A groundbreaking study by Lawren Hayley Smith from the University of the Western Cape (UWC) for her Master’s thesis sheds light on the under-documented linguistic system of Paarl-Kaaps, a colloquial variety of Kaaps spoken primarily by coloured communities in the Western Cape.

The research, titled Extraposition and Optionality: An Investigation of Information Packaging in Paarl-Kaaps, explores the syntactic phenomenon of extraposition – which involves the displacement of constituents from the middle to the end of the clause – and its role in shaping social identity. 

Paarl-Kaaps is a West Germanic language with unique grammatical features. Despite its historical roots in Cape Dutch, Kaaps has evolved independently within marginalised communities, distinguishing itself from the standardised languages promoted in formal education and media.. 

Smith’s study highlights how extraposition, a common feature in West Germanic languages, operates in Paarl-Kaaps, offering insights into its grammatical flexibility and sociolinguistic functions.

Director of the Centre for Multilingualism and Diversities Research (CMDR) and Professor of Linguistics in the Linguistics Department at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), Quentin Williams, said Kaaps, also known as Afrikaaps, is, and remains, a historically marginalised language.

“It has become that, or forged into that, because of colonialism, apartheid nationalism in the past, but also linguistic knowledge that has been formed within colonial history and apartheid, which has sustained the marginalisation,” said Prof Williams.

He stated that colonial and apartheid linguists significantly contributed to the stigmatisation of Afrikaaps through the knowledge they produced for the apartheid state and the colonial franchise governing the Cape.

“Today, linguists challenge us to create new forms of knowledge. Not only in terms of who the speakers are, but in terms of their bilingualism and multilingualism, especially when we describe the language practice of Afrikaaps speakers,” said Prof Williams.

He added that Afrikaaps speakers use language in a very creative and intelligent way in which they practise their form of bilingualism and multilingualism, and this gives meaning to their identities, emphasising that these speakers were not a homogeneous group.

Smith’s study reveals that extraposition in Paarl-Kaaps is not random, but influenced by grammatical, pragmatic and social factors. 

Key findings include:  Extraposition frequently involves adverbial modifiers, particularly prepositional phrases such as *in die verkeerde straat* → “in the wrong street”. Surprisingly, direct objects, which typically resist extraposition in other West Germanic languages, also show displacement in Paarl-Kaaps, albeit less frequently. 

Extraposition often highlights new or focused information, aligning with principles of “end-weight” and “end-focus,” where heavier or more salient constituents appear at the end of clauses for clarity.  

The study suggests that speakers use extraposition variably to construct identity, adapting their speech based on interlocutors. For instance, younger speakers may restructure their grammar more dynamically than older generations.  

Smith’s research analysed 760 clauses from spoken conversations among four Paarl-Kaaps speakers, divided by age (18–25 and 60+) and language background (Afrikaans-dominant vs bilingual). The corpus revealed that 13.03% of clauses exhibited extraposition, with higher rates in main clauses (12.52%) than in dependent clauses (14.59%). 

The study underscores how linguistic variation reflects social dynamics. Older speakers with Afrikaans-only backgrounds exhibited different extraposition patterns compared to younger, bilingual speakers. A significant finding of her thesis was that speakers adjusted their use of extraposition based on their conversation partners, suggesting a performative aspect to syntactic choices.  

Smith acknowledged limitations, such as the small sample size and the need for broader comparative studies with other Kaaps varieties. Future research could explore how extraposition interacts with other linguistic features, such as negation or verb-particle constructions, to paint a fuller picture of Paarl-Kaaps grammar. 

Prof Williams said Smith’s thesis is extremely important because it adds to the growing body of knowledge, which has in recent years increased significantly, in terms of general linguistic theory and broadening the grammatical study of Kaaps.

“In the sense of Paarl-Kaaps, we get to understand that Kaaps is not a phenomenon only isolated to the Cape Flats; in fact, there are Kaaps speakers in Paarl, and in Swartland, Boland. There are Kaaps speakers in Ceres. There are Kaaps speakers all the way to Namibia, Pretoria and Joburg and across South Africa,” said Prof Williams.

He said if the study of Kaaps as a linguistic system was taken seriously, then scholars would have a better understanding of how speakers organised meanings, words, sounds and thoughts.

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