Sabela is a
dialect of several major
South African languages
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
used primarily in
South Africa. Sabela was originally developed inside
national prisons as a means of communication within
gangs, primarily
The Numbers Gang. Since then, released inmates have brought the language out to the general populace of South Africa.
ukuSabela means to respond in various nguni languages
Structure
Sabela inherits most of its vocabulary,
phonology, and
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
from
Afrikaans,
English,
Xhosa, and
Zulu.
Due to the Xhosa and Zulu influence, Sabela contains
click consonants.
Words in Sabela
In popular culture
Die Antwoord
Sabela is often used by groups associated with the
Zef movement, such as
Die Antwoord. The group's 2019 single "Baita Jou Sabela" (featuring Slagysta) contains lyrics partially written in Sabela that talk about the South African prison system.
The song's music video is set in a prison and showcases the corruption present in the South African prison system.
References
{{reflist
External links
Music Video of Die Antwoord's "Baita Jou Sabela" (featuring Slagysta)
Languages of South Africa
Prisons