kaaps
As indicated earlier, Kaaps is identified geolectially as a subvariety of the dialect bundle Southwestern Afrikaans (Ponelis CMDR. 2016 1987:9). As such, Kaaps has taken shape historically in the proximity of Swartland, Boland, Overberg and West Coast Afrikaans, among others. In this regard, Ponelis points out that Afrikaans diversified into three dialects in the eighteenth century, namely Southwestern, Northwestern and Eastern Afrikaans (Ponelis 1994;1998:3) and that slaves who spoke Malay and Low Portuguese had a strong influence on Southwestern Afrikaans during this regionalisation phase (Ponelis 1996:130). Ponelis (1996:131) further indicates that language phenomena, currently considered typical of Cape Vernacular Afrikaans, were also prevalent in other areas where Southwestern Afrikaans was spoken, but eventually fell out of use under the pressure of the standard variety. As such, the contemporary Cape working class language form can be seen as a distinct variety in which the original linguistic character of the Southwestern Afrikaans dialect has been retained to a significant extent.
Moving closer geographically, Kaaps is chiefly limited to the Cape Peninsula, with the following areas as likely places of origin (Hendricks 1978:20): a) the Bo-Kaap (the historic centre of the Cape Muslim culture since the late 1800s and which since about 1836 was inhabited by freed slaves (Anon n.d.:236)) and b) District Six (founded in 1867 and a cosmopolitan residential area inhabited by freed slaves, workers, immigrants, traders and artists (Anon n.d.:238)) In these neighbouring Cape Town areas, Kaaps stabilised linguistically and took on the character for which it is recognised nowadays. The empirical finding by Kotzé (1984:42)

Typifying Kaaps in terms of its speakers
In terms of its speakers, Kaaps is essentially sociolectic, rather than ethnolectic in nature. Accordingly, primarily the working class of Cape Town, including Cape Muslims and/or coloured people, but also white people, has always spoken Kaaps. To regard Kaaps as a marker of Coloured identity has therefore no solid base. These users of Kaaps include people native to Cape Town, but also persons from geographic areas outside Cape Town who, as residents of Cape Town, have over time acquired the ability to speak it. Kaaps is, as indicated, chiefly a working class code. To put it differently: the cocoon of Kaaps is chiefly a working class cocoon. In the Cape Town city centre, the suburbs of Cape Town and the Cape Flats where people from the working class or people from the middle class with a working class background live together, work together and on occasion socialize, there is a good chance that Kaaps or certain linguistic aspects of Kaaps will be used or heard. In terms of its dominant speaker corps, Kaaps could however be termed a colour variety of Afrikaans, i.e. a variety of Afrikaans which is traditionally associated with people of colour. As such, Kaaps is distinguished from other colour varieties of Afrikaans, such as the following: a) the different subvarieties of the geolect Orange River Afrikaans which include Griqua Afrikaans and the colloquial Afrikaans of Namaqualand, Bushmanland, Richtersveld, Rehoboth and Riemvasmaak; b) Flytaal or Tsotsi Afrikaans, a register variety which has Afrikaans as basis dialect and which is historically associated with young blacks in the residential areas of Johannesburg and c) Black Afrikaans, an acquired colloquial variety which is geographically dispersed and which in its form shows traces of influence from one or other black language (Hendricks 2011:111).
To summarise, from a variationallinguistic perspective Kaaps is regarded as a variety of the dialect bundle Southwestern Afrikaans, which, as a form of colloquial Afrikaans, dates back to the seventeenth century influence of slaves on the formation of Afrikaans, which currently manifests mainly as a sociolect associated with the working class of the Cape Peninsula and which, in terms of its dominant speaker corps, can be typified as a colour variety of Afrikaans.

