Zambezia (2000). XXVII (i).HARARE SHONA SLANG: A LINGUISTIC STUDYAQUILINA MAWADZADepartment of African Languages and Literature, University of ZimbabweAbstractThis article discusses the linguistic origins and forms of Shona slang andexamines words and phrases that are used casually in Harare. It illustratesthat slang is informal language that generally follows the grammaticalpatterns of the language from which it stems but reflects on an alternatelexicon with connotations of informality. Finally, the article seeks todemonstrate that most slang terms originate from borrowing, a result oflanguage contact with English and other African languages.INTRODUCTIONHarare Shona slang is the body of words and expressions frequently usedby a rather large portion of the general Harare public but which are notaccepted as formal usage by the majority. According to Flexner, "Slang isvivid, forceful and [more] expressive than standard usage. It often avoidsthe sentimentality and formality older words often assume'.1 For Eble,'Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases thatspeakers use so as to establish group identity and solidarity'.2 In thisarticle, the term is used to denote a non-standard language composed ofmetaphors and new words or words that take a new meaning. To put itdifferently, slang refers to non-standard terms or non-standard usage ofstandard terms.Slang is a linguistic style that occupies an extreme position on thespectrum of formality. Slang is a kind of informal language that is regardedas being below standard and correct usage and is socially less acceptable.There are characteristics that have been used to delimit slang, but thesemay be often the result of prejudice and misunderstanding. For example,slang has often been referred to as 'colloquial' and has also beencharacterised as 'taboo, vulgar and derogatory'. It is often misunderstoodas a substandard and unwholesome language that is associated with thelower classes of society. For Partridge and Foerster and Steadman, slangis 'a substitute for good diction, demonstrating poor vocabulary and1 Flexner, S. B. and H. Wentworth (1975) Dictionary of American Slang (New York. Crowell).vii.2 Eble, C. (1996) Slang and Sociability (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press). 119394 HARARE SHONA SUNG: A LINGUISTIC STUDYcritical ability'.3 It has also sometimes been regarded as subversive, eventhough, in reality, it may, often, simply encode a shared experience andnormally functions as an alternative vocabulary replacing standard termswith more forceful or interesting versions, just for the fun of it. As DeKlerk argues,Slang has until recently been neglected by linguists and romanticisedby its supporters as creative and vivid, unrestricted by the chains of astandard, or viciously criticised and condemned by prescriptivists asdangerously vulgar, non-standard speech. Yet it is a valid part of thelinguistic competence of the individuals using it and as such deservesattention by linguists.4Despite the large number of slang expressions that the Shona knowand the frequency with which slang expressions are used, Shona slanghas received little empirical attention. Chimhundu briefly examines Shonaslang and refers to it as 'Town Shona'. He notes that slang is transient andis generally used by in-groups, particularly among the youth.5Speculating on why slang has not been subjected to serious scholarlyanalysis, Grossman argued that 'The neglect of slang as a topic for researchmay be the result of such factors as the belief that slang use changesrapidly or that slang is not standard language'.6 It is equally contentedhere that slang has not been subjected to serious scholarly analysisbecause it has been regarded as deviant vocabulary that is often associatedwith marginalised groups. This article analyses the socio-linguistic originsof Shona slang and attempts to offer insights into the structure of slang toreveal what is peculiar about slang and how it relates to the Shonaphonological and morphological system. The slang lexicon analysed inthis study comes from a number of conversations with speakers of Shonaslang.Research by Eble, De Klerk, and Chimhundu has established that thegreatest number of slang terms are used by the youth, the group insociety most inclined to celebrating heightened sensations and newexperiences and to renaming features of their world. As Teresa Labovnotes, 'Slang terms are the feature of youth culture through which identitywithin a subculture is advertised, if not also guaranteed'.7 Some linguists3 Foerster, N. and Steadman J. (1941) Writing and Thinking (Boston, Houghton Mifflin);Partridge, E. (1993) Slang Today and Yesterday (London, Macmillan).4 De Klerk, V. (1995) "Slang in South African English", in Rajend Mesthrie (ed.), Languageand Social History (Cape Town and Johannesburg, David Philip), 265.5 Chimhundu, H. (1993) "Adoption and Adaptation in Shona" (D.Phil thesis, University ofZimbabwe), 13.6 Grossman, A. L. )1997) "Gender differences and sexism in knowledge and use of slang", inSex Roles: A Journal of Research, 37(2), pp. 