| Afrikaans | |
| Pronunciation: | pronounced as /af/ |
| Region: | Southern Africa |
| Speakers: | 7.2 million (2016) 10.3 million L2 speakers in South Africa |
| Date: | 2011 |
| Ref: | e19 |
| Ethnicity: | Afrikaners Basters Cape Coloureds Cape Malays Griqua Oorlams |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Germanic |
| Fam3: | West Germanic |
| Fam4: | Weser–Rhine Germanic |
| Fam5: | Low Franconian |
| Fam6: | Dutch |
| Fam7: | Central Dutch |
| Fam8: | Hollandic |
| Ancestor: | Frankish |
| Ancestor2: | Old Dutch |
| Ancestor3: | Middle Dutch |
| Ancestor4: | Modern Dutch |
| Script: | Latin script (Afrikaans alphabet), Arabic script |
| Sign: | Signed Afrikaans[1] |
| Agency: | Die Taalkommissie |
| Iso1: | af |
| Iso2: | afr |
| Iso3: | afr |
| Glotto: | afri1274 |
| Glottorefname: | Afrikaans |
| Lingua: | 52-ACB-ba |
| Map: | Idioma afrikáans.png |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Dia1: | Kaaps |
| Dia2: | Boeraans |
| Dia3: | Eastern Cape |
| Dia4: | Northern Cape |
| Dia5: | Patagonian |
Afrikaans [2] [3] is a West Germanic language, spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular[4] [5] of South Holland (Hollandic dialect)[6] [7] spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.[8]
Although Afrikaans has adopted words from other languages, including German and the Khoisan languages, an estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of Dutch origin. Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch often lie in the more analytic morphology and grammar of Afrikaans, and different spellings. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form.
The name of the language comes directly from the Dutch word Dutch; Flemish: Afrikaansch (now spelled Dutch; Flemish: Afrikaans)[9] meaning "African".[10] It was previously referred to as "Cape Dutch" (Kaap-Hollands/Kaap-Nederlands), a term also used to refer to the early Cape settlers collectively, or the derogatory "kitchen Dutch" (kombuistaal) from its use by slaves of colonial settlers "in the kitchen".
The Afrikaans language arose in the Dutch Cape Colony, through a gradual divergence from European Dutch dialects, during the course of the 18th century.[11] [12] As early as the mid-18th century and as recently as the mid-20th century, Afrikaans was known in standard Dutch as a "kitchen language" (Afrikaans: kombuistaal|links=no), lacking the prestige accorded, for example, even by the educational system in Africa, to languages spoken outside Africa. Other early epithets setting apart Dutch; Flemish: Kaaps Hollands ("Cape Dutch", i.e. Afrikaans) as putatively beneath official Dutch standards included Dutch; Flemish: geradbraakt, Dutch; Flemish: gebroken and Dutch; Flemish: onbeschaafd Hollands ("mutilated/broken/uncivilised Dutch"), as well as Dutch; Flemish: verkeerd Nederlands ("incorrect Dutch").[13] [14]
| '' | |
| Familycolor: | pidgin |
| Family: | Dutch-based pidgin |
| Iso3: | none |
| Glotto2: | hott1234 |
| Glottorefname2: | Hottentot Dutch |
| Isoexception: | historical |
Den Besten theorises that modern Standard Afrikaans derives from two sources:[15]
So Afrikaans, in his view, is neither a creole nor a direct descendant of Dutch, but a fusion of two transmission pathways.
Most of the first settlers whose descendants today are the Afrikaners were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands),[17] with up to one-sixth of the community of French Huguenot origin, and a seventh from Germany.[18]
African and Asian workers, Cape Coloured children of European settlers and Khoikhoi women,[19] and slaves contributed to the development of Afrikaans. The slave population was made up of people from East Africa, West Africa, India, Madagascar, and the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia).[20] A number were also indigenous Khoisan people, who were valued as interpreters, domestic servants, and labourers. Many free and enslaved women married or cohabited with the male Dutch settlers. M. F. Valkhoff argued that 75% of children born to female slaves in the Dutch Cape Colony between 1652 and 1672 had a Dutch father. Sarah Grey Thomason and Terrence Kaufman argue that Afrikaans' development as a separate language was "heavily conditioned by nonwhites who learned Dutch imperfectly as a second language."
Beginning in about 1815, Afrikaans started to replace Malay as the language of instruction in Muslim schools in South Africa, written with the Arabic alphabet: see Arabic Afrikaans. Later, Afrikaans, now written with the Latin script, started to appear in newspapers and political and religious works in around 1850 (alongside the already established Dutch).
In 1875 a group of Afrikaans-speakers from the Cape formed the Afrikaans: [[Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners|Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaaners]] ("Society for Real Afrikaners"), and published a number of books in Afrikaans including grammars, dictionaries, religious materials and histories.
Until the early 20th century Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect, alongside Standard Dutch, which it eventually replaced as an official language.[21] Before the Boer wars, "and indeed for some time afterwards, Afrikaans was regarded as inappropriate for educated discourse. Rather, Afrikaans was described derogatorily as 'a kitchen language' or 'a bastard jargon', suitable for communication mainly between the Boers and their servants."[22]
In 1925 Afrikaans was recognised by the South African government as a distinct language, rather than simply a vernacular of Dutch. On 8 May 1925, twenty-three years after the Second Boer War ended, the Official Languages of the Union Act of 1925 was passed—mostly due to the efforts of the Afrikaans-language movement—at a joint sitting of the House of Assembly and the Senate, in which the Afrikaans language was declared a variety of Dutch.[23] The Constitution of 1961 reversed the position of Afrikaans and Dutch, so that English and Afrikaans were the official languages, and Afrikaans was deemed to include Dutch. The Constitution of 1983 removed any mention of Dutch altogether.
The Afrikaans Language Monument is on a hill overlooking Paarl in the Western Cape Province. Officially opened on 10 October 1975,[24] it was erected on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Real Afrikaners,[25] and the 50th anniversary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa in distinction to Dutch.
