Boys' Foreign-Language Clothing Glossary: Afrikaans


Figure 1.--.

Afrikaans is one of the official languages of South Africa. It evolved from the language of the Dutch who began to colonize Cape Town in the 16th century. It is primarily derived from the South Holland dialect of the mid-17th century as many Dutch settlers emmigrated from Holand at this time. It is thus fundamentally an archaic variant of Dutch. Many words were incorporated from the languages spoken by other European settlers (English, French, and German) as well as African languages. Afrikaans gradually was simplified as language endings in the original Dutch were fropped. There were also phonetic changes. The Dutch word for shoe (schoen) became skoen in Afrikann as "sch" in Dutch became "sk" in Afrikaans. Until the mid-19th centiry, Afrikaans was a spoken language and letters and documents were written in Dutch. With the established of the Boer Republics and economic development, there was an increasing demand for publications in Afrikaans. Gradually the language was used in newspapers, schools, and churches. It became an official language for South Africa in 1924, replacing standard Dutch. A Dutch reader writes, "Afrikaans tickles one's funny bone, because it seems such a primitive, child-like language, derived from 16th-17th century Dutch, enriched with some native African and Malayan words. But they always make up new words that make a lot of sense, like refrigerator = ijskassie (ice box), automobile = wa (from the word wagon), etc." HBC of course has a Dutch glossary, but not one on Afrikaans for clothing related terms. We suspect that the clothing terms are quite similar. Both languages continue to be spoken in South Africa, but the black majority strongly prefers English, in part because most associate Afrikanns with Apartheid.

Evolution

Afrikaans is one of the official languages of South Africa. Afrikaans evolved from the language of the Dutch who began to colonize Cape Town in the 16th century. It is primarily derived from the South Holland dialect of the mid-17th century as many Dutch settlers emmigrated from Holand at this time. It is thus fundamentally an archaic variant of Dutch. Many words were incorporated from the languages spoken by other European settlers (English, French, and German) as well as African languages. Afrikaans gradually was simplified as language endings in the original Dutch were fropped. There were also phonetic changes. The Dutch word for shoe (schoen) became skoen in Afrikann as "sch" in Dutch became "sk" in Afrikaans. Until the mid-19th century, Afrikaans was a spoken language and letters and documents were written in Dutch. With the established of the Boer Republics and economic development, there was an increasing demand for publications in Afrikaans. The defeatt of the Bohr Republics by the English in the Bohr War only delayed the development of Afrikaans. Gradually the language was used in newspapers, schools, and churches. It became an official language for the Union of South Africa in 1924, replacing standard Dutch.

Dutch View

A Dutch reader writes, "Afrikaans tickles one's funny bone, because it seems such a primitive, child-like language, derived from 16th-17th century Dutch, enriched with some native African and Malayan words. But they always make up new words that make a lot of sense, like refrigerator = ijskassie (ice box), automobile = wa (from the word wagon), etc."

Current Usage

Both languages English and Afrikanns continue to be spoken in South Africa along with the African languages. Here English has an advantge. It is acceptable to Blacks who can not decide on a common African language. The black majority strongly prefers English to Afrikaaans, in part because most Blacks understandably associate Afrikanns with Apartheid. In fact the fall of Apartheid began with demonsrations by Black children, objecting to being taught in Afrikaans. This is another example of the often not insignificant role that children and youth have played in history. Although Blacks for the most part strongly object to Afrikaans, the same is not the case in the so-called Colored community in South Afreica. The Coloreds (people of mixed European and native ancestry) consider Afrikaans their own language. Also the Cape Malayans, Javanese people that were brought by the Dutch East Indian Company to Cape Town, prefer to speak Afrikaans. One HBC reader notes that they have beautiful choirs, although HBC does not yet have information on this. The melodies are usually "oriental", but the words nearly always Afrikaans. Many of the Cape Malayans are still Muslims.

Literature

HBC does not yet have any information on Afrikaans literature. A South African reader tells us in 2003, "Afrikaans literature is very much alive, vigorous and pursued with great enthusiasm." We do have some limited information on South African children's literature.

Glossary

HBC of course has a Dutch glossary, but not one on Afrikaans clothing related terms. We suspect that the clothing terms are the same or quite similar. We have very little information on actual Afrikaans clothing terms. The Durch word for shoe (schoen) became skoen in Afrikann as "sch" in Dutch became "sk" in Afrikaans.

baret : beret

broek : trousers

handskoen : glove

hemd : shirt

hoed : hat

jas : coat

jurk : dress

klere : clothes

klinknaelbroek : jeans

kortbroek: shorts

kouse : stockings

manchesters : corduroys

mantel : heavier coat

nagklere : pyamas

onderbaadjie : undershirt

pak : suit, costume

pet : cap

rok : skirt

skoen : shoe








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Created: February 6, 2003
Last updated: February 15, 2003