Phonological inclusion, and exclusion, regarding South African English in the online OED

Abstract

This article approaches the subject of inclusivity and diversity from a phonological perspective, as applied to the online Oxford English Dictionary (OED). Specifically, the pronunciation guide within the OED entry for South African English (SAE) is investigated. On the one hand, that the OED provides a list of World Englishes is a step forward in terms of diversity, avoiding the linguistic hegemony of British and American English, for example. On the other hand, the pronunciation guide for SAE relies on a rather singular variety — that reflective of white South Africans. Moreover, the OED pronunciation guides for all varieties of English reflect "educated urban speakers of standard English". Therefore, the pronunciation guide is exclusive regarding race and class, and thus additional varieties of SAE are not represented. As such, while the OED, as a trusted source, has made efforts to address linguistic diversity, more work needs to be done in this area.