The earliest Afrikaans texts were some doggerel verse from 1795 and a dialogue transcribed by a Dutch traveller in 1825. Afrikaans used the Latin alphabet around this time, although the Cape Muslim community used the Arabic script. In 1861, L.H. Meurant published his Afrikaans: Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twyfelaar ("Conversation between Nicholas Truthsayer and John Doubter"), which is considered to be the first book published in Afrikaans.[26]
The first grammar book was published in 1876; a bilingual dictionary was later published in 1902. The main modern Afrikaans dictionary in use is the Afrikaans: [[Verklarende Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal]] (HAT). A new authoritative dictionary, called Afrikaans: [[Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal]] (WAT), was under development as of 2018. The official orthography of Afrikaans is the Afrikaans: Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls, compiled by Afrikaans: [[Die Taalkommissie]].
See main article: Bible translations into Afrikaans. The Afrikaners primarily were Protestants, of the Dutch Reformed Church of the 17th century. Their religious practices were later influenced in South Africa by British ministries during the 1800s.[27] A landmark in the development of the language was the translation of the whole Bible into Afrikaans. While significant advances had been made in the textual criticism of the Bible, especially the Greek New Testament, the 1933 translation followed the Textus Receptus and was closely akin to the Dutch; Flemish: [[Statenbijbel]]. Before this, most Cape Dutch-Afrikaans speakers had to rely on the Dutch Dutch; Flemish: [[Statenbijbel]]. This Dutch; Flemish: [[Statenvertaling]] had its origins with the Synod of Dordrecht of 1618 and was thus in an archaic form of Dutch. This was hard for Dutch speakers to understand, and increasingly unintelligible for Afrikaans speakers.
C. P. Hoogehout,, and Stephanus Jacobus du Toit were the first Afrikaans Bible translators. Important landmarks in the translation of the Scriptures were in 1878 with C. P. Hoogehout's translation of the Afrikaans: Evangelie volgens Markus (Gospel of Mark, lit. Gospel according to Mark); however, this translation was never published. The manuscript is to be found in the South African National Library, Cape Town.
The first official translation of the entire Bible into Afrikaans was in 1933 by J. D. du Toit, E. E. van Rooyen, J. D. Kestell, H. C. M. Fourie, and BB Keet.[28] [29] This monumental work established Afrikaans as Afrikaans: 'n suiwer en ordentlike taal, that is "a pure and proper language" for religious purposes, especially among the deeply Calvinist Afrikaans religious community that previously had been sceptical of a Bible translation that varied from the Dutch version that they were used to.
In 1983 a fresh translation marked the 50th anniversary of the 1933 version. The final editing of this edition was done by E. P. Groenewald, A. H. van Zyl, P. A. Verhoef, J. L. Helberg and W. Kempen. This translation was influenced by Eugene Nida's theory of dynamic equivalence which focused on finding the nearest equivalent in the receptor language to the idea that the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic wanted to convey.
A new translation, Die Bybel: 'n Direkte Vertaling was released in November 2020. It is the first truly ecumenical translation of the Bible in Afrikaans as translators from various churches, including the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, were involved.[30]
Afrikaans descended from Dutch dialects in the 17th century. It belongs to a West Germanic sub-group, the Low Franconian languages.[31] Other West Germanic languages related to Afrikaans are German, English, the Frisian languages, and the unstandardised languages Low German and Yiddish.
| Country | Speakers | Percentage of speakers | Year | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 650 | 0.001% | 2019 | [32] | ||
| 49,375 | 0.68% | 2021 | [33] | ||
| 8,082 | 0.11% | 2011 | |||
| 23,410 | 0.32% | 2016 | [34] | ||
| 11,247 | 0.16% | 2011 | [35] | ||
| 58 | 0.001% | 2021 | [36] | ||
| 2,228 | 0.03% | 2016 | [37] | ||
| 36 | 0.003% | 2011 | |||
| 219,760 | 3.05% | 2011 | |||
| 36,966 | 0.51% | 2018 | [38] | ||
| 6,855,082 | 94.66% | 2011 | |||
| 28,406 | 0.39% | 2016 | [39] | ||
| Total | 7,211,537 |
Afrikaans is also widely spoken in Namibia. Before independence, Afrikaans had equal status with German as an official language. Since independence in 1990, Afrikaans has had constitutional recognition as a national, but not official, language.[40] [41] There is a much smaller number of Afrikaans speakers among Zimbabwe's white minority, as most have left the country since 1980. Afrikaans was also a medium of instruction for schools in Bophuthatswana, an Apartheid-era Bantustan.[42] Eldoret in Kenya was founded by Afrikaners.[43]
In 1976, secondary-school pupils in Soweto began a rebellion in response to the government's decision that Afrikaans be used as the language of instruction for half the subjects taught in non-White schools (with English continuing for the other half). Although English is the mother tongue of only 8.2% of the population, it is the language most widely understood, and the second language of a majority of South Africans.[44] Afrikaans is more widely spoken than English in the Northern and Western Cape provinces, several hundred kilometres from Soweto.[45] The Black community's opposition to Afrikaans and preference for continuing English instruction was underlined when the government rescinded the policy one month after the uprising: 96% of Black schools chose English (over Afrikaans or native languages) as the language of instruction. Afrikaans-medium schools were also accused of using language policy to deter Black African parents.[46] Some of these parents, in part supported by provincial departments of education, initiated litigation which enabled enrolment with English as language of instruction. By 2006 there were 300 single-medium Afrikaans schools, compared to 2,500 in 1994, after most converted to dual-medium education.[46] Due to Afrikaans being viewed as the "language of the white oppressor" by some, pressure has been increased to remove Afrikaans as a teaching language in South African universities, resulting in bloody student protests in 2015.[47] [48] [49]
Under South Africa's Constitution of 1996, Afrikaans remains an official language, and has equal status to English and nine other languages. The new policy means that the use of Afrikaans is now often reduced in favour of English, or to accommodate the other official languages. In 1996, for example, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reduced the amount of television airtime in Afrikaans, while South African Airways dropped its Afrikaans name Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens from its livery. Similarly, South Africa's diplomatic missions overseas now display the name of the country only in English and their host country's language, and not in Afrikaans. Meanwhile, the constitution of the Western Cape, which went into effect in 1998, declares Afrikaans to be an official language of the province alongside English and Xhosa.[50]
The Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine Afrikaans: [[Huisgenoot]] has the largest readership of any magazine in the country.[51]
When the British design magazine Wallpaper described Afrikaans as "one of the world's ugliest languages" in its September 2005 article about the monument,[52] South African billionaire Johann Rupert (chairman of the Richemont Group), responded by withdrawing advertising for brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill from the magazine.[53] The author of the article, Bronwyn Davies, was an English-speaking South African.
