Making Sense of Male Varieties of Language in Small Group Communication

Noel Kitambila Muten

Abstract: A remarkably vast number of studies describing the characteristics of men?s and women?s language have already been published by sociolinguists such as Trudgill (1974), Lakoff (1975), Coates (1986), Tannen (1990) etc. These studies highlighted gender differences based on language taking into account cultural, ethnic, and psychological dimensions. Early studies were largely impressionistic and anecdotal, but more recent works have begun to provide empirical evidence. In the same article, the author has tried to describe six types of the languages used by men namely: Esikweta, Troepitaal, Tsotsitaal, Boop lingo, Indubil and Kongobalula. Indeed, the variety of language used by men is not always innovative; it is also progressive in the way that it increases far in identity and solidarity, a way to create and maintain this solidarity between men. Generally speaking, the languages of men are innovators than those of women. That is, the linguistic variety of men is not always standard, it also serves for taboo.

Keywords: Abakwetha, Isikwetha, NSM, Nswomeba, Troepietaal

Edition: Volume 11 Issue 7, July 2022,

Pages: 525 - 534