Afrikaans

Madeline Weibel

Background

• Low Franconian West Germanic language descended from Dutch and spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia

• Afrikaners slowly developed their own language when they came in contact with Africans and Asians

• The word Afrikaners means Africans in Dutch

• In the late 17th century, South Africa was colonised by the Dutch who brought their language and other aspects of their culture to the area. During the 18th century, the Dutch language was significantly altered in South Africa due to factors such as the phonological capabilities of the inhabitants and the impact of the Khoisan and Bantu languages

• Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect in South Africa until the early 20th century, when it became recognised as a distinct language under South African law

Variants

• Up until the early 20th century the official language of South Africa was Standard Dutch, since the local variant was still thought to be a dialect. At this point, the term ‘Afrikaans’ came into use, soon replacing ‘European Dutch’ as the official language of the state

Toponyms

• None

Diffusion

• There is not to much diffusion of the language Afrikaans due to mostly being spoken in only South Africa. But as people move from South Africa there is natural diffusion

Current Events

• http://www.southafrica.org.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=153:national-youth-day&catid=37:south-africa-current-events&Itemid=157&lang=en

• http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/south-africa/language-policy-and-oppression-south-africa

Sources

• https://iwishtobeapolyglot.wordpress.com/2013/07/18/afrikaans-or-south-africas-dutch/

• http://geography.about.com/od/southafricamaps/a/Afrikaners.htm