See main article: Comparison of Afrikaans and Dutch. An estimated 90 to 95% of the Afrikaans lexicon is ultimately of Dutch origin, and there are few lexical differences between the two languages. Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, particularly in written form.
Afrikaans acquired some lexical and syntactical borrowings from other languages such as Malay, Khoisan languages, Portuguese,[54] and Bantu languages, and Afrikaans has also been significantly influenced by South African English.[55] Dutch speakers are confronted with fewer non-cognates when listening to Afrikaans than the other way round. Mutual intelligibility thus tends to be asymmetrical, as it is easier for Dutch speakers to understand Afrikaans than for Afrikaans speakers to understand Dutch.
In general, mutual intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans is far better than between Dutch and Frisian[56] or between Danish and Swedish. The South African poet writer Breyten Breytenbach, attempting to visualise the language distance for Anglophones once remarked that the differences between (Standard) Dutch and Afrikaans are comparable to those between the Received Pronunciation and Southern American English.[57]
| Province | 1996[58] | 2001 | 2011 | 2022[59] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 58.5% | 55.3% | 49.7% | 41.2% | ||
| 9.8% | 9.6% | 10.6% | 9.6% | ||
| 57.2% | 56.6% | 53.8% | 54.6% | ||
| 14.4% | 11.9% | 12.7% | 10.3% | ||
| 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.0% | ||
| 8.8% | 8.8% | 9.0% | 5.2% | ||
| 15.6% | 13.6% | 12.4% | 7.7% | ||
| 7.1% | 5.5% | 7.2% | 3.2% | ||
| 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.3% | ||
| 14.4%[60] | 13.3%[61] | 13.5%[62] | 10.6% |
Despite the challenges of demotion and emigration that it faces in South Africa, the Afrikaans vernacular remains competitive, being popular in DSTV pay channels and several internet sites, while generating high newspaper and music CD sales. A resurgence in Afrikaans popular music since the late 1990s has invigorated the language, especially among a younger generation of South Africans. A recent trend is the increased availability of pre-school educational CDs and DVDs. Such media also prove popular with the extensive Afrikaans-speaking emigrant communities who seek to retain language proficiency in a household context.
Afrikaans-language cinema showed signs of new vigour in the early 21st century. The 2007 film Afrikaans: Ouma se slim kind, the first full-length Afrikaans movie since Afrikaans: [[Paljas]] in 1998, is seen as the dawn of a new era in Afrikaans cinema. Several short films have been created and more feature-length movies, such as Afrikaans: Poena is Koning and Afrikaans: [[Bakgat]] (both in 2008) have been produced, besides the 2011 Afrikaans-language film Afrikaans: [[Skoonheid]], which was the first Afrikaans film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival. The film Afrikaans: Platteland was also released in 2011.[68] The Afrikaans film industry started gaining international recognition via the likes of big Afrikaans Hollywood film stars, like Charlize Theron (Monster) and Sharlto Copley (District 9) promoting their mother tongue.
SABC3 announced early in 2009 that it would increase Afrikaans programming due to the "growing Afrikaans-language market and [their] need for working capital as Afrikaans advertising is the only advertising that sells in the current South African television market". In April 2009, SABC3 started screening several Afrikaans-language programmes.[69] There is a groundswell movement within Afrikaans to be inclusive, and to promote itself along with the indigenous official languages. In Namibia, the percentage of Afrikaans speakers declined from 11.4% (2001 Census) to 10.4% (2011 Census). The major concentrations are in Hardap (41.0%), ǁKaras (36.1%), Erongo (20.5%), Khomas (18.5%), Omaheke (10.0%), Otjozondjupa (9.4%), Kunene (4.2%), and Oshikoto (2.3%).[70]
Some native speakers of Bantu languages and English also speak Afrikaans as a second language. It is widely taught in South African schools, with about 10.3 million second-language students.
Afrikaans is offered at many universities outside South Africa, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Russia and the United States.[71]
See main article: Afrikaans grammar.
In Afrikaans grammar, there is no distinction between the infinitive and present forms of verbs, with the exception of the verbs 'to be' and 'to have':
| infinitive form | present indicative form | Dutch | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: wees | Afrikaans: is | Dutch; Flemish: zijn or Dutch; Flemish: wezen | be | |
| Afrikaans: hê | Afrikaans: het | Dutch; Flemish: hebben | have |
In addition, verbs do not conjugate differently depending on the subject. For example,
| Afrikaans | Dutch | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: ek is | Dutch; Flemish: ik ben | I am | |
| Afrikaans: jy/u is | Dutch; Flemish: jij/u bent | you are (sing.) | |
| Afrikaans: hy/sy/dit is | Dutch; Flemish: hij/zij/het is | he/she/it is | |
| Afrikaans: ons is | Dutch; Flemish: wij zijn | we are | |
| Afrikaans: julle is | Dutch; Flemish: jullie zijn | you are (plur.) | |
| Afrikaans: hulle is | Dutch; Flemish: zij zijn | they are |
Only a handful of Afrikaans verbs have a preterite, namely the auxiliary Afrikaans: wees ("to be"), the modal verbs, and the verb Afrikaans: dink ("to think"). The preterite of Afrikaans: mag ("may") is rare in contemporary Afrikaans.
