Examples of South African English

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When somebody refers to a connection, it’s a friend or a mate.

//wen ʹsʌmbɒdi rəʹfɜːz tu ə kəʹnekʃən/əts ə frend ɔː ə məɪt//

The pronunciation of refers is /rəʹfɜːz/ and it's is /əts/. Thus RP /ɪ/ is normally realized as /ə/ in South African English (SAE).

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When they ask you to stop at the next robot, they mean stop at the next traffic lights.

//wen ðəɪ ɑːsk ju to stɒp ət ðə nekst ʹrəʊbɒt/ðəɪ miːn stɒp ət ðə nekst ʹtræfɪk laɪts//

The pronunciation of ask is long in contrast with Northern British English and Genearl American English.

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When someone refers to a Dutchman, it’s a derogatory term for a white Afrikaner.

//wen ʹsʌmbɒdi rəʹfɜːz tu ə ʹdʌtʃmən/əts ə dəʹrɒgətəri tɜːm fə ə waɪt æfrɪʹkɑːnə//

SAE is non-rhotic as can be seen in the pronunciation of refers and term.

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When somebody refers to I need more air time, they actually mean I’m going to put some more credit on my mobile provider.

//wen ʹsʌmbɒdi rəʹfɜːz tu aɪ niːd mɔː ʹkredət taim/ðəɪ ʹæktʃəli miːn aɪm ʹgəʊɪŋ tə pʌt mɔː ʹkredɪt ɒn maɪ ʹməʊbaɪl prəʹvaidə//

You have probably already noticed the pronunciation of the /r/. In RP it is an approximant, that is, almost like a vowel in that there is no friction. In SAE it often has a weak fricative pronunciation, that is, there is audible friction (Wells, 1982: 617). You can hear this in the word credit.

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We have a slim chance of winning.

//wi hæv ə slɪm tʃɑːns əv ʹwɪnɪŋ//

The vowel in chance is long as in RP.

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A tin of beans.

//əɪ tən əv biːnz/

The /ə/ pronunciation of tin is characteristic of SAE.

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When is the bus due?

//wen əz ðə bʌs djuː/

In the word due we have a /j/ like RP and unlike General American English.

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Play a tune on the piano.

//pləɪ ə tjuːn ɒn ðə piʹænəʊ//

The pronunciation of tune with /j/ is similar to conservative RP. However, most young RP speakers and speakers of other varieities of British English pronounce words like tune with a /tʃ/ phoneme.