Die formele uitsaairegister van Afrikaans

Abstract

M.A. (Afrikaans)Language is the heartbeat of broadcasting, and is regarded primarily as a means of communication that is used for different purposes in different situations. The register of broadcasting language embodies and perpetuates standard language, and fits the specific situation or circumstance in terms of formal, informal and stylistically neutral language. It could be said that the various forms of Afrikaans cannot be regarded as right or wrong, but should be measured against the norms for the situation in which, and the purpose for which, it is used. All the varieties of Afrikaans are of equal value and each register has its rightful place, measured against the standards of functionality with regard to situation and purpose. The Komitee vir Taaladvies (KTA), as the official normative body for the Afrikaans of the SABC, does not act as a competitive linguistic standardiser, but is definitely in an authoritative position in the speech community when it comes to pronouncements on the standardisation of language. The KTA's approach to the usage corpus is that each item should provoke the least resistance from viewers and listeners. The KTA's objective is to promote communication by applying standardisation of language and using standard Afrikaans as the model. The KTA, the Language Bureau and the staff of the Language Bureau apply the generally recognised norms for standardising the formal broadcasting register of Afrikaans that promotes communication in Afrikaans. A lay phonetic system was developed for SAUKT and received favourably by the Language Bureau and the KTA. The system is easily understood since it is modelled on written Afrikaans