In this chapter, the contributions of teams working together on South Slavic and Southern Bantu languages, many of which began specifically as new research partnerships forged after the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia and the end of apartheid, provide compelling evidence that syntactic processes must include reference to linear order. Syntax may not be just a spinning Calderian mobile: Agreement in gender for cases of conjoined NP subjects (and possibly objects) refers to the NP linearly closest to the verb.

This chapter examines the use of martial law powers during four frontier wars against the Xhosa people, in 1835, 1846, 1850 and 1877, and two rebellions by mixed-race ‘Hottentot’ and Griqua people, and discusses the debates over the nature of martial law which followed. During the first two wars, martial law powers were largely used to facilitate the raising of troops, but questions were raised about whether martial law could be used to govern newly acquired areas. As the debates over the status of the territory east of the Keiskamma river showed, martial law could not be used to govern land incorporated into the colony, but it could be used to administer conquered lands. Martial law powers were also used to conduct trials and imprison rebels in 1851 and 1878, which led to debates between law officers in London and Cape Town regarding the nature of these powers. In these debates, the law officers endorsed the English common lawyers’ view which had emerged after 1865. A strong commitment to the rule of law was also expressed by the Cape Supreme Court when dealing with the case of Griqua prisoners, detained without trial at Cape Town after the rebellion of 1878.

The transfer of the Cape to British control in 1806 gave the region new geopolitical prominence and the Cape sea-route more importance as the colonial authorities sought to consolidate control of the hinterland. British colonisers legitimated their presence in the region by insisting on their commitment to civilisation, progress, better governance and scientific accomplishment. This included conquest of the Xhosa, the British settlement programme in 1820, and scientific institutions. African kingdoms were also changing rapidly as they absorbed new military technologies such as horses and firearms. In the 1820s, a Royal Observatory was sited at Cape Town to expand knowledge of astronomy in the southern hemisphere and help with navigation and mapping. In the first half of the nineteenth century, scientific networks and associations gained footholds in local colonial society leading to the establishment of a natural history museum, the revival of the botanical garden and zoological expeditions. Geological exploration revealed fossils in the Karoo, prompting new thinking about the age of the earth. Flints and middens helped to catalyse archaeology as a field of interest – as did rock art. The science of race, which slip-streamed in Darwin’s wake, was given impetus by imperial conquest in South Africa.

In this chapter, using historical records and academic commentaries and research, we trace language contact in Cape Town from as far back as 400 CE. We detail how people indigenous to the area, as well as migrants from the rest of Africa and abroad, adapted their speech for social, political and economic reasons, with the result that Dutch, and later Afrikaans and English, gained prominence. After this diachronic account, we focus on two contemporary speech communities in Cape Town, and through interviews and participant observations confirm that while English is considered a prestige language and the key to future success, people still speak vernacular varieties of their own languages and of English. Examination of the linguistic landscape of the city in a number of research articles shows that English (some of it non-standard) is used far more widely in signage than African languages, which are used primarily for stylistic and affective reasons. Finally, we use research into hip-hop and rap performances in the city to argue that in this domain of music, local languages and mixed codes are preferred over English.