Afrikaans

History

The Afrikaans is originally a spoken language by the colonists Dutch unloaded in South Africa, also called “Boers”, country word meaning.

The language Afrikaans is also spoken by the mongrels white-Asian-black, especially in the area of the Cape. See: People of language Afrikaans.

The first text in Afrikaans is a catechism Musulman 19th century, intended for the Malayan community of the Cape.

In 1875, Stephanus Jacobus Of the Roof belongs to a group of teachers and pastors of the Dutch reformed church who form with Paarl in the Colonie of the Cape a cultural movement of claim, " Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners" (the “Association of truths Afrikaner S”) whose objective is to defend and to impose the Afrikaans on the side of the English like Official language of the colony. It is a question for them of giving to the spoken language by the peasants afrikaners its noble letters and of making genuine communications tools of it written.

In 1876, it is for this purpose that the movement directed by Roof launches a review in Afrikaans, " Die Afrikaanse Patriot" whose S.J of the Roof becomes the editor association and whose currency is " write like you parlez". By publishing the prose of the readers of the newspaper, Of the Roof wants to wake up the national conscience of Afrikaners and to release them from their cultural complex of inferiority vis-a-vis the English. Consequently, the defense of the language merges with that of the identity Afrikaans.

In 1877, SJ Of the Roof publishes the first book of Histoire of the Afrikaner S, writing which more is in Afrikaans, Die Geskiedenis van ons Land in die Taal van ons Volk ( history of our country in the language of its people ) which is connected with a political proclamation of Afrikaners loan of Mysticisme. There reports the fight of small people elected to remain faithful to the intention of God, revolt of 1795 to the executions of Slagter' S Neck in 1815, Grand Trek of 1836 identified with the exodus of Egypt to the murder of Piet Retief and to the triumph of Blood River.

After having obtained initially that the Dutch is regarded as one of the two national languages, the combat of the identity movement afrikaner is focused on the promotion of the Afrikaans, the right of teaching in this language and the right to speak it in the public administrations. It is at the end of a long cultural combat and linguistics that in 1925, the government of James Barry Hertzog confers on the Afrikaans the statute National language at the side of the English (in the place of Dutch). Until 1990, the Afrikaans will be one of the three official languages of the South-western African (at the side of the English and the German ).

The literature Afrikaans developed a poetic tradition, tightening with romantiser the history of the South-African White. It is undoubtedly thanks to this association of the Afrikaans to the ideology of the “afrikanerdom” that the black population resisted the teaching of the Afrikaans so much (cf the riots of Soweto in 1976).

But an important innovation in the letters Afrikaans, that of the Sestigers (“people of the Sixties”), introduced new currents. Usually opposed to the Apartheid and influenced for example by Michel Foucault, ANC, and other currents of left, the Sestigers a little broke the bonds between the Afrikaans and apartheid. One must thus note, among the writers the modern Afrikaans most important, André Brink, Breyten Breytenbach (a citizen South-African and French) and Adam Small (a poet known as “of color”).

Karel Schoeman, born in 1939 in Trompsburg (free State of Orange), is a novelist of South Africa which writes in language Afrikaans whose works start to be known internationally. Novels: In strange country (original edition in Afrikaans, unknown date, translated of French English in 1991, rééd. 2007), the Season of the good-byes (published in Afrikaans in 1990 in South Africa, 2004 in France), Return to the beloved country (published in Afrikaans in 1972, translated in 2006 in France).

In 1994, the Afrikaans became one of the eleven official languages of the country but in practice, the English became the only public language, which pushed Afrikaners to start a third taalbeweging (linguistic movement) to restore the equality of their language with English for the third time in the history.

In contemporary South Africa, one tried to employ the term afrikaanses like ethnic name to indicate the Peuples of language Afrikaans to replace the word afrikaner , but this politically correct attempt failed.

Classification

The Afrikaans is youngest of the Germanic languages, rather near to the Dutch.

Geographical distribution

The Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa and Namibia, by approximately 6 million people.

Official statute

It is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, and has the statute of language “recognized” in Namibia.

Writing

The Afrikaans uses the Latin alphabet.

Pronunciation

The pronunciation and the vocabulary present such differences that speakers of Afrikaans and Dutch can include themselves/understand only while slowly speaking. It is significant to note that these speakers often prefer to use English to make sure of a good mutual comprehension. For an external listener, the difference between the phonemes is such as one can believe to hear two quite distinct languages.

Grammar

Dans the examples below, the forms quoted in first are in Dutch, the following ones in afrikaans.

Compared to grammar and with the vocabulary Dutch, the Afrikaans was strongly simplified. However, because of its linguistic evolution good particular, the translation with word for word of Dutch into the Afrikaans by applying this simplification, gives a sometimes incomprehensible result, sometimes comic. Moreover, by archaism, certain Dutch terms have a very different significance in Afrikaans.

The differences between Dutch and the Afrikaans are especially visible in the Conjugaison of the verbs. The Afrikaans uses only one kind and the Definite article is invariably die .

It there more but one auxiliary ( het , A) instead of hebben and zijn (to have and be).

The verb to be results in wees and is combined with the present indicative in an invariable way: