Die doel van hierdie verhandeling is om 'n oorsig te
gee van die belangrikheid van die sosiale aspek van
taal wat nie ontwyk kan word in die bestudering daarvan
nie. Die vroeere "T.G.G.-linguiste" onder aanvoering
van Chomsky het o.a. die volgende benadering
en aannames gehuldig: Taal is homogeen en sy samestelling word volgens sprekere onveranderlike reels
bepaal waarvolgens 'n model geformuleer kan word,
waaraan alle uitinge, frases en sinne geteets kan word
om hul grammatikaliteit al dan nie te bepaal. Die
teorie wat uit hierdie reels geformuleer word,is die
hoofdeterminant en alle data is ondergeskik hieraan.
Daar bestaan 'n volmaakte sereker/hoorder-situasie by
die indiwidu self wat a.g.v. sy intuitiewe begrip van
die reels dus buite die sosiale omgewing gebruik kan
word om hierdie reels te formuleer. Taalkonstruksies
wat nie aan die reels gehoorsaam is nie, is ongrammatikaal
en word verwerp. Hierteenoor het die jongere studierigtings soos o.a.
Labov, Hymes & Bailey, Chomsky se sienswyses en sy
benaderingsmetodes aangeval, gewysig of selfs verwerp
en tot die volgende gevolgtrekkings geraak:
Taal is heterogeen. Sy konstruksie word deur sekere
veranderlike reels bepaal waarbinne variasie nie net
moontlik is nie, maar die dinamiese kenmerk van 'n
lewende taal onderstreep. Die dataversameling vind
plaas binne die sosiale gespreksituasie en die teorie
word ondergeskik gestel aan die data. 'n Ander
betekeniswaarde word geheg aan die begrippe dialek
en ongrammatikalieit van spraak. Die sosio-linguistiese aspek van Afrikaans word toegedlig met
voorbeelde uit bandopnames van sprekers se taalgebruik
in die Noord-Wes-Kaap.
English: The main purpose of this dissertation is to outline
the importance of the social aspect of language, an
aspect which cannot be ignored or evaded. Early
Transformational Generative Grammaticists especially
Chomsky made certain assumptions, and came to specific
conclusions with regards to lanquage. These ideas
were inter alia, as follows: Language. is homogeneuus
and its construction is governed by certain inflexible
rules by which a model could be formulated against
which all utterances, sentences and phrases could be
tested as to its grammaticality. The theory formulated
from these rules is the chief determinant and all
(speach) data are secondary or subservient to that.
There exists an ideal speaker/listener situation within
the individual who can by virtue of his intuitive understanding
of all the rules be used outside the social
environment to spell out these rules. Constructions that do not comply with the rules are ungrammatical and unacceptable and are rejected. The younger linquager e.g. Labov, Hymes and Bailey have complemented Chomsky's views and approaches on the one hand, but have
also rejected or altered others. Their views are briefly
the following: Language is heterogeneous. Its construction
is governed by certain flexible rules within
which variability is not only possible, but serves to emphasise
the dynamic aspect of a living language. Gathering
of data has to be executed within the social context
and theory is of secondary importance and subservient
to data. There is no such phenomena as an ungrammatical construction or a dialect. The social aspect
of Afrikaans is also discussed and highlighted
by using examples taken from tape recordings of utterances
by speakers in the North West Cape.
