Fanagalo is one of a number of
African pidgin languages that developed during the colonial period to promote ease of communication in South Africa. It originated as a mining language spoken by
miners from different linguistic backgrounds. However, it is uncertain as to how this pidgin language was developed in the first place, as there are multiple competing
theories. The most common theory is that Fanagalo was created as a result of men speaking different languages (coming from different cultural backgrounds throughout South Africa and its neighbouring states) that went to work in the mines during the late 19th century. Eventually, these languages combined and a new dialect was formed to break the language barrier among miners. Fanagalo had spread across the country and throughout Southern Africa. Therefore, Fanagalo was spoken as a "contact language" in the mines between people originating from different tribes in South Africa and from different countries in Southern Africa, and between foremen and workers. In addition to
Indigenous Africans,
Afrikaans and English-speaking settlers and European immigrants (such as those of Portuguese, Polish and German descent) contributed to the development of Fanagalo for communication in the mines. However, some researchers disagree with this theory as Fanagalo is predominately derived from
Zulu (as borrowed words from other
South African languages and languages of neighbouring states such as
Mozambique and
Zimbabwe are not common.) However, the pidgin language was and still is mostly spoken by miners from different tribes in South Africa and neighbouring states, which gives support to this theory. Another theory (suggested by Adendorff and other researchers) is that Fanagalo came from the
Colony of Natal as a way of communication between Black people who spoke
Zulu and white people who spoke English and
Afrikaans. This theory explains why the
pidgin language is composed mostly of
Zulu,
Afrikaans and English. This would be the result of the arrival of the
British settlers and
Afrikaners in
Natal in the early 19th century; during the late
1830s, Cape Afrikaners travelled to
Natal (and subsequently founded the Boer republic of Natalia (1840–1843)) and immigrants from England landed a decade later. The development of the pidgin language in Natal is attributed to "the acute difficulties of communication". Fanagalo was also spoken with
Indian
labourers that were imported to
Natal by the
British rulers and it eventually became a way of communication between the
Indians and the
Zulus as well. It is worth noting, however, that it is not influenced by Indian dialects. Indeed, the Indian languages had no economic value for interactions with the English and the Zulus. Fanagalo was then taught in the gold mines when Zulu men migrated from
Natal to the
Witwatersrand to work in the mines and this became the predominant pidgin language throughout South Africa. Some researchers also disagree with this theory as well because it is difficult to explain how a pidgin language from
Natal could suddenly transfer to the
gold mines in
Witwatersrand and the
diamond mines in Kimberly. However, a large increasing migration of Zulu people from
Natal to
Transvaal province, Cape province, and the
Orange Free State to work in the mines validates this theory as most mines in South Africa are located in areas dominated by the native
Sotho and
Tswana peoples, yet there are few
words in Fanagalo derived from these two
languages and from other Bantu languages from South Africa and its neighboring states. Adendorff describes two variants of the language,
Mine Fanagalo and
Garden Fanagalo. The latter name refers to its use with servants in households. It was previously known as
Kitchen Kaffir. Both Fanagalo and Kitchen Kaffir contributed to linguistic colonisation as Kitchen Kaffir was created to segregate the colonizers from the local communities and was used as a means to exercise control. The term
kaffir was used as a derogatory term for
Black people in South Africa and is now considered extremely offensive. It is derived from the Arab word
kafir, meaning unbeliever. Two factors kept Fanagalo from achieving status as a primary language: the segregation of Fanagalo to work-related domains of use and an absence of leisure uses. Secondly, women and children were not permitted to speak Fanagalo, meaning that family communication did not exist and there were little ways to expand the uses of the pidgin. In the latter half of the 20th century, holiday makers from the
Rhodesias frequently went on holiday to Lourenço Marques in Mozambique (now
Maputo), where many people speak Portuguese – but most also spoke a form of Fanagalo. There have been some small
books,
grammars, and
dictionaries published about Fanagalo. Presumably, these were used more by white
supervisors than by Bantu-speaking workers as most Black workers learned the language naturally at work and many were
illiterate. == Phonology ==