Tsotsitaal studies, broadly defined as the study of youth speech registers in South Africa, is a field of South African sociolinguistics that has been garnering attention for several decades. This book draws together the findings of this field of study in one cohesive monograph. The book both maps a field and describes a linguistic phenomenon. Tsotsitaal is approached from a number of different perspectives: socio-historical, grammatical, lexical, and attitudinal. The main theoretical focus is on style and metaphor. The conceptualisation of Tsotsitaal as style and styling in language is the way the relationship between Tsotsitaal and the South African languages is conceptualised; while metaphor is the tool used to understand the lexicon of Tsotsitaal, beyond descriptions of slang. The book therefore aims to provide an overarching perspective on the phenomenon, and at the same time, contribute to the theoretical tools that can be used to study similar practices elsewhere – the creative language generated by youth in peer groups around the world. The main chapters of the book describe the sociohistorical background to the Tsotsitaal phenomenon, the context of its emergence and development, and the conditions of its use today; the debates around the grammatical characteristics of Tsotsitaal, and its classification as a stylised register of an urban variety; perceptions of Tsotsitaal by both speakers and listeners, as well as the purpose or functions in use; the centrality of style and metaphor to Tsotsitaal including extra-linguistic markers, particularly gesture, and the centrality of relexicalisation in Tsotsitaal. The book offers possible future directions for Tsotsitaal and African Youth Language research. About the author: Ellen Hurst-Harosh is Senior Lecturer and works at the Humanities Education Development Unit, University of Cape Town. Ellen does research in Sociolinguistics and Higher Education. Their current project is ‘African (Urban) Youth Languages’. The following paper collections and periodicals contain contributions on African youth languages: “Aktuelle Forschungen zu afrikanischen Sprachen – Sprachwissenschaftliche Beiträge zum 14. Afrikanistentag. Hamburg, 11.–14. Oktober 2000”, ISBN 978-3-89645-401-0. “APAL Annual Publication in African Linguistics 2005/3”, ISBN 978-3-89645-503-1. “Beyond the Language Issue. The Production, Mediation and Reception of Creative Writing in African Languages – Selected Papers from the 8th International Janheinz Jahn Symposium, Mainz 2004”, ISBN 978-3-89645-819-3. “Proceedings of the 4th WOCAL World Congress of African Linguistics, New Brunswick 2003”, ISBN 978-3-89645-338-9.