| Afrikaans | Dutch | English | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | past | present | past | present | past | |
| Afrikaans: ek is | Afrikaans: ek was | Dutch; Flemish: ik ben | Dutch; Flemish: ik was | I am | I was | |
| Afrikaans: ek kan | Afrikaans: ek kon | Dutch; Flemish: ik kan | Dutch; Flemish: ik kon | I can | I could | |
| Afrikaans: ek moet | Afrikaans: ek moes | Dutch; Flemish: ik moet | Dutch; Flemish: ik moest | I must | (I had to) | |
| Afrikaans: ek wil | Afrikaans: ek wou | Dutch; Flemish: ik wil | Dutch; Flemish: ik wilde/wou | I want to | I wanted to | |
| Afrikaans: ek sal | Afrikaans: ek sou | Dutch; Flemish: ik zal | Dutch; Flemish: ik zou | I shall | I should | |
| Afrikaans: ek mag | Afrikaans: (ek mog) | Dutch; Flemish: ik mag | Dutch; Flemish: ik mocht | I may | I might | |
| Afrikaans: ek dink | Afrikaans: ek dog | Dutch; Flemish: ik denk | Dutch; Flemish: ik dacht | I think | I thought | |
All other verbs use the perfect tense, het + past participle (ge-), for the past. Therefore, there is no distinction in Afrikaans between I drank and I have drunk. (In colloquial German, the past tense is also often replaced with the perfect.)
| Afrikaans | Dutch | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: ek het gedrink | Dutch; Flemish: ik dronk | I drank | |
| Afrikaans: ek het gedrink--> | Dutch; Flemish: ik heb gedronken | I have drunk |
When telling a longer story, Afrikaans speakers usually avoid the perfect and simply use the present tense, or historical present tense instead (as is possible, but less common, in English as well).
A particular feature of Afrikaans is its use of the double negative; it is classified in Afrikaans as Afrikaans: ontkennende vorm and is something that is absent from the other West Germanic standard languages. For example,
Afrikaans: Hy kan '''nie''' Afrikaans praat '''nie'''|lit=He can not Afrikaans speak not|links=no
Dutch; Flemish: Hij spreekt '''geen''' Afrikaans.|links=no
English: He can not speak Afrikaans. / He can't speak Afrikaans.
Both French and San origins have been suggested for double negation in Afrikaans. While double negation is still found in Low Franconian dialects in West Flanders and in some "isolated" villages in the centre of the Netherlands (such as Garderen), it takes a different form, which is not found in Afrikaans. The following is an example:
Afrikaans: Ek wil nie dit doen nie.|links=no* (lit. I want not this do not.)
Dutch; Flemish: Ik wil dit niet doen.|links=no
English: I do not want to do this.
The Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: -ne was the Middle Dutch way to negate but it has been suggested that since Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: -ne became highly non-voiced, Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: nie or Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: niet was needed to complement the Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: -ne. With time the Dutch, Middle (ca.1050-1350);: -ne disappeared in most Dutch dialects.
The double negative construction has been fully grammaticalised in standard Afrikaans and its proper use follows a set of fairly complex rules as the examples below show:
| Afrikaans | Dutch (literally translated) | More correct Dutch | Literal English | Idiomatic English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: Ek het (nie) geweet dat hy (nie) sou kom (nie). | Dutch; Flemish: Ik heb (niet) geweten dat hij (niet) zou komen. | Dutch; Flemish: Ik wist (niet) dat hij (niet) zou komen. | I did (not) know that he would (not) come. | I did (not) know that he was (not) going to come. | |
| Afrikaans: Hy sal nie kom nie, want hy is siek. | Dutch; Flemish: Hij zal niet komen, want hij is ziek. | Dutch; Flemish: Hij komt niet, want hij is ziek. | He will not come, as he is sick. | He is sick and is not going to come. | |
| Afrikaans: Dis (Dit is) nie so moeilik om Afrikaans te leer nie. | Dutch; Flemish: Het is niet zo moeilijk (om) Afrikaans te leren. | It is not so difficult to learn Afrikaans. | |||
A notable exception to this is the use of the negating grammar form that coincides with negating the English present participle. In this case there is only a single negation.
Afrikaans: Hy is in die hospitaal, maar hy eet nie.|links=no
Dutch; Flemish: Hij is in het ziekenhuis, maar hij eet niet.|links=no
English: He is in [the] hospital, though he doesn't eat.
Certain words in Afrikaans would be contracted. For example, Afrikaans: moet nie, which literally means "must not", usually becomes Afrikaans: moenie; although one does not have to write or say it like this, virtually all Afrikaans speakers will change the two words to Afrikaans: moenie in the same way as do not is contracted to don't in English.
The Dutch word Dutch; Flemish: het ("it" in English) does not correspond to Afrikaans: het in Afrikaans. The Dutch words corresponding to Afrikaans Afrikaans: het are Dutch; Flemish: heb, Dutch; Flemish: hebt, Dutch; Flemish: heeft and Dutch; Flemish: hebben.
| Afrikaans | Dutch | English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: het | Dutch; Flemish: heb, hebt, heeft, hebben | have, has | |
| Afrikaans: die | Dutch; Flemish: de, het | the | |
| Afrikaans: dit | Dutch; Flemish: het | it |
See main article: Afrikaans phonology.
| Front | Central | Back | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | ||||||||
| short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | |||||
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | |||
| Near-open | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | |||||||||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Ending point | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /ɪø, əi/ | pronounced as /ɪə/ | |||
| pronounced as /œi, ɔi/ | pronounced as /ʊə/ | pronounced as /œu/ | |||
| Open | pronounced as /ai/, ɑːi |
| + Consonant phonemes | Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Dorsal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ ~ pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
Following early dialectal studies of Afrikaans, it was theorised that three main historical dialects probably existed after the Great Trek in the 1830s. These dialects are the Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape dialects.[73] Northern Cape dialect may have resulted from contact between Dutch settlers and the Khoekhoe people between the Great Karoo and the Kunene, and Eastern Cape dialect between the Dutch and the Xhosa. Remnants of these dialects still remain in present-day Afrikaans, although the standardising effect of Standard Afrikaans has contributed to a great levelling of differences in modern times.
There is also a prison cant, known as Sabela, which is based on Afrikaans, yet heavily influenced by Zulu. This language is used as a secret language in prison and is taught to initiates.[74]
Patagonian Afrikaans is a distinct dialect of Afrikaans is spoken by the 650-strong South African community of Argentina, in the region of Patagonia.[75]
Due to the early settlement of a Cape Malay community in Cape Town, who are now known as Coloureds, numerous Classical Malay words were brought into Afrikaans. Some of these words entered Dutch via people arriving from what is now known as Indonesia as part of their colonial heritage. Malay words in Afrikaans include:[76]
Some words originally came from Portuguese such as Afrikaans: sambreel ("umbrella") from the Portuguese Portuguese: sombreiro, Afrikaans: kraal ("pen/cattle enclosure") from the Portuguese Portuguese: curral and Afrikaans: mielie ("corn", from Portuguese: milho). Some of these words also exist in Dutch, like Dutch; Flemish: sambreel "parasol",[77] though usage is less common and meanings can slightly differ.
Some of these words also exist in Dutch, though with a more specific meaning: Dutch; Flemish: assegaai for example means "South-African tribal javelin"[79] and Dutch; Flemish: karos means "South-African tribal blanket of animal hides".[80]
Loanwords from Bantu languages in Afrikaans include the names of indigenous birds, such as Afrikaans: mahem and Afrikaans: sakaboela, and indigenous plants, such as Afrikaans: maroela and Afrikaans: tamboekie(gras).[81]
The revoking of the Edict of Nantes on 22 October 1685 was a milestone in the history of South Africa, for it marked the beginning of the great Huguenot exodus from France. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 300,000 Protestants left France between 1685 and 1700; out of these, according to Louvois, 100,000 had received military training. A measure of the calibre of these immigrants and of their acceptance by host countries (in particular South Africa) is given by H. V. Morton in his book: In Search of South Africa (London, 1948). The Huguenots were responsible for a great linguistic contribution to Afrikaans, particularly in terms of military terminology as many of them fought on the battlefields during the wars of the Great Trek.
Most of the words in this list are descendants from Dutch borrowings from French, Old French or Latin, and are not direct influences from French on Afrikaans.
| Afrikaans: advies | Dutch; Flemish: advies | French: avis | advice | |
| Afrikaans: alarm | Dutch; Flemish: alarm | French: alarme | alarm | |
| Afrikaans: ammunisie | Dutch; Flemish: ammunitie, munitie | French: munition | ammunition | |
| Afrikaans: amusant | Dutch; Flemish: amusant | French: amusant | funny | |
| Afrikaans: artillerie | Dutch; Flemish: artillerie | French: artillerie | artillery | |
| Afrikaans: ateljee | Dutch; Flemish: atelier | French: atelier | studio | |
| Afrikaans: bagasie | Dutch; Flemish: bagage | French: bagage | luggage | |
| Afrikaans: bastion | Dutch; Flemish: bastion | French: bastion | bastion | |
| Afrikaans: bataljon | Dutch; Flemish: bataljon | French: bataillon | battalion | |
| Afrikaans: battery | Dutch; Flemish: batterij | French: batterie | battery | |
| Afrikaans: biblioteek | Dutch; Flemish: bibliotheek | French: bibliothèque | library | |
| Afrikaans: faktuur | Dutch; Flemish: factuur | French: facture | invoice | |
| Afrikaans: fort | Dutch; Flemish: fort | French: fort | fort | |
| Afrikaans: frikkadel | Dutch; Flemish: frikandel | French: fricadelle | meatball | |
| Afrikaans: garnisoen | Dutch; Flemish: garnizoen | French: garnison | garrison | |
| Afrikaans: generaal | Dutch; Flemish: generaal | French: général | general | |
| Afrikaans: granaat | Dutch; Flemish: granaat | French: grenade | grenade | |
| Afrikaans: infanterie | Dutch; Flemish: infanterie | French: infanterie | infantry | |
| Afrikaans: interessant | Dutch; Flemish: interessant | French: intéressant | interesting | |
| Afrikaans: kaliber | Dutch; Flemish: kaliber | French: calibre | calibre | |
| Afrikaans: kanon | Dutch; Flemish: kanon | French: canon | cannon | |
| Afrikaans: kanonnier | Dutch; Flemish: kanonnier | French: canonier | gunner | |
| Afrikaans: kardoes | Dutch; Flemish: kardoes, cartouche | French: cartouche | cartridge | |
| Afrikaans: kaptein | Dutch; Flemish: kapitein | French: capitaine | captain | |
| Afrikaans: kolonel | Dutch; Flemish: kolonel | French: colonel | colonel | |
| Afrikaans: kommandeur | Dutch; Flemish: commandeur | French: commandeur | commander | |
| Afrikaans: kwartier | Dutch; Flemish: kwartier | French: quartier | quarter | |
| Afrikaans: lieutenant | Dutch; Flemish: lieutenant | French: lieutenant | lieutenant | |
| Afrikaans: magasyn | Dutch; Flemish: magazijn | French: magasin | magazine | |
| Afrikaans: manier | Dutch; Flemish: manier | French: manière | way | |
| Afrikaans: marsjeer | Dutch; Flemish: marcheer, marcheren | French: marcher | (to) march | |
