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What does it mean to speak Afrikaans?
Afrikaans (UK: /ˌæfrɪˈkɑːns/, US: /ˌɑːf-/, English meaning: African) is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and, to a lesser extent, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It is considered by most linguistics to be partially, rather than fully, a creole language.
What is Afrikaans short answer?
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and, to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of Holland spoken by the Dutch settlers in South Africa, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the 18th century.
Is Afrikaans its own language?
Because Afrikaans is its own language and not merely a dialect of Dutch. It evolved independently down there since 1652. Its status as a language in its own right is indeed fairly recent – 1920s.
What is the meaning of Afrikaners?
Afrikaner in American English (ˌæfrɪˈkɑnər ) noun. a white South African whose native language is Afrikaans, esp. one of Dutch ancestry. Word origin.
Can Afrikaans understand Dutch?
Intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans Although Afrikaans is a daughter of Dutch, Dutch speakers might take some time to understand the language but they can understand Afrikaans. On the other hand, speakers of Afrikaans might not be able to readily comprehend the Dutch language.
Which language is closest to Afrikaans?
Dutch
In this article, Afrikaans was compared to three West Germanic standard languages (Dutch, Frisian and German). Unsurprisingly, Afrikaans was found to be most closely related to Dutch. When Afrikaans was compared to 361 Dutch and Frisian dialects, the South-Hollandic varieties were found to be closest to Afrikaans.
Who is Afrikaans for?
Afrikaans is a language that belongs to ANYONE loving the language and prefers to speak it. Afrikaner = A person from Africa, thus ANYONE who is a citizen of a country on the African continent.
What is the origin of the Afrikaans word ‘African Dutch’?
The term is ultimately derived from the Dutch term Afrikaans-Hollands meaning “African Dutch”. It was previously referred to as “Cape Dutch” (a term also used to refer collectively to the early Cape settlers) or “kitchen Dutch” (a derogatory term used to refer to Afrikaans in its earlier days).
What does Afrikaner mean?
Afrikaner had many meanings over time. It originally just meant African. Then in the late 1800s the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners changed it to be a collective term for all Cape Dutch and Boers. Basically, People in South-Africa of European descent with Dutch/Afrikaans as their mother tong.
Is Afrikaans a white language?
Afrikaans is still viewed as a white language, due mostly to Apartheid and the pre-Apartheid oppression and marginalisation of the people of colour who invented the language, however it is still a key component of Cape Coloured culture and is in fact spoken by more coloured people in SA than whites.