101-110.7 Eble, Slang and Sociability; De Klerk, "Slang in South African English", and Chimhundu,"Adoption and Adaptation in Shona"; Labov, T. "Social and language boundaries amongadolescents", in American Speech (1992), 345.A. MAWADZA 95also believe that men use slang more than women do. However, inappropriate situations, anyone of any socio-economic or educationalstatus can use slang. Indeed, as Eble argues, 'Most slang words ariseproductively; that is, in conformity with patterns already established inthe language'.8 Slang exploits existing forms and their current meaningsin various ways, drawing on and often mixing resources from the soundsystem, the word building processes, paradigms and the speaker'sknowledge of the culture.FORMS OF ADDRESS IN SHONA SLANG AND THEIR LINGUISTIC ORIGINSIn a pioneering work on pronouns of address, Brown and Gilman definedsocial relationships in terms of power and solidarity. Forms that indicatepower establish who has authority and how much that authority is.9According to Geertz, 'a number of words may be made to carry, inaddition to their normal linguistic meaning, what might be referred to asstatus meaning'.10 When these words are used in conversation, theyconvey not only their fixed meaning (for example, mudhara 'old man') butalso a connotative meaning concerning the status of the person beingaddressed. Shona slang is able to mark status by the choice of pronoun inaddress, for example mudhara, 'lit: old man', bigaz, 'lit: big', varungu, 'lit:white people'. Passengers on a commuter bus are often referred to asvarungu 'lit: white people' because they are regarded as "employers".This stems from the fact that white people were, for the most part, theemployers in the colonial period. Thus without ''varungu'' on the commuterbus, there would be no business. The term murungu 'lit. white person' issometimes also used to flatter an individual in order to elicit favours.Those who use the term in this manner expect that the person referred toas murungu, will feel flattered enough to offer a big tip for the servicerendered. This is because, in the colonial period, the term was associatedwith the popular image of the white person as being wealthy and powerfuland, therefore, likely to give generous tips to those who provided services.Because, according to Mashiri, 'addressing practices are dynamicand they reflect linguistic, political and cultural changes in the wayhuman relationships and identities are perceived',11 male motoristsparking their cars in parking lots in Harare are often referred to as8 Eble, Slang and Sociability, 25.9 Brown, R. and A. Gilman (1960) "The pronouns of power solidarity", in T. Sebeok (ed.).Style in Language (Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press).10 Geertz, C. "Linguistic etiquette" in J. B. Pride and J. Holmes (eds.) (1972) Sociolinguistics(Penguin Books).11 Mashiri, P. "Terms of address in Shona: A socio-linguistic approach", in Zambezia. XXVI.(i) (1999), 93.96 HARARE SHONA SLANG: A LINGUISTIC STUDYmudhara 'lit: old man', even though they may not, in fact, be old. Theconcept behind the usage of the term originates from the traditionalnotion that mudhara 'old man' works and fends for his family. In Shonaslang, the concept of mudhara performs the same function because themotorist patron looks after the boys who take care of his car by givingthem tips and is, therefore, in the same category as the head of the familywho fends for his children. The terms mudhara, bigaz, vaningu are elevatingin status and connote a higher status for the people so addressed. Women,on the other hand, are referred to as sista 'lit: sister' or ambuya 'lit:mother in law'. Neither of these terms is elevating in status, suggestingthat slang may have gendered dimensions about which research stillneeds to be done.BORROWINGEvidence suggests that most slang terms originate from borrowing, aresult of language contact with English and other African languages.Languages and dialects normally do not exist in a vacuum. They, or moreaccurately their speakers, have come into contact with other languagesand dialects. It is a well-established fact that, when two or more languagescome into contact, they influence each other. Thus, because English wasthe language of government and business in pre-independence Zimbabwe,borrowing from English by indigenous languages was considerable duringthe colonial period and after. Shona slang has also been influenced byNdebele, the second major indigenous language spoken in Zimbabwe byabout 15% of the population, principally in the south-west of Zimbabwe.Haugen defines borrowing as 'the attempted reproduction in one languageof patterns previously found in another'.12 Examples of borrowing aboundin Shona slang. The most common form is direct borrowing, a processwhereby words are fully or partially assimilated to the Shona phonologicaland morphological system.A major characteristic of borrowing is the "nativisation" of theborrowed term through integrating it more firmly into the linguisticstructure of the receiving language. The most important 'nativisation'process