Oxford English Dictionary Adds Nine New Loanwords from South Africa
‘Yoh,’ ‘Gatvol,’ and ‘Tjoekie’ join 20 words from Nigeria and Ghana recently added to the English dictionary.
A row of Oxford English dictionaries in a school classroom on February 11, 2022, in Cardiff, Wales.
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added nine new loanwords from South Africa to its latest update, headlined by the omnipresent interjection, Yoh. Used in everyday conversations by South Africans, Yoh is defined by the OED as “a cry or exclamation used to express various emotions or reactions, such as surprise, wonder, admiration, shock, or distress.”
Also added to the dictionary are gatvol, a slang term for someone “extremely annoyed, unhappy, or bored,” the Afrikaans-originating term for prison or jail, Tjoekie, and many more.
Five years after the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) added 29 new loanwords from Nigerian parlance, 20 additional common words originating from Nigeria and Ghana have now been included in the dictionary.
Most of the additions are from Nigeria, with the 14 entries including the popular beef kebab finger food, suya, local fabric type, adire and cybercrime-related terms, 419, Yahoo and Yahoo boy.
The Ghanaian contingent of added words is the famed local dish, banku; the popular dance style, azonto; the music genre Burger Highlife, the term referring to emigrants, burger, and the local practice of illegal mining and its practitioners,galamsey and galamseyers.
The dictionary has also added the term "West African," which refers to anything "belonging to or relating to the western regions of Africa." However, in their definition, OED erroneously lumps in Cameroon – a Central African country – as part of the region.
Unlike the previous mass additions, which sparked some excitement and much debate on whether we should celebrate the OED as a validator of local African everyday terms, these additions have landed with little chatter so far. Perhaps, in addition to the worn-off novelty, these words aren't only ingrained deeply in the everyday language and lives of Nigerians and Ghanaians, some of them have significant cultural value thanks to online conversations.
In 2020, writer and linguist Kola Tubosun told OkayAfrica that the championing of Nigerian languages by Nigerians first is what's most important. "While OED's actions sort of bring exposure to these new words, I strongly believe that this is not what we should celebrate," Tubosun said. "We seem to always wait for foreign validation before doing the right thing. OED is looking out for English — not Nigerian English."
Tubosun added that championing Nigerian terms and important words from other countries ideally involves, "supporting Nigerian English dictionaries and grammar, publishing literature in the language, and — most importantly — adapting our oral and written English syllabus in schools to validate better the way we speak and write."
This story was originally posted January 20, 2025 at 2:45 p.m. and has been updated.
March 26, 4:09 p.m. Updated to include nine new South African words added to OED.
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