THe lInguIsTIc nATure oF KAAps
Contemporary Kaaps is characterised by particular phonological, lexical and grammatical phenomena (markers) and expressions. This intrinsic linguistic character reflects (a) the formative impact of, inter alia, English, Arabic, Malay and Indonesian on the Dutch-Afrikaans historical basis of Kaaps as well as (b) the linguistic influence of Standard Afrikaans and other forms of colloquial Afrikaans.
These aspects are consequently discussed and illustrated by means of examples from published texts in which Kaaps, or linguistic markers thereof, are incorporated, and sporadically also with reference to data recorded by myself. These sources are specified in full later in this paper under the heading "Database". 8 My outline of the linguistic system of Kaaps is in essence a continuation of the linguistic description of Kaaps by myself (Hendricks 1978(Hendricks , 1996(Hendricks , 2012b as well as the linguistic exploration of Kaaps by, inter alia, Klopper (1983), Kotzé (1984), Pheiffer 8. The examples used to illustrate the linguistic aspects of Kaaps in this section and further on, are presented as they appear in the sources they were extracted from. After each illustrative example, the source is indicated in accordance with the reference formula as specified in the database. For example: the source referencing for an illustrative example obtained from Adam Small's drama Kanna hy kô hystoe, is presented in the following way: daai < daardie (Small,KHKH,p. 85); for an item cited from Leonard Koza's short prose text 'Abdulla en Miena se stall'tjie' the referencing is as follows: wan' < want (Koza, 'Stall'tjie', p. 79).
© Hendricks and CMDR. 2016), Van Rensburg (1989 and Ponelis (1989bPonelis ( , 1998. Although the use of Kaaps is characterized by an alternation between variants typical of Kaaps and standardised variants, the description comprises a focus on the distinctive linguistic aspects of Kaaps. The developmental history of Kaaps is also taken into account and accordingly I deem it necessary to distinguish between older and more contemporary variants sporadically.

The impact of english
One of the most striking characteristics of Kaaps is the formative influence of English on its Dutch-Afrikaans base. The prominent nuances hereof are elucidated under (a), (b) and (c).

(a) Insertion of direct borrowings from English
Ek mean, sy was al seventy-eight, en nog altyd independant.

pronunciation phenomena in Kaaps
Phonologically, Kaaps is strongly marked. Besides colloquial language markers such as procope, syncope and apocope as forms of speech sound omission (see d), epenthesis and paragoge as forms of speech sound addition (see e), unrounding (see f) and enclisis (see g) which Kaaps has in common with other forms of colloquial Afrikaans, the phenomena at (h) collectively can be called distinctive pronunciation markers of Kaaps:

The use of lexical items and expressions in Kaaps
Kaaps is not only strongly marked regarding pronunciation, but especially also lexically. Besides the frequent use of English lexical items, the intertwining of lexical items which are linked to Islam and which are etymologically of Arabic, Malay and Indonesian origin, is also typical of Kaaps. Many of these items, including those supplied in (i), were included in the tenth edition of the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (Taalkommissie 2009). 9 The examples at (j) illustrate the literary reflection of these items. The lexical terms supplied in (k), (l), (m) and (n) are also typical of contemporary Kaaps. The lexical items in (k) are commonly in use among Kaaps speakers, while those in (l) more specifically relate to the Cape underworld (gang activies, prison life, and alcohol and drug abuse). The items in (m) Kaaps has in common with Flaaitaal/Tsotsi language. The items in (n) are phonetic modifications or contractions of words and/or expressions, which, because of a high frequency of usage, with time have achieved lexical (word) status. Lexical items such as those in (o) were earlier highly customary among speakers of Southwestern Afrikaans in general and among Kaaps speakers in particular, but its usage has decreased over the past three decades, probably due to the impact of Standard Afrikaans. Some of these items in (o) have found their way as lemmas in the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT) (Hendricks 2012b:104).

