‘Innie Malmesbuġy waa ôs bly’: Taalburgerskap, Arabies-Afrikaans, en die bry-r in Ashwin Arendse se Swatland

Abstract

The use of the romanised ghayn symbol (ġ) in Ashwin Arendse’s debut poetry anthology, Swatland, is investigated in this article as a form of linguistic citizenship. The ghayn symbol, which is used in reference to Arabic-Afrikaans, is incorporated by Arendse to represent the burr r — also known as the guttural, or uvular, r [ʀ] — a typical feature of Afrikaans-speakers from Malmesbury in particular, but south-western Afrikaans in general. With [ʀ] having a marginal position in broader discourses of Afrikaans, the theory of linguistic citizenship provides a frame through which Arendse’s use of the ghayn symbol could be described as inclusive, orthographic renewal. It is argued that not only does this provide a solution to the challenge of orthographic representation of the [ʀ], but the position of Arabic-Afrikaans, the Cape Muslim Afrikaans-speaking community and the historical links between Malay and Afrikaans become more visible through Arendse’s poetry.