| Afrikaans: meubels | Dutch; Flemish: meubels | French: meubles | furniture | |
| Afrikaans: militêr | Dutch; Flemish: militair | French: militaire | militarily | |
| Afrikaans: morsel | Dutch; Flemish: morzel | French: morceau | piece | |
| Afrikaans: mortier | Dutch; Flemish: mortier | French: mortier | mortar | |
| Afrikaans: muit | Dutch; Flemish: muit, muiten | French: mutiner | (to) mutiny | |
| Afrikaans: musket | Dutch; Flemish: musket | French: mousquet | musket | |
| Afrikaans: muur | Dutch; Flemish: muur | French: mur | wall | |
| Afrikaans: myn | Dutch; Flemish: mijn | French: mine | mine | |
| Afrikaans: offisier | Dutch; Flemish: officier | French: officier | officer | |
| Afrikaans: orde | Dutch; Flemish: orde | French: ordre | order | |
| Afrikaans: papier | Dutch; Flemish: papier | French: papier | paper | |
| Afrikaans: pionier | Dutch; Flemish: pionier | French: pionnier | pioneer | |
| Afrikaans: plafon | Dutch; Flemish: plafond | French: plafond | ceiling | |
| Afrikaans: plat | Dutch; Flemish: plat | French: plat | flat | |
| Afrikaans: pont | Dutch; Flemish: pont | French: pont | ferry | |
| Afrikaans: provoos | Dutch; Flemish: provoost | French: prévôt | chief | |
| Afrikaans: rondte | Dutch; Flemish: rondte, ronde | French: ronde | round | |
| Afrikaans: salvo | Dutch; Flemish: salvo | French: salve | salvo | |
| Afrikaans: soldaat | Dutch; Flemish: soldaat | French: soldat | soldier | |
| Afrikaans: tante | Dutch; Flemish: tante | French: tante | aunt | |
| Afrikaans: tapyt | Dutch; Flemish: tapijt | French: tapis | carpet | |
| Afrikaans: tros | Dutch; Flemish: tros | French: trousse | bunch |
The Afrikaans writing system is based on Dutch, using the 26 letters of the ISO basic Latin alphabet, plus 16 additional vowels with diacritics. The hyphen (e.g. in a compound like see-eend 'sea duck'), apostrophe (e.g. ma's 'mothers'), and a whitespace character (e.g. in multi-word units like Dooie See 'Dead Sea') is part of the orthography of words, while the indefinite article ʼn is a ligature. All the alphabet letters, including those with diacritics, have capital letters as allographs; the ʼn does not have a capital letter allograph. This means that Afrikaans has 88 graphemes with allographs in total.
| Majuscule forms (also called uppercase or capital letters) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Á | Ä | B | C | D | E | É | È | Ê | Ë | F | G | H | I | Í | Î | Ï | J | K | L | M | N | O | Ó | Ô | Ö | P | Q | R | S | T | U | Ú | Û | Ü | V | W | X | Y | Ý | Z | ||
| Minuscule forms (also called lowercase or small letters) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | á | ä | b | c | d | e | é | è | ê | ë | f | g | h | i | í | î | ï | j | k | l | m | n | ʼn | o | ó | ô | ö | p | q | r | s | t | u | ú | û | ü | v | w | x | y | ý | z | |
Another difference is the indefinite article, Afrikaans: 'n in Afrikaans and Dutch; Flemish: een in Dutch. "A book" is Afrikaans: 'n boek in Afrikaans, whereas it is either Dutch; Flemish: een boek or Dutch; Flemish: 'n boek in Dutch. This Afrikaans: 'n is usually pronounced as just a weak vowel, pronounced as /[ə]/, just like English "a".
The diminutive suffix in Afrikaans is Afrikaans: -tjie, Afrikaans: -djie or Afrikaans: -ie, whereas in Dutch it is Dutch; Flemish: -tje or Dutch; Flemish: dje, hence a "bit" is ʼn in Afrikaans and in Dutch.
The letters c, q, x, and z occur almost exclusively in borrowings from French, English, Greek and Latin. This is usually because words that had c and ch in the original Dutch are spelled with k and g, respectively, in Afrikaans. Similarly original qu and x are most often spelt kw and ks, respectively. For example, Afrikaans: ekwatoriaal instead of equatoriaal, and Afrikaans: ekskuus instead of excuus.
The vowels with diacritics in non-loanword Afrikaans are: á, ä, é, è, ê, ë, í, î, ï, ó, ô, ö, ú, û, ü, ý. Diacritics are ignored when alphabetising, though they are still important, even when typing the diacritic forms may be difficult. For example, Afrikaans: geëet ("ate") instead of the 3 e's alongside each other: *Afrikaans: geeet, which can never occur in Afrikaans, or Afrikaans: sê, which translates to "say", whereas Afrikaans: se is a possessive form. The acute's (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý) primary function is to place emphasis on a word (i.e. for emphatic reasons), by adding it to the emphasised syllable of the word. For example, sál ("will" (verb)), néé ('no'), móét ("must"), hý ("he"), gewéét ("knew"). The acute is only placed on the i if it is the only vowel in the emphasised word: wil ('want' (verb)) becomes wíl, but lui ('lazy') becomes lúi. Only a few non-loan words are spelled with acutes, e.g. dié ('this'), ná ('after'), óf ... óf ('either ... or'), nóg ... nóg ('neither ... nor'), etc. Only four non-loan words are spelled with the grave: Afrikaans: nè ('yes?', 'right?', 'eh?'), Afrikaans: dè ('here, take this!' or '[this is] yours!'), hè ('huh?', 'what?', 'eh?'), and appèl ('(formal) appeal' (noun)).
