Afrikaans

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia, with smaller groups using it in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and even in Argentina, particularly in the town of Sarmiento where a special Patagonian dialect exists.

The language grew from the Dutch vernacular brought by predominantly Dutch settlers and influenced by the enslaved population at the Dutch Cape Colony during the 17th and 18th centuries. Over time, it developed its own unique features that set it apart from Dutch.

Though Afrikaans has borrowed words from languages like German, Malay, and Khoisan languages, about 90 to 95% of its words come from Dutch. While Afrikaans and Dutch can often understand each other, especially in writing, Afrikaans uses simpler grammar and different spelling rules.

Etymology

The name "Afrikaans" comes from a Dutch word that used to be spelled Afrikaansch, meaning 'African'. Before this, the language was called 'Cape Dutch', a name that also referred to the early settlers in the Cape area. Another old, unkind name for it was 'kitchen Dutch', used to describe how enslaved people of the colonial settlers spoke the language.

History

Afrikaans started in the Dutch Cape Colony in the 1700s. It grew from the Dutch language spoken by settlers. At first, many people called it 'kitchen Dutch' because it was not seen as a proper language like Dutch or English.

Afrikaans grew in new ways because of the many different people who lived there, including slaves and workers from many places. By the 1800s, it began to be used in schools and writing. In 1925, the South African government officially recognized Afrikaans as a language.

The first book in Afrikaans was published in 1861, and the first Bible translation came in 1933. This helped make Afrikaans a respected language for religious and everyday use. Today, Afrikaans is part of the West Germanic language family, closely related to Dutch.

Geographic distribution

Afrikaans is mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia. Before Namibia became independent in 1990, Afrikaans was an official language there alongside German. Today, it is recognized as a national language. There are also smaller groups of Afrikaans speakers in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and among South Africans in the Netherlands.

Most Afrikaans speakers today are not from the Afrikaner or Boer groups, but from the Coloureds community. In 1976, students in Soweto protested against using Afrikaans as a teaching language in schools. Although English is understood by most people, Afrikaans is more commonly spoken in some parts of South Africa.

Afrikaans shares many words with Dutch, with about 90 to 95 percent of its vocabulary coming from Dutch. It also has some words borrowed from other languages like Malay, Khoisan languages, and Bantu languages. Afrikaans is easier for Dutch speakers to understand than the other way around.

Main article: Comparison of Afrikaans and Dutch

Current status

Afrikaans is an official language in South Africa and a recognized language in Namibia. After apartheid ended, Afrikaans lost some special treatment by the government, but it is still widely used in media like radio, newspapers, and TV, more than many other official languages except English. Over 300 Afrikaans books are published each year. The number of people who speak Afrikaans as their first language has been decreasing, but many still use it.

Afrikaans remains strong, especially in popular music, movies, and online content. New Afrikaans movies, like Ouma se slim kind and Poena Is Koning, have been well received. Famous actors like Charlize Theron help promote the language. In Namibia, Afrikaans is spoken mainly in certain areas. Many people who speak other languages also learn Afrikaans as a second language, and it is taught in schools and universities around the world, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Russia, and the United States.

Main article: Post-apartheid South Africa

Main articles: Paljas, Monster, District 9, Cannes Film Festival

Grammar

Afrikaans grammar is simpler than some other languages. For example, verbs don’t change form depending on who is doing the action. Most verbs only have one past tense form, which is different from some other languages.

Afrikaans also uses a special way of saying “not” called a double negative. For example, instead of saying “He can not speak Afrikaans,” Afrikaans speakers might say, “He can not Afrikaans speak not.” This way of speaking is unique to Afrikaans and helps make the language interesting!

Phonology

Afrikaans has special sounds and ways of saying words that make it unique. Some sounds are only found in just a few words, like how we say certain letters together in some English words.

The language also uses sounds from other languages, especially in words borrowed from them. This makes Afrikaans a rich mix of different sounds and ways of speaking.

Dialects

Early studies of Afrikaans suggest there were three main dialects after a big journey in the 1830s. These were the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape dialects. The Northern Cape dialect might have come from interactions between Dutch settlers and the Khoekhoe people, while the Eastern Cape dialect developed from contacts between the Dutch and the Xhosa. Some traces of these dialects are still in Afrikaans today, but standard Afrikaans has made many differences smaller.

Oranjerivier-Afrikaans is an important type of Afrikaans, including forms spoken by different groups such as whites and Griqua, as well as Namakwalands. There is also a special language used in prisons, called Sabela, which is based on Afrikaans but influenced by Zulu. It is used as a secret language in prisons.

Patagonian Afrikaans

Main article: Patagonian Afrikaans

Patagonian Afrikaans is a special type of Afrikaans spoken by about 650 people from the South African community in Argentina, in a place called Patagonia.

Namibian Afrikaans

Namibian Afrikaans is a version of Afrikaans spoken in Namibia. The country was ruled by South Africa until 1990, which supported the use of Afrikaans. Before that, Dutch was brought to the area when the Dutch controlled Walvis Bay and nearby regions.

Influences on Afrikaans from other languages

Afrikaans has many words from different languages due to the history of people living together in South Africa.

Words from Malay entered Afrikaans because of a community that settled in Cape Town. Some of these words include baie (meaning 'very' or 'much'), baadjie (meaning jacket), bobotie (a spiced meat dish), piesang (meaning banana), piering (meaning saucer), and sosatie (a type of food similar to shish kebab).

Words from Portuguese, Khoisan languages, and Bantu languages also added to Afrikaans. For example, kraal (meaning a pen for cattle) came from Portuguese, while dagga (meaning cannabis) came from Khoisan languages. Words like fundi (meaning a student or expert) and lobola (meaning bride price) came from Bantu languages.

French influence came mainly through Huguenot settlers who arrived after the Edict of Nantes was revoked. They added words, especially military terms, to Afrikaans. Most French-derived words in Afrikaans actually came through Dutch rather than directly from French.

Orthography

The Afrikaans writing system is based on Dutch. It uses the 26 letters of the basic Latin alphabet, plus 16 extra vowel sounds shown with special marks called diacritics. Words can also include a hyphen (like in see-eend, meaning "sea duck"), an apostrophe (like in ma's, meaning "mothers"), and spaces in some cases (like in Dooie See, meaning "Dead Sea").

One special character is ʼn, which is a ligature and does not have a capital form. Many consonants in Afrikaans are simplified compared to Dutch. For example, the Dutch word slechts ("only") becomes slegs in Afrikaans. Also, Afrikaans does not separate the sounds /s/ and /z/, so the Dutch word for "south", zuid, is written as suid in Afrikaans. The indefinite article in Afrikaans is 'n, compared to een in Dutch. For example, "a book" is 'n boek in Afrikaans but can be either een boek or 'n boek in Dutch. The suffix for making words smaller, like "bit" becoming bietjie, is also different from Dutch.

Letters like c, q, x, and z are mostly used in words borrowed from other languages. Diacritics are used to show emphasis in words and are ignored when putting words in alphabetical order.

Sample text

Here is a short piece from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights written in Afrikaans:

All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are gifted with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

You can also read parts of the Bible in Afrikaans, like Psalm 23:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

And the Lord's Prayer:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.