Jolene Martin asks...''The Southern Question'' EP7 | Kaaps Woriboek | Woordeboek | Dictionary.

For the first time ever, we are releasing one episode in two parts. Not as a format choice, but in recognition of its historical and educational significance. Woriboek | Woordeboek | Dictionary THE SOUTHERN QUESTION presents: A Two-Part Event on the KAAPS Woriboek We are honoured to host Professor Quentin Williams, Professor Adam Haupt, Chevãn van Rooi and Gaireyah Fredericks, in a rigorous and expansive dialogue on the KAAPS Woriboek… a landmark linguistic and cultural work that affirms KAAPS as a fully realised system of knowledge, memory, and intellectual production. As articulated in the text itself: “The Kaaps dictionary is a historic reference resource that describes the spelling system and development of Kaaps words. It provides linguistic and cultural access to one of the oldest languages in South Africa. For the first time in history, our once slave lingua franca is now codified in this dictionary.” This two-part event positions the Woriboek not as a derivative text, but as an authoritative contribution to global conversations on language, identity, and epistemology. In this dialogue, we explore: Professor Quentin Williams (Sociolinguistics): KAAPS as a system shaped by history, power, and identity, and what its codification signals for linguistic legitimacy Professor Adam Haupt (Culture, Media & Language): how KAAPS lives across cultural production, including media and music, and how language circulates as cultural capital Chevãn van Rooi (Syntax & Pragmatics – PhD): the structural depth of KAAPS, engaging its grammar, meaning-making systems, and internal logic as a fully realised linguistic form Gaireyah Fredericks (Editorial & Language Development): the intellectual and editorial labour behind the Woriboek as a tool of access and standardisation. How KAAPS reshapes the landscape of South African writing, authorship, and literary voice The scholarly architecture and methodology behind the KAAPS Woriboek as intellectual infrastructure The transition of KAAPS from marginalised speech form to codified knowledge system The role of UWC as a site of linguistic scholarship and transformation Language as a site of cultural sovereignty within an evolving BRICS-aligned world The implications of codification for future research, education, publishing, and policy This is not preservation alone. It is intellectual authorship. As global power recalibrates, language stands at the centre of cultural legitimacy. The KAAPS Woriboek enters that space with clarity, authority, and depth. For students, scholars, writers, and cultural practitioners, this is essential viewing. 🎧 PART 1 goes live on Thursday the 30th and Part 2 follows the following week. #TheSouthernQuestion #KAAPS #Woriboek #UWC #BRICS #LanguageMatters #DecolonisingLanguag #AfricanScholarship #IndigenousLanguages #GlobalSouth #KnowledgeSystems