involves phonology. Thus, when faced with a foreign sound thatdoes not exist in the language, the most natural thing to do is to substituteit with the most similar native language sound. Phonological "nativisation"is sensitive to phonological structure. Thus Shona slang "nativises" someforeign borrowings to make them conform to constraints imposed byShona syllable structures. As a result, slang borrowings in Shona are12 Haugen, E. (1950) "The analysis of linguistic borrowing", in Hengerford P Saporta, S.and McCormick, W. (eds), Ecology of Language (California, Stanford University Press),A. MAWADZA 97consistently reshaped to conform to Shona syllable structure, whichmostly tolerates the Consonant Vowel (CV) shape. However, some slangwords do not conform to Shona syllable structure constraints. Suchwords end in a consonant for example, finaz 'funeral'. The following areexamples of Shona slang words that originate from English and someAfrican languages:bigaz 'big' geliza 'girl' boyz 'boy' mafella 'fellows'waya '$100' pini 'pin' dhombi 'dollar' monaz 'morning'taimi 'time' tonaz 'town' dhawezi 'down' Halemu 'Harare'kulazi 'cool' chilaz 'chill' coldaz 'cold' finaz 'funeral'filaz 'refrigerator' tolaz 'tall' vhati vaat (Afrikaans) 'water'kugula ukugula (Ndebele), 'be sick' kumala kumala (Chewa), 'to die"METAPHORICAL EXTENSIONThe use of metaphor as a linguistic tool is common in formal Shona as itis in other languages. Metaphor has the potential to push the boundariesof human thought and experience. According to Kittay,metaphors are conceptual and provide members of a linguisticcommunity with structure for perceiving and understanding the world.The cognitive force of metaphor comes not from providing newinformation about the world, rather from a (re)conceptualisation ofinformation that is already available to us.13In Eble's view, 'Metaphor names one thing by something in anotherdomain, calling forth a likeness or analogy between things that arefundamentally different.' Thus, in English, the data storage capacity of acomputer is called memory because of its resemblance to the humanmental faculty, while a list of alternative directives in a computerprogramme is referred to as a menu because the listing and choice offeatures are similar to the method of selecting food and drink in arestaurant.14Similarly, in Shona, the most obvious set of metaphoric words appliesto the linkage of animal characteristics to human ones. A clear example isthe transfer of a name from an animal to a person such as imbwa 'dog'. InShona, the term imbwa , when used metaphorically, connotes a debasedpersonality, namely, one whose behaviour is akin to that of a dog. Thus,13 Kittay, E. (1987) Metaphor: Its Cognitive Force and Linguistic Structure (Oxford. ClarendonPress), 2-3.14 Eble, Slang and Sociability, 68.98 HARARE SHONA SLANG: A LINGUISTIC STUDYwords acquire new and broader meanings through metaphor. This isparticularly so in Shona slang which, according to Mashuta,'characteristically employs metaphor to describe many different kinds ofevents'.15For example, the slang word chidhina 'a 'brick', refers to a cell-phonebecause the shape and features of a cell-phone resemble those of a brick.Chidhina refers to a physically big and cheap cell-phone. Conversely, asmaller and more expensive cell-phone is referred to as chimbeva. Theterm chimbeva originates from the Shona name for mouse, namely mbeva.Because mbeva is a highly appreciated delicacy in some Shonacommunities, its qualities are, thus, associated with the smaller, delicateand expensive cellular phone. The term is assigned into a noun class bybeing prefixed with /chi-/. Similarly, the term madziro 'wall' has beenmetaphorically extended to refer to the Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)because cash-dispensing machines are usually located on the wall of abuilding. The term is also used to refer to a film or a movie because it isshown on a screen mounted on the theatre wall. Another term for theATM is madyirapanze 'lit: one who eats outside', implying that one cancollect money outside, panze without having to enter the bank. In normalShona usage, the word madyirapanze is a praise name for the Gumbototem. In Shona slang, therefore, the metaphor madyirapanze enhancesits meaning by a cultural allusion.Yet another example is the use of the word munda 'field' to refer tothe work place where one earns a living, just as a farmer earns his livingfrom his field. Similarly, clear beer is referred to as mafuta endege 'fuel forthe aeroplane'. Aeroplane fuel is expensive and so is clear beer. Conversely,opaque beer is called mafuta etractor 'fuel for the tractor' because it ischeap in much the same way as diesel is cheaper than petrol. Meanwhile,people of high social standing are often referred to as province, as in theexpression "Tatsikwa neProvince" 'We have been visited by our superiors'.The term province refers to the highest level of the political hierarchy inZimbabwe's ruling party's national organisational structure. In Shonaslang, however, the word's meaning has been extended to mean