Pretoria 14 is a descriptive place-name sign that is the same as the sign for SISTER. The mouthing of ‘Pretoria’ indicates the sign as a place-name sign.In the case of Pretoria there are three lexical variations: one that resembles the sign for GOVERNMENT (Pretoria 01 and Pretoria 02), another which is the sign for SISTER (Pretoria 14), and two initialised variants that differ phonologically from each other (Pretoria 06 and Pretoria 09).
Pretoria 09 is an initialised sign with the handshape P in the British Sign Language alphabet.In the case of Pretoria there are three lexical variations: one that resembles the sign for GOVERNMENT (Pretoria 01 and Pretoria 02), another which is the sign for SISTER (Pretoria 14), and two initialised variants that differ phonologically from each other (Pretoria 06 and Pretoria 09).
Pretoria 06 is a descriptive sign with the handshape T followed by P. The handshapes likely refer to the previous number plate for Pretoria, which started with TP.In the case of Pretoria there are three lexical variations: one that resembles the sign for GOVERNMENT (Pretoria 01 and Pretoria 02), another which is the sign for SISTER (Pretoria 14), and two initialised variants that differ phonologically from each other (Pretoria 06 and Pretoria 09).
Pretoria 02 is a descriptive place-name sign that is the similar to the sign for GOVERNMENT, but placed near the centre of the signer’s forehead instead of to the side. This refers to the fact that Pretoria serves as South Africa’s administrative capital, and many government head offices are located there. The handshape is W, which makes it a phonological variation from Pretoria 01.In the case of Pretoria there are three lexical variations: one that resembles the sign for GOVERNMENT (Pretoria 01 and Pretoria 02), another which is the sign for SISTER (Pretoria 14), and two initialised variants that differ phonologically from each other (Pretoria 06 and Pretoria 09).
Pretoria 01 is a descriptive place-name sign that is the similar to the sign for GOVERNMENT, but placed near the centre of the signer’s forehead instead of to the side. This refers to the fact that Pretoria serves as South Africa’s administrative capital, and many government head offices are located there. The handshape is F, which makes it a phonological variation from Pretoria 02.In the case of Pretoria there are three lexical variations: one that resembles the sign for GOVERNMENT (Pretoria 01 and Pretoria 02), another which is the sign for SISTER (Pretoria 14), and two initialised variants that differ phonologically from each other (Pretoria 06 and Pretoria 09).
Location: Seat of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality in the Gauteng province. Serves as the administrative capital of South Africa, home to the executive branch of government.
Pietermaritzburg 04 is an initialised-descriptive sign. It has the handshape is X, with the hand placed on the chin and the palm facing towards the signer. We were unable to determine the meaning of this sign. The mouthing of ‘Pietermaritzburg’ identifies this variant as a place-name sign. Pietermaritzburg 04 is a lexical variation from Pietermaritzburg 01.
Pietermaritzburg 01 is an initialised sign, with the handshape P followed by M, then B. This is a common abbreviation for Pietermaritzburg in spoken language as well. This variant has no movement. Pietermaritzburg 01 is a lexical variation from Pietermaritzburg 04.
Location: Seat of the Maluti-A-Phofung Local Municipality as well as the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality in the Free State province. Was also the capital of the former homeland QwaQwa.
Northern Cape 02 is an initialised sign with the handshape N followed by C. This variant has added movement to the side, which makes it a phonological variation from Northern Cape 01.
Northern Cape 01 is an initialised sign with the handshape N followed by C. This variant has no movement and is a phonological variation from Northern Cape 02.
North West 02 is an initialised sign with the handshape N followed by W. This variant has added movement to the side, which makes it a phonological variation from North West 01.
North West 01 is an initialised sign with the handshape N followed by W. This variant has no movement, and is a phonological variation from North West 02.
Mpumalanga 01 is a descriptive sign. The dominant hand mimics the sun rising. The meaning of ‘Mpumalanga’ is ‘the place where the sun rises’ in the Nguni language family. This indicates a loan sign from spoken language.
Geographic variation & Schoolisation: Deaf people tend to congregate in towns where there are schools for the Deaf. Here they are usually taught either a locally conventionalised form of SASL, or a version in line with the signing tradition followed by the school. The result is a group of SASL users with clear localised use. Additionally, Deaf communities only allocate name signs to places that are relevant to them. As a result, participants from a certain site might know all the same place name signs, and for the same places. There are schools for the Deaf in all the research sites (Bloemfontein, Kimberley, Phuthaditjhaba and Thaba ‘Nchu).
Geographic variation: Signs are conventionalised by local Deaf communities, i.e., they determine what signs and signing styles are acceptable by informal consensus. Because communities form in set locations, specific ways of using language can be linked to particular places. Therefore, if a participant knows a place name sign that differs from the signs provided by the rest of the group from the research site, it might be because they learned it in another location.
Language contact: Inevitably, the other languages that individuals are exposed to influence the way they use their native or prominent language. For example, language(culture)-specific idiomatic expressions in the spoken language used in the home might be translated to SASL. Participants who are exposed to other languages in which those specific expressions do not exist, will not know the SASL translation. Places often had multiple names in different spoken languages. A comparison between home language, place names in that language, and the variants that the participant know could be evidence of language contact.
Diachronic variation: Language is affected by developments that circumvent generational frames. For example, it will be interesting to track when/if changes to official (spoken) place names influence place name signs.
