Dialects and Accents of South Africa
The archive provides:
In a small number of cases, you will also find a narrow phonetic transcription of the sample (see Phonetic Transcriptions for a complete list).
The recordings average four minutes in length and feature both the reading of one of two standard passages, and some unscripted speech. The two passages, Comma Gets a Cure (currently our standard passage), and The Rainbow Passage (used in our earliest recordings), may be accessed from the menu bar to your right.
To access IDEA's sound files and documents, you will need an mp3 player, and Acrobat Reader, available free from Acrobat Reader.
If you are interested in specific information about South Africa, please go to Yahoo's website at dir.yahoo.com/Regional/Countries/South_Africa/
For instructional materials or coaching in the accents and dialects represented here
please go to
Other Dialect Services
Dialect Samples
To properly play a sound sample, you may first need to save it to your own computer. To display the various 'save' options, PC users should right-click on the desired sample below; Mac users should press the Control key while clicking. A high-speed connection to the Internet may allow you to play the file simply by clicking it once or twice.| Sound Sample | Basic Information | Text Files |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa One | Female, Afrikaans speaker | South Africa One |
| South Africa Two | Male, Afrikaans speaker, 10 year resident of Australia | South Africa Two |
| South Africa Three | Male, Zulu, Pretoria, student, born 1982 | South Africa Three |
| South Africa Four | Male, white English South African, teacher, Germiston, born 1976 | South Africa Four |
| South Africa Five | Male, Coloured (so-called) South African, Johannesburg, student, born 1981 | South Africa Five |
| South Africa Six | Female, Afrikaans speaker, heavy accent | South Africa Six |
| South Africa Seven | Female, White English-speaking South African, born 1969, Cape Town, speech and voice teacher | South Africa Seven |
| South Africa Eight | 17 year-old Zulu drama student, female, Soweto | South Africa Eight |
| South Africa Nine | Female, white, medical scientist, born 1967, Durban, raised in Cape Province | South Africa Nine |
| South Africa Ten | A twenty-year-old colored (so-called) female discusses her background in Cape Town, where she was born | South Africa Ten |
| South Africa Eleven | a twenty-one-year old Caucasian female talks about her family, her hobbies and her life as a drama student. She was born and raised in Pretoria, Gauteng | South Africa Eleven Analysis |
| South Africa Twelve | a twenty-one-year old Colored (so-called) Female from Kleinwilliam in the Western Cape | South Africa Twelve Analysis |
| South Africa Thirteen | A twenty-year old Colored (so-called) female discusses her hometown Paarl, a town in the wine district of the Western Cape | South Africa Thirteen Transcription |
| South Africa Fourteen | A thirty-seven year old Caucasian male talks about his ancestry and life in Africa. He was born and raised in Pretoria, Gauteng | South Africa Fourteen Transcription |
| South Africa Fifteen | a twenty-year old Black Female from Namibia. Although her mother tongue is Nama she speaks Afrikaans with the fluency of the first language user | South Africa Fifteen Transcription |
| South Africa Sixteen | A twenty-two year old Causasian male talks about his childhood in Vrede, a small town in the Freestate where Afrikaans is the predominant language | South Africa Sixteen Transcription |
| South Africa Seventeen | A twenty-one year old Caucasian female discusses her family life in Mphumalanga | South Africa Seventeen Transcription |
| South Africa Eighteen | twenty-year old colored (so-called) female talks about Paarl, her hometown. It is a small town in the Western Cape where Afrikaans is used predominantly | South Africa Eighteen Transcription |
| South Africa Nineteen | a twenty-year-old Caucasian female talks about her childhood and family who live in a small town in the Pulekwane province | South Africa Nineteen Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty | twenty-one-year old Caucasian female discusses her background in a town called Nigel,in the East-Rand region of Gauteng | South Africa Twenty Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty-one | A twenty-three-year old Caucasian female talks about her childhood in Malmesbury | South Africa Twenty-one Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty-two | A nineteen-year-old Colored (so-called) female talks about her hometown Vredendal and its famous vineyards | South Africa Twenty-two Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty-Three | A sixty-eight year old Caucasian male discusses his childhood, schooling and his career with the South African Broadcasting Corporation | South Africa Twenty-Three Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty-Four | a seventy-two year old retired teacher talks about her childhood in Vredendal in the western cape, her family and life in Gauteng | South Africa Twenty-Four Transcription |
| South Africa Twenty-Five | white male, born 1966, and raised Johannesburg, a marine biologist | South Africa Twenty-Five |
| South Africa Twenty-Six | white female, born 1967, and raised Bloemfontein, Freestate, housewife | South Africa Twenty-Six |
| South Africa Twenty-Seven | white male, born 1981, and raised Johannesburg, a student | South Africa Twenty-Seven |
| South Africa Twenty-Eight | white male, born 1986, and raised Johannesburg, a student | South Africa Twenty-Eight |
| South Africa Twenty-Nine | white female, born 1970 Elgin Illinois, and raised Durban, a sales assistant | South Africa Twenty-Nine |
| South Africa Thirty | white female, born 1976 Bloemfontein; raised Pretoria | South Africa Thirty |