A few short words in Afrikaans take initial apostrophes. In modern Afrikaans, these words are always written in lower case (except if the entire line is uppercase), and if they occur at the beginning of a sentence, the next word is capitalised. Three examples of such apostrophed words are Afrikaans: 'k, 't, 'n. The last (the indefinite article) is the only apostrophed word that is common in modern written Afrikaans, since the other examples are shortened versions of other words (Afrikaans: ek and Afrikaans: het, respectively) and are rarely found outside of a poetic context.[88]
Here are a few examples:
| Apostrophed version | Usual version | Translation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans: 'k 't Dit gesê | Afrikaans: Ek het dit gesê | I said it | Uncommon, more common: Afrikaans: Ek't dit gesê | |
| Afrikaans: 't Jy dit geëet? | Afrikaans: Het jy dit geëet? | Did you eat it? | Extremely uncommon | |
| Afrikaans: 'n Man loop daar | A man walks there | Standard Afrikaans pronounces Afrikaans: 'n as a schwa vowel. |
The apostrophe and the following letter are regarded as two separate characters, and are never written using a single glyph, although a single character variant of the indefinite article appears in Unicode, Afrikaans: ʼn.
For more on the pronunciation of the letters below, see .
| Grapheme | IPA | Examples and Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | pronounced as //a//, pronounced as //ɑː// | Afrikaans: appel ('apple'; pronounced as //a//), Afrikaans: tale ('languages'; pronounced as //ɑː//). Represents pronounced as //a// in closed syllables and pronounced as //ɑː// in stressed open syllables | |
| á | /a/, /ɑ:/ | ná (after) | |
| ä | /a/, /ɑ:/ | sebraägtig ('zebra-like'). The diaeresis indicates the start of new syllable. | |
| aa | pronounced as //ɑː// | Afrikaans: aap ('monkey', 'ape'). Only occurs in closed syllables. | |
| aai | pronounced as //ɑːi// | Afrikaans: draai ('turn') | |
| ae | pronounced as //ɑːə// | Afrikaans: vrae ('questions'); the vowels belong to two separate syllables | |
| ai | pronounced as //ai// | Afrikaans: baie ('many', 'much' or 'very'), Afrikaans: ai (expression of frustration or resignation) | |
| b | pronounced as //b//, /p/ | Afrikaans: boom ('tree') | |
| c | pronounced as //s//, pronounced as //k// | Found only in borrowed words or proper nouns; the former pronunciation occurs before 'e', 'i', or 'y'; featured in the Latinate plural ending Afrikaans: -ici (singular form Afrikaans: -ikus) | |
| ch | pronounced as //ʃ//, pronounced as //x//, pronounced as //k// | Afrikaans: chirurg ('surgeon'; pronounced as //ʃ//; typically Afrikaans: sj is used instead), Afrikaans: chemie ('chemistry'; pronounced as //x//), Afrikaans: chitien ('chitin'; pronounced as //k//). Found only in recent loanwords and in proper nouns | |
| d | pronounced as //d//, pronounced as //t// | Afrikaans: dag ('day'), Afrikaans: deel ('part', 'divide', 'share') | |
| dj | pronounced as //d͡ʒ//, pronounced as //k// | Afrikaans: djati ('teak'), Afrikaans: broodjie ('sandwich'). Used to transcribe foreign words for the former pronunciation, and in the diminutive suffix Afrikaans: -djie for the latter in words ending with d | |
| e | pronounced as //e(ː)//, pronounced as //æ(ː)//, pronounced as //ɪə//, pronounced as //ɪ//, pronounced as //ə// | Afrikaans: bed (pronounced as //e//), Afrikaans: mens ('person', /eː/) (lengthened before pronounced as //n//) Afrikaans: ete ('meal', pronounced as //ɪə// and pronounced as //ə// respectively), Afrikaans: ek ('I', /æ/), berg ('mountain', /æː/) (lengthened before pronounced as //r//). pronounced as //ɪ// is the unstressed allophone of pronounced as //ɪə// | |
| é | pronounced as //e(ː)//, pronounced as //æ(ː)//, pronounced as //ɪə// | dié ('this'), mét ('with', emphasised), ék ('I; me', emphasised), wéét ('know', emphasised) | |
| è | pronounced as //e// | Found in loanwords (like crèche) and proper nouns (like Eugène) where the spelling was maintained, and in four non-loanwords: Afrikaans: nè ('yes?', 'right?', 'eh?'), Afrikaans: dè ('here, take this!' or '[this is] yours | '), hè ('huh?', 'what?', 'eh?'), and appèl ('(formal) appeal' (noun)). |
| ê | pronounced as //eː//, pronounced as //æː// | Afrikaans: sê ('to say'), Afrikaans: wêreld ('world'), Afrikaans: lêer ('file') (Allophonically pronounced as //æː// before pronounced as //(ə)r//) | |
| ë | – | Diaeresis indicates the start of new syllable, thus Afrikaans: ë, Afrikaans: ëe and Afrikaans: ëi are pronounced like 'e', 'ee' and 'ei', respectively | |
| ee | pronounced as //ɪə// | Afrikaans: weet ('to know'), Afrikaans: een ('one') | |
| eeu | pronounced as //ɪu// | leeu ('lion'), eeu ('century', 'age') | |
| ei | pronounced as //ei// | Afrikaans: lei ('to lead') | |
| eu | pronounced as //ɪɵ// | Afrikaans: seun ('son' or 'lad') | |
| f | pronounced as //f// | Afrikaans: fiets ('bicycle') | |
| g | pronounced as //x//, pronounced as //ɡ// | pronounced as //ɡ// exists as the allophone of pronounced as //x// if at the end of a root word preceded by a stressed single vowel + pronounced as //r// and suffixed with a schwa, e.g. Afrikaans: berg ('mountain') is pronounced as pronounced as //bæːrx//, and Afrikaans: berge is pronounced as pronounced as //bæːrɡə// | |
