Editing Regional accents of English (section)

====South Africa====
{{Main|South African English}}

[[South Africa]] has 12 official languages, one of which is English. Accents vary significantly between ethnic and language groups. Home-language English speakers, Black, White, Indian, and [[Coloured]], in South Africa have an accent that generally resembles British [[Received Pronunciation]], modified with varying degrees of Germanic inflection due to Afrikaans.<ref>{{cite book |title=Census 2011: Census in brief |url=http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |publisher=Statistics South Africa |location=Pretoria |year=2012 |isbn=9780621413885 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150513171240/http://www.statssa.gov.za/census/census_2011/census_products/Census_2011_Census_in_brief.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The Coloured community is generally bilingual. English accents are strongly influenced by one's primary mother tongue, Afrikaans, or English. A range of accents can be seen, with the majority of Coloureds showing a strong Afrikaans inflection.  Similarly, [[Afrikaner]]s and Cape Coloureds, both descendants of mainly Dutch settlers, tend to pronounce English phonemes with a strong Afrikaans inflection. The English accents of both related groups are significantly different and easily distinguishable, primarily because of prevalent [[code-switching]] among the majority of Coloured English speakers, particularly in the [[Western Cape]] of South Africa. The range of accents found among English-speaking Coloureds, from the distinctive "Cape Flats or Coloured English"<ref name="saculture"/>  to the standard "colloquial" South African English accent, are of special interest. Geography and education levels play major roles therein.

Black [[Ethnic groups of Africa|Africans]] generally speak English as a second language. One's accent is strongly influenced by one's mother tongue, particularly Bantu languages. Urban [[middle-class]] Black Africans have developed an English accent, with similar inflection as first-language English speakers.  Within this ethnic group, variations exist: Most [[Nguni languages|Nguni]] (Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele) speakers have a distinct accent, with the pronunciation of words like "the" and "that" as would "devil" and "dust", respectively, and words like "rice" as "lice". 

This may be a result of the inadequacy of "r" in the languages. [[Sotho–Tswana languages|Sotho]] (Tswana, Northern Sotho, and Southern Sotho) speakers have a similar accent, with slight variations. Tsonga and Venda speakers have very similar accents with far less intonation than Ngunis and Sothos. Some Black speakers have no distinction between the "i" in "determine" and the one in "decline", pronouncing it similarly to the one in "mine".

Black, Indian, and Coloured students educated in former Model C schools or at formerly White tertiary institutions will generally adopt a similar accent to their White English-home-language speaking classmates.<ref name="varsity186"/> Code-switching and the "Cape Flats" accent are becoming popular among White learners in public schools within Cape Town.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

South African accents vary between major cities, particularly Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg, and provinces (regions).<ref name="Schneider"/> Accent variation is observed within respective cities{{mdash}}for instance, Johannesburg, where the northern suburbs (Parkview, Parkwood, Parktown North, Saxonwold, etc.) tend to be less strongly influenced by Afrikaans. These suburbs are more affluent and populated by individuals with tertiary education and higher incomes. 

The accents of native English speakers from the southern suburbs (Rosettenville, Turffontein, etc.) tend to be more strongly influenced by Afrikaans. These suburbs are populated by tradesmen and factory workers, with lower incomes. The extent of Afrikaans influence is explained by the fact that Afrikaans urbanisation would historically have been from failed marginal farms or failing economies in rural towns, into the southern and western suburbs of Johannesburg. 

The western suburbs of Johannesburg (Newlands, Triomf, which has now reverted to its old name [[Sophiatown]], Westdene, etc.) are predominantly Afrikaans-speaking. In a similar fashion, people from predominantly or traditionally Jewish areas in the Johannesburg area (such as Sandton, Linksfield, and Victory Park) may have accents influenced by Yiddish or Hebrew ancestry.

South African English accents, across the spectrum, are [[Rhotic and non-rhotic accents|non-rhotic]].

Examples of South African accents ''(obtained from [http://accent.gmu.edu/ http://accent.gmu.edu])''
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=903 Native English: Male (Cape Town)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=904 Native English: Female (Cape Town)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=496 Native English: Male (Port Elizabeth)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=102 Native English: Male (Nigel)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=1 Afrikaans (Primary): Female (Pretoria)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=2 Afrikaans (Primary): Male (Pretoria)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=418 Afrikaans (Primary): Male (Pretoria)]
*[http://accent.gmu.edu/searchsaa.php?function=detail&speakerid=1213 Northern Sotho (Primary): Female (Polokwane)]

Additional samples of South African accents and dialects can be found at [http://web.ku.edu/~idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica.htm http://web.ku.edu/~idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416043924/http://web.ku.edu/~idea/africa/southafrica/southafrica.htm |date=16 April 2012 }}.

Regardless of regional and ethnic differences (in accents), South African English accents are sometimes confused with Australian (or New Zealand) English by British and American English speakers.<ref name="Hopwood"/><ref name="webspace"/>