The grammatical characteristics of Kaaps
Typical grammatical (morphological and syntactic) phenomena in Kaaps are listed in (q). The grammatical phenomena in (r) are found in the literary texts of S.V. Petersen, Adam Small and Elias P. Nel, among others, but seldom occur among contemporary speakers of Kaaps and in text in which contemporary Kaaps has been captured. These phenomena are thus considered to be obsolescent. • Use of a possessive pronoun instead of se:

THe socIAl embeddedness And conTexTuAl uses oF KAAps
• Lekke' warme worsies! (Own recording) • Mêrim, mêrim worrels, een hang los, twie ran' 'n bos! (Own recording) • Rooikraans (instead of rooikrans) (Own recording) • Although Kaaps is primarily a spoken language variety (thus a form of 'Praatafrikaans'), it has over the years also been utilised as written medium in journalism (as in Peter Snyders' column 'Kopstukke' in Die Burger a few years ago, and currently also in the Cape newspaper Son), and also in various literary genres (poetry, drama, prose) with figures such as S.V. Petersen, Adam Small and Peter Snyders as prominent exponents. These writers and others have contributed to establishing a codified register that Ernst Kotzé (2001:106-107) calls the 'Literary Cape Vernacular'. According to Kotzé, this code aims to reflect informal spoken discourse by adapting the orthography in order to capture the typical pronunciation of Kaaps.
The application of Kaaps as written code goes back a long way. Kaaps was engaged in one of the first Afrikaans codifying system, namely the Arabic Afrikaans writing tradition. This tradition had its origin in the first half of the 19th century in Cape Muslim schools and remained in use until the middle of the 20th century. Accordingly, Cape Muslim Afrikaans had, for religious purposes, been put into writing successfully by means of an adapted version of the Arabic alphabet (Botha 1989:135;Davids 1991;Davids 2011). 13 Further, at the beginning of the twentieth century, specifically between 1909 en 1922, Kaaps was utilised as written medium in 'Straatpraatjes', a satirical column in APO, mouthpiece of the African People's Organization, which was edited by one 'Piet Uithalder' who was presumably Dr Abdulla Abdurahman (Adhikari 1996;Ponelis 1996).
Since the beginning of the 20th century until the height of Apartheid, Kaaps was purposely circumvented in the standardisation of Afrikaans, and sidestepped in the linguistic description and tuition of Afrikaans. As a reflection of Afrikaner nationalism, these forms of marginalisation not only promoted the stigmatisation of Kaaps, but also resulted in Kaaps being sensed by its own speakers as being an inferior Afrikaans.
Choosing Eastern Afrikaans (also known as Eastern border Afrikaans), instead of Kaaps or Orange River Afrikaans, as basis for the standardisation of Afrikaans (as indicated by Van Rensburg and Ponelis), implicately amounted to a refusal to build on one of the first Afrikaans codifying systems, namely the Arabic Afrikaans writing tradition of the 18th and 19th century. In this witing tradition, as stated before, Cape Muslim Afrikaans, a prominent subvariety of Kaaps, had been successfully put into writing by means of an adapted version of the Arabic alphabet. One realizes that if the Arabic writing tradition had been taken into account or as point of departure at the beginning of the twentieth century, Standard Afrikaans may today have had a very different character, more specifically one strongly tinted with Kaaps.

