Afrikaans in South Africa
Afrikaans is one of the 11 languages officially recognized in South Africa. It is the third most widely spoken, after Zulu and Xhosa. Nevertheless, there is a strong racial divide among speakers. The majority are coloured (white, black and Indian), with just over 7 million speaking the language as their primary or native language.
Origin and Evolution
Originally, it evolved from a version of Dutch that was brought to the Cape area by settlers and indentured workers in the 17th century. In time, it also absorbed words from the languages of enslaved Africans and Asians, as well as European colonial languages such as English, French and German.
Grammar and Structure
In terms of its grammar, it is very similar to Dutch. It is a West Germanic language. Moreover, the same word forms are used for the present and past tense, as well as for infinitives. It does not have grammatical gender, but uses the same personal pronouns in the singular and plural forms.
Lexicon and Influence
The main lexicon in Afrikaans is based on Dutch, but it has been heavily influenced by the languages of enslaved peoples and by Portuguese, French and Malay. This has resulted in the development of a large number of new words that are now in common use.
Writing and Punctuation
It is written in a Latin alphabet using 26 letters, which are modified by various punctuation marks such as e, e, i, i, o and u. Its indefinite article 'n is regarded as two separate characters, and is never written in upper case. It is often used to emphasize certain sounds, such as c, k and g.
Development and Controversies
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper used by Dutch, French and German settlers and by people enslaved by them. It has since diversified considerably and developed its own unique identity.
During the 19th century, it became more popular and gained a reputable status in literature. It was adapted for the Latin script, which was used in public newspapers and other literary works.
It was used as a medium of instruction in many schools. However, during the Soweto riots of 1976, students protested against this. They feared it would link the language to the apartheid regime and create an impression that the language was primarily white in origin.
As a result, it is still sometimes viewed with suspicion and prejudice. Even the use of it at the University of Stellenbosch has been controversial, with some students calling for it to be removed.
The language has also been linked to a series of political and social events that are now considered part of its history. For example, it was imposed as the language of instruction in local schools during the apartheid period. It was later adopted as the official language of education in the country and remains the language of instruction at universities today.
Current Status
As of 2017, there are over six million people in South Africa who speak Afrikaans as a first or second language. Of those, about seven million are native speakers, largely of white ancestry.