thosewho are senior in terms of social standing. Lastly, kusimuka 'lit: to standup' or, metaphorically, 'to ascend to heaven' is used to mean 'death'.OTHER FORMSAnother common characteristic of Shona is the use of metonymy.According to Bonvillain, metonymy refers to a type of semantic transfer15 Mashuta, A. (1997) "The Linguistic Structure of Slang in Shona Discourse" (MA Dissertation,University of Florida), 21.A. MAWADZA 99whereby one entity is taken to stand for another on the basis of somecontextual relationship.16 Metonymy triggers semantic shifts of varioustypes and degrees throughout the lexicon. Associations between entitiesmay be of various types, including substitution of part of an object torepresent the whole. An example in ordinary language is the use of thebody part ruoko 'hand' to signify 'help in performing work'. In Shonaslang, metonymy accounts for the term muface 'acquaintance", as inmuface wangu, 'my acquaintance'. This is one example in which case oneobject 'face' stands for another, 'acquaintance', with which it iscontextually related. Thus metonymy narrows the semantic focus byhighlighting one aspect of an entity.Equally evident in Shona slang is the use of phonology. Eble statesthat, in any language, merely putting sounds together can form newwords. Consequently, 'the role of phonology as a productive impetus inslang should not be underestimated. Manipulating sounds for fun isconsistent with the flippant, venturesome spirit of much slang use.'1'Onomatopoeia or imitation accounts for some slang terms in Shona.The following are examples: mungonjo 'policeman'; and vfwzhi "car". Theslang term vhuzhi originates from the sound produced by a car. while theword mungonjo derives from the sound produced by policemen'shandcuffs as they are affixed to one's wrists. Thus, particular sounds maythemselves correlate with particular meanings. Onomatopoeia is anattempt to replicate the perceived sound phonetically. Meanwhile, someShona slang originates from reversal of meaning of standard Shona words.For instance, kuipa 'to be bad' has undergone a reversal of meaning inslang to mean 'to be good'. This denotes opposition in meaning and isoften referred to as antonym. The use of kuipa as a transliteration of "tobe bad' meaning 'to be good' is similar to the use of the term "bad' inBlack American English to mean the opposite, as in Michael Jackson'spopular song 1 am bad'. Although the nature of the correlation is noteasy to establish, this may be a general characteristic of African slangshared by slang and Ebonics. It is believed that Ebonics is a language withroots in West African linguistic forms.Another interesting facet of Shona slang is how, sometimes, in thewords of Eble, 'sounds are eliminated from words without an immediatechange in meaning'.18The following words are a good example of this pattern in Shonaslang:16 Bonvillain, N. (1993) Language, Culture and Communication (Prentice Books). 75>17 Eble, Slang and Sociability, 39.18 Ibid., 35.100HARARE SHONA SLANG: A LINGUISTIC STUDYShorterned FormKulezGulezKambumFiyoBluzMfombiOriginSekuruAmaiguruKambuzumaHighfieldBulawayoMufakoseGlossGrandfatherMother's elder sister or elderbrother's wifeKambuzuma (place name)Highfield (place name)Bulawayo (place name)Mufakose (place name)The shortened forms are less formal than the longer sources fromwhich they originate. As such, they convey a casual attitude towards thesubject. When terms are shortened in Shona slang, parts of words areeliminated from the beginning, as in sekuru > kulez and amaiguru > gulezA frequent patterning with the shortened form is the change of /r/ to /I/and the addition of /-z/ word finally.It has also been observed that some Shona slang words originatefrom standard Shona words and they do not shift in denotation in slangusage. However, they occur with some structural changes as is illustratedbelow.SlangOriginGlossKudhambiSikateniChinhaweniBhalekiKudharaMasikatiManheruBhawaLong agoAfternoonEveningBarWhile most new words recycle words or parts of words that arealready in the language, some Shona slang words seem to have originatedthrough coinage.SlangGlossMasororo/masolaziChimoko/chikosoMudhoniJest/jembiKatidzaMbongoCentsGirlChildSadzaTeaMoneyA. MAWADZA 101CONCLUSIONThis article has attempted to show some of the ways in which slangwords originate in Shona as well as the forms that they take. Its findingsgenerally support earlier studies, which argue that in language, mostwords are formed productively, namely, through processes alreadyestablished in the language. Borrowing, phonological processes, semanticshift, metaphorical extensions, metonymy, and antonym play a crucialrole in the formation of the slang lexicon in Shona. The description ofShona slang given in this article is by no means complete. There remainseveral issues that still require analysis. For instance, the question ofgender differences in the knowledge and use of slang, which was referredto only in passing in this article, needs to be investigated in order toprovide fuller understanding of variations in the use of slang betweenmen and women.