| gh | pronounced as //ɡ// | Afrikaans: gholf ('golf'). Used for pronounced as //ɡ// when it is not an allophone of pronounced as //x//; found only in borrowed words. If the h instead begins the next syllable, the two letters are pronounced separately. | |
| h | pronounced as //ɦ// | Afrikaans: hael ('hail'), Afrikaans: hond ('dog') | |
| i | pronounced as //i//, pronounced as //ə// | Afrikaans: kind ('child'; pronounced as //ə//), Afrikaans: ink ('ink'; pronounced as //ə//), Afrikaans: krisis ('crisis'; pronounced as //i// and pronounced as //ə// respectively), Afrikaans: elektrisiteit ('electricity'; pronounced as //i// for all three; third 'i' is part of diphthong 'ei') | |
| í | /i/, /ə/ | Afrikaans: krísis ('crisis', emphasised), Afrikaans: dít ('that', emphasised) | |
| î | pronounced as //əː// | Afrikaans: wîe (plural of Afrikaans: wig; 'wedges' or 'quoins') | |
| ï | /i/, /ə/ | Found in words such as Afrikaans: beïnvloed ('to influence'). The diaeresis indicates the start of new syllable. | |
| pronounced as //i(ː)// | Afrikaans: iets ('something'), Afrikaans: vier ('four') | ||
| j | pronounced as //j// | Afrikaans: julle (plural 'you') | |
| k | pronounced as //k// | Afrikaans: kat ('cat'), Afrikaans: kan ('can' (verb) or 'jug') | |
| l | pronounced as //l// | Afrikaans: lag ('laugh') | |
| m | pronounced as //m// | Afrikaans: man ('man') | |
| n | pronounced as //n// | Afrikaans: nael ('nail') | |
| ʼn | /ə/ | indefinite article ʼn ('a'), styled as a ligature (Unicode character U+0149) | |
| ng | pronounced as //ŋ// | Afrikaans: sing ('to sing') | |
| o | pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //ʊə//, pronounced as //ʊ// | Afrikaans: op ('up(on)'; pronounced as //o//), Afrikaans: grote ('size'; pronounced as //ʊə//), Afrikaans: polisie ('police'; pronounced as //ʊ//) | |
| ó | pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //ʊə// | óp ('done, finished', emphasised), gróót ('huge', emphasised) | |
| ô | pronounced as //oː// | Afrikaans: môre ('tomorrow') | |
| ö | pronounced as //o//, pronounced as //ʊə// | Found in words such as Afrikaans: koöperasie ('co-operation'). The diaeresis indicates the start of new syllable, thus Afrikaans: ö is pronounced the same as 'o' based on the following remainder of the word. | |
| oe | pronounced as //u(ː)// | Afrikaans: boek ('book'), Afrikaans: koers ('course', 'direction') | |
| oei | pronounced as //ui// | Afrikaans: koei ('cow') | |
| oi | pronounced as //ʊi// | 'toilet' | |
| oo | pronounced as //ʊə// | Afrikaans: oom ('uncle' or 'sir') | |
| ooi | pronounced as //oːi// | Afrikaans: mooi ('pretty', 'beautiful'), Afrikaans: nooi ('invite') | |
| ou | pronounced as //ɵu// | By itself means ('guy'). Sometimes spelled Afrikaans: ouw in loanwords and surnames, for example Afrikaans: Louw. | |
| p | pronounced as //p// | Afrikaans: pot ('pot'), Afrikaans: pers ('purple' — or 'press' indicating the news media; the latter is often spelled with an <ê>) | |
| q | pronounced as //k// | Found only in foreign words with original spelling maintained; typically Afrikaans: k is used instead | |
| r | pronounced as //r// | Afrikaans: rooi ('red') | |
| s | pronounced as //s//, pronounced as //z//, pronounced as //ʃ//, pronounced as //ʒ// | Afrikaans: ses ('six'), Afrikaans: stem ('voice' or 'vote'), Afrikaans: posisie ('position', pronounced as //z// for first 's', pronounced as //s// for second 's'), Afrikaans: rasioneel ('rational', pronounced as //ʃ// (nonstandard; formally /s/ is used instead) Afrikaans: visuëel ('visual', pronounced as //ʒ// (nonstandard; /z/ is more formal) | |
| sj | pronounced as //ʃ// | Afrikaans: sjaal ('shawl'), Afrikaans: sjokolade ('chocolate') | |
| t | pronounced as //t// | Afrikaans: tafel ('table') | |
| tj | pronounced as //tʃ//, pronounced as //k// | Afrikaans: tjank ('whine like a dog' or 'to cry incessantly'). The latter pronunciation occurs in the common diminutive suffix Afrikaans: "-(e)tjie" | |
| u | pronounced as //ɵ//, pronounced as //y(ː)// | Afrikaans: stuk ('piece'), Afrikaans: unie ('union'), Afrikaans: muur ('wall') | |
| ú | /œ/, /y(:)/ | búk ('bend over', emphasised), ú ('you', formal, emphasised) | |
| û | pronounced as //ɵː// | Afrikaans: brûe ('bridges') | |
| ü | – | Found in words such as Afrikaans: reünie ('reunion'). The diaeresis indicates the start of a new syllable, thus Afrikaans: ü is pronounced the same as Afrikaans: u, except when found in proper nouns and surnames from German, like German: Müller. | |
| ui | pronounced as //ɵi// | Afrikaans: uit ('out') | |
| uu | pronounced as //y(ː)// | Afrikaans: uur ('hour') | |
| v | pronounced as //f//, /v/ | Afrikaans: vis ('fish'), visuëel ('visual') | |
| w | pronounced as //v//, pronounced as //w// | Afrikaans: water ('water'; pronounced as //v//); allophonically pronounced as //w// after obstruents within a root; an example: Afrikaans: kwas ('brush'; pronounced as //w//) | |
| x | pronounced as //z//, pronounced as //ks// | Afrikaans: xifoïed ('xiphoid'; pronounced as //z//), Afrikaans: x-straal ('x-ray'; pronounced as //ks//). | |
| y | pronounced as //əi// | Afrikaans: byt ('bite') | |
| ý | /əi/ | hý ('he', emphasised) | |
| z | pronounced as //z// | Afrikaans: Zoeloe ('Zulu'). Found only in onomatopoeia and loanwords |
Psalm 23 1983 translation:[89]
Psalm 23 1953 translation:[90]
Lord's Prayer (Afrikaans New Living Version translation):[91]
Lord's Prayer (Original translation):