FuTure perspecTIve on KAAps
What are the challenges regarding Kaaps? What is the road forward for Kaaps and for Afrikaans in general?
One would hope that the linguistic and social nature of Kaaps, as well as its scope of usage will in future be researched anew and continuously, and that the findings of such research will be recorded in dissertations, academic publications and dictionaries. One investigation theme could be to ascertain to what extent Kaaps, or aspects thereof, have infiltrated other colloquial codes and been absorbed by them. Relevant codes are, among others, the informal colloquial speech of standard language speakers of Afrikaans and English, the lingua franca in multilingual informal settlements in the Cape Peninsula as well as cyberspace codes like email and SMS language. One could also investigate how Kaaps figures in cities abroad like London and Perth, where a significant number of Cape-born (e)migrants are gathered. Personally, I would like to participate in producing linguistic works in which Kaaps is accommodated along with other Afrikaans colloquial varieties and Standard Afrikaans into one descriptive framework. Such polylectic language description should indeed confirm the kinship of Afrikaans varieties which Ponelis (1998:3;1999a) has emphasized. There is also an appeal to correct the historic process of defining Afrikaans colour varieties, and Kaaps in particular, outside of the standardisation of Afrikaans.
There is also an appeal to ensure a historical rectification regarding the disregard of Afrikaans colour varieties, particularly Kaaps, as feeder sources for Standard Afrikaans. In the words of Le Cordeur (2010) Kaaps Afrikaans (Muslim Afrikaans) had the largest number of speakers (more than 63 000 in 1808), why did we allow our language (i.e. Kaaps -FSH) to take on, and to continue to take on, a subservient role?
Two choices are relevant in this regard (Hendricks 2011:213). One option would be to abandon the current standard variety and utilise one of the historically marginalised regional dialects, i.e. either Southwestern Afrikaans (including Kaaps as one of the key subvarieties) or Orange River Afrikaans, as new standardisation base. 14 A second option would be to reform the current standard variety in an evolutionary way, to recreate it by continually sifting it to retain that which is considered relevant, and to increasingly utilise Southwestern Afrikaans (especially Kaaps as subvariety) and Orange River Afrikaans as sources of supply. I would argue that the first option (as the seemingly politically correct one) might be too radical and that it could lead to the implosion of the Afrikaans language at large. The future of Afrikaans, in my view, lies in the reformation option, supported by inclusive regenerative socio-political forces.
For Kaaps to flourish as fully-fledged communication code alongside Standard Afrikaans, on the one hand, and to be considered a fertile productive supply source for the standard variety, on the other hand, it must be freed from its state of marginalisation and stigmatisation. A number of measures, like those specified by Hendricks (2011Hendricks ( :113-114, 2012a, could be considered for this purpose. Of cardinal importance is a paradigm shift, and a change of attitude, regarding our view of the relationship between the standard variety and the colloquial varieties of Afrikaans. The customary hierarchical perspective of variety diversity should make way for an egalitarian (or equal-level) perspective, according to which Standard Afrikaans and all colloquial varieties linked to it organically, are considered to be, in principle, equivalent codes of communication. A second measure would be to encourage free use of Kaaps and other colour varieties, in the private domain, but increasingly also as speaking and/or writing code in those public spheres of usage traditionally regarded as the domain of the standard variety: churches and mosques, courts of law, journalism, radio, television, conference podia, and the like (Combrink, 1998). In addition, there is an appeal to poets, prose writers and playwrights to continue with the practice of utilising, as literary medium, the colour and other colloquial varieties alongside the standard variety. As a third measure, an adjustment regarding language tuition can be considered. Afrikaans language tuition at school level should be increasingly instrumental in destigmatising colloquial varieties by maintaining a fine balance between mastering of the standard variety and recognising the usage validity of spoken language varieties. To lead learners to the insight that alternate usage of the standard variety and colloquical varieties (like Kaaps) is subject to the norm of contextual suitability, should be a primary outcome of language tuition.
What will be to the advantage of Afrikaans is an inclusive, more flexible, expansive standard variety, fed by the full spectrum of colloquial varieties, particularly Kaaps and other colour varieties. In my view, this is what should be understood under the concept 'democratization of Afrikaans'. The realization of this ideal will ensure that Standard Afrikaans can indeed feature as unifying variety in service of all groupings who associate themselves with Afrikaans.

concludIng remArKs
The Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts, on which I have served since 2010, has already for quite some time been committed to, and has already started with, the inclusion in the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls of lexical items derived from Kaaps, especially, but also from Orange River Afrikaans (Taalkommissie 2009;Germishuys 2015). A significant number of items from Kaaps have also been included in the sixth edition of the Handwoordeboek van Afrikaans taal (HAT) (Luther et al. 2015). These initiatives signify a commitment to broaden the standard variety of Afrikaans by the inclusion of variants from the historically marginalised forms of Afrikaans.
A logical, and in my view unavoidable, additional initiative would be to speedily establish an Afrikaans grammar model which will reveal a polylectic perspective on Afrikaans and in which the rich linguistic systematics reflected in Kaaps will also be accounted for.
Kaaps is, as indicated, inextricably part of Afrikaans, and we are called upon to thoroughly take this into account, normatively as well as linguistically, on the road ahead. reFerences 15