Learn about anglicisms in Afrikaans
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Intro |
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| Antoni: Are anglicisms commonly used in Afrikaans? |
| Dewan: And what other languages have influenced Afrikaans? |
| Antoni: At AfrikaansPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine this scenario: Karen Lee is talking with her friend, Rita Nel, about a common friend. Karen asks, |
| "Why is she so sad?" |
| Karen Lee: Hoekom is sy so hartseer? |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Lee: Hoekom is sy so hartseer? |
| Rita Nel: Sy het 'n harde lewe. |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Lee: Hoekom is sy so hartseer? |
| Antoni: "Why is she so sad?" |
| Rita Nel: Sy het 'n harde lewe. |
| Antoni: "She has a hard life." |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, our main focus will be on anglicisms in Afrikaans. We will also be looking at the influence that languages other than English have had on Afrikaans. To begin with, let’s talk about what anglicism actually is. The Afrikaans word for “anglicism” is |
| Dewan: anglisisme |
| Antoni: which, quite frankly, sounds a bit like an anglicism, if you ask me. But is it? |
| You see, anglicisms are often words that are borrowed from English, and they resemble the original English in terms of sound and spelling. Or, to put it differently—they are words that still look and sound like their English counterpart. As we mentioned already, while the Afrikaans word for “anglicism” might sound like an anglicism, it is actually not. This is because some words in Afrikaans might sound and look a bit like they're English, but, really, they both share a common root. In this case, both the English and Afrikaans words have their origins in a Latin word. What makes an anglicism an anglicism is if it is borrowed from or influenced directly by English. |
| In a moment, we’ll have a look at a few examples of anglicisms in Afrikaans. However, before we do that, we just want to point out that, because Afrikaans is spoken by a wide range of cultures in South Africa, it also has multiple dialects. For the purposes of this lesson, we will stick to discussing what is commonly referred to as “standard Afrikaans.” |
| You will also notice something interesting in this lesson. In Afrikaans, many anglicisms are NOT words that look and sound like the English ones. Bear with us and it will all make sense soon. Let's start with an example of a common anglicism in standard Afrikaans: |
| Dewan: doen. |
| Antoni: This word is borrowed from the English “do.” You might have noticed that it sounds a little like the word “done.” That said, it is an anglicism not so much in terms of sound as in terms of function. Take, for instance, the Afrikaans for “He does me a favor.” It sounds like this: |
| Dewan: Hy doen my ‘n guns. |
| Antoni: This is the version that incorporates the anglicism. Now, compare it with the original or pure Afrikaans version of that sentence, which sounds like this: |
| Dewan: Hy bewys my ‘n guns. |
| Antoni: In this case, the original Afrikaans word |
| Dewan: bewys |
| Antoni: translates literally to “evidence” or “prove,” but, in the end, the meaning of the sentence is still “He does me a favor.” We could list several more examples of how the word “do” has been adapted into Afrikaans in terms of function. However, let us rather share with you some other examples of anglicisms. We could list several examples of any of these, but then we’ll never end this lesson! So, I’ll just give you one example of each. The first of these is the word |
| Dewan: in. |
| Antoni: This sounds a bit like the English word “in” and it’s spelled exactly the same way too. It even means the same thing in Afrikaans. However, these correlations are not because Afrikaans borrowed the word from English; it is simply because they share the same Germanic root. Therefore, it's important to note that this is not an anglicism because of the way it is spelled or spoken. Rather, it is an anglicism because of the way it is used. Let’s look at an example sentence: |
| Dewan: Net een in 'n duised kry dit reg. |
| Antoni: This means “only one in a thousand is successful.” Now, listen to the original Afrikaans way of saying the same thing. This time, you will hear the word |
| Dewan: uit |
| Antoni: being used. In this context, it means “out of.” Here's the sentence: |
| Dewan: Net een uit 'n duisend kry dit reg. |
| Antoni: This literally translates to “only one out of a thousand gets it right.” Let’s try another example. This time, we’ll be looking at the word |
| Dewan: gaan |
| Antoni: This word means “go” and, again, it is the way it is used, not the way it sounds or looks, that makes it an anglicism. Listen to this sentence, which means “The angry woman went at me:” |
| Dewan: Die kwaai vrou het vir my gegaan. |
| Antoni: You can hear the anglicism at the very end. Now, let’s listen to the original Afrikaans. |
| Dewan: Die kwaai vrou het in my ingeklim. |
| Antoni: In this sentence, the anglicism was replaced with the purer Afrikaans word |
| Dewan: ingeklim |
| Antoni: which means “climbed into.” The resulting sentence can be translated as “The angry woman climbed into me.” Quite expressive, isn't it?! Again, we could list several examples of this particular anglicism, but I think the point is made—there are some words in Afrikaans that have been anglicized in terms of function. |
| Then, there are those that have been anglicized in terms of spelling and sound as well. For instance, consider the word |
| Dewan: boekmerk |
| Antoni: This refers to a “bookmark,” but, historically, the Afrikaans word for “bookmark” is |
| Dewan: boeklêer. |
| Antoni: Some expressions have been anglicized too. Listen to this one, meaning “It’s too beautiful for words.” |
| Dewan: Dis te mooi vir woorde. |
| Antoni: This echoes the English expression exactly, but the original Afrikaans expression is |
| Dewan: Dit is onbeskryflik mooi. |
| Antoni: which translates to “It’s indescribably beautiful.” As you can see, many of the anglicisms in Afrikaans are not necessarily loan words that sound and look just like the original English words. Instead, Afrikaans often seems to borrow the function of a word from English and use it with the Afrikaans equivalent of that word. In short, one could say that anglicization in Afrikaans often takes the form of Afrikaans words or phrases being used in an English way. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen says "Why is she so sad?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dewan as Karen Lee: Hoekom is sy so hartseer? |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Rita replies "She has a hard life?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dewan as Rita Nel: Sy het 'n harde lewe. |
| Antoni: In this reply, Rita has used an Afrikaans word in an English way, just as we have seen being done with many of the other examples that were provided for you in this lesson. The word she is using in an English way is |
| Dewan: hard |
| Antoni: which means “hard.” Instead of using this word, Rita could have said, |
| Dewan: Sy ly 'n swaar lewe. |
| Antoni: which means “she leads a burdensome life.” This is the purer Afrikaans. |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: In this lesson, you learned that anglicisms are words or expressions that have been borrowed from English and are used in another language. In Afrikaans, anglicisms often take the form of Afrikaans words being used in an English way. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: While English has certainly had an influence on Afrikaans, it is by no means the only language that has done so. Afrikaans originated in South Africa. It was developed out of the Dutch vernacular that was spoken by the Dutch settlers that arrived in South Africa in the 17th century. One can therefore classify it as a daughter language of Dutch. |
| Over time, other languages besides Dutch and English also had a huge influence on Afrikaans. German words have been adopted into Afrikaans, and numerous Malay words have been included in the Afrikaans lexicon as well. Being a South African language, it was also influenced by the local languages spoken by the Khoi and San peoples of South Africa. That said, it’s estimated that 90 to 95% percent of the words in the Afrikaans language are still of Dutch origin. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Dewan: Totsiens! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Dewan (Afrikaans, Pietermaritzburg), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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