LL-L "Language varieties" 2000.10.22 (02) [E]
Lowlands-L
sassisch at yahoo.com
Mon Oct 22 17:49:07 UTC 2001
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L O W L A N D S - L * 22.OCT.2001 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at simpross.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "language varieties" 2000.10.21 (02) [E]
Hi all,
Criostoir O Ciardha paada_please at YAHOO.CO.UK Subject: Shared
Features/Afrikaans
asked:
What struck me here I highlighted: the deliberate policy of *Scottish*
ministers. Back then, Scots was still the only language of most Scottish
citizens - with English a learnt second language. Were the Scottish
chosen because Scots was considered closer to Afrikaans/Dutch? Just how
close when compared to English is Scots to Afrikaans?
Scots could and will never be closer to Afrikaans than to English. Same
family; different lineage.
The only rationale was the similar understanding of Calvinist
Reformation.
Incidentally, what remains culturally of that Scottish 'connection' is a
few Afrikaner surnames, as for example Murray (Andrew).
Therefore, I ask: a) What are the main differences between Dutch and
Afrikaans? and b) What influence has Malay (or other Austronesian
languages) and Khoisan or Bantu languages had on Afrikaans?
The greatest difference between Dutch and Afrikaans is in the very
simplified grammar structure of Afrikaans, as if the early users simply
dropped the superfluous. Afrikaans does not conjugate or inflect.
There are too many theories on the influence to be certain. For
instance, it was assumed that the Afrikaans double negative comes from
Malay, yet this was also typical in some 16th Century Dutch dialects as
well as in Middle High German. I would say the greatest influence of
Malay, Nguni, Sotho and Khoisan is on the Afrikaans lexicon.
Regards,
Elsie Zinsser
----------
From: Mike Aryunov <kraai at mail.ru>
Subject: Afrikaans
> From: Criostoir O Ciardha <paada_please at YAHOO.CO.UK>
> Subject: Shared Features/Afrikaans
>
> a) What are the main differences between Dutch and
> Afrikaans? and b) What influence has Malay (or other Austronesian
> languages) and Khoisan or Bantu languages had on Afrikaans?
Dear Criostoir O Ciardha,
In my opinion the main difference between Dutch and Afrikaans lies in the
grammar structure. As a result of interaction with various dialects and
languages Afrikaans has lost its declension and conjugation system. In
that direction Afrikaans has gone a long way of grammatic simplification.
1. The gender as a grammatic category has disappeared completely. The
arcticle has one unalterable form:
die, 'n man 'the, a man' - die, 'n vrou 'the, a woman' - die, 'n boek
'the, a book'.
2. Double negation:
Sy lees nie die boek nie. 'She does not read the book.'
Hy het nie gekom nie. 'He has not come.'
3. The forms of verbs are identical for all persons in singular and
plural:
lees 'to read'
ek lees 'I read'
jy, u lees 'you read'
hy, sy, dit 'he, she, it reads'
ons lees 'we read'
jul(le), u lees 'you read'
hul(l)e lees 'they read'
4. Reduplication of several adverbial stems:
kort-kort 'from time to time, often'
gou-gou 'now, soon'
sing-sing 'singing, with songs'
lag-lag 'laughing, with laugh'
The main lexical stock of Afrikaans consists of 99,75% words of Dutch
origin. As a result of strong puristic trend Afrikaans has avoided
borrowing words from English. Futhermore, there is some resistance to
influence of Engilsh, resulting in replacing wide-spread borrowings from
English with own words:
jakkalsdraf - 'foxtrot' (lit. run of a jackal)
While in modern Dutch the number of lexical borrowings from English is
about 900, in Afrikaans it is not more than 60-80. The borrowings from
the mixed Malay-Portugese creole language (lingua franca) are more
numerous: 113 lexical units.
The most usual are:
Malay:
baie 'very, much'
baadjie 'coat, jacket'
piesang 'banana'
Portugese:
sombreel - 'umbrella'
tronk - 'prison'
mielie - 'corn'
and others. The borrowings from African languages are insignificant.
Best regards,
Mike Aryunov
----------
From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language varieties"
> From: Criostoir O Ciardha <paada_please at YAHOO.CO.UK>
> Subject: Shared Features/Afrikaans
>
> "In 1822 the Governor of the Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset, issued
> a proclamation that English was to be the only language of the courts
> and schools, even though Dutch settlers [i.e., the Afrikaaners]
> outnumbered the British eight to one. He imported English *and
> especially Scottish* ministers and teachers to put their stamp on
> education and religion..." (pg. 270)
>
> What struck me here I highlighted: the deliberate policy of *Scottish*
> ministers. Back then, Scots was still the only language of most Scottish
> citizens - with English a learnt second language. Were the Scottish
> chosen because Scots was considered closer to Afrikaans/Dutch? Just how
> close when compared to English is Scots to Afrikaans?
Scots is much closer to English than it is to either Dutch or Afrikaans.
I can think of a few reasons why Scottish ministers and
teachers might be preferred in the given situation:
1. Scots is spoken with mostly undiphthongised vowels and
with clear "r"s and some gutturals that don't exist in English.
Somerset and his peers may have been of the opinion that there
would be a better chance of clear communication between Scots
and the Afrikaaners because of this.
2. In Scots, the word "ken" is frequently heard, as well as
many other less frequent words of Flemish and/or Low Saxon
origin. This may have led Somerset to believe Scots was much
closer to Dutch than English, although I doubt if there would
be much of communicational value amongst Scots loan words from
these languages.
3. Dutch and Flemish communities have always had a strong part
to play in Scottish history, so perhaps Somerset thought there
was some common ground there.
4. Scottish ministers and teachers generally try to assert their
education by speaking English, even amongst a Scots-speaking
populace, even although they themselves may be native Scots
speakers. They would be quite used to the idea of attempting to
impose English on people who don't speak it, or continuing to
use English in spite of the fact that they're swimming against
the current. Somerset may simply have hoped they would go on to
suppress Dutch in much the same way as they attempted to suppress
Scots.
5. I don't know about the religious issues: Scotland is mainly
Presbyterian, unlike England, if anyone can suggest what
significance that would hold for the Afrikaaners.
Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
- C.W.Wade,
'The Adventures o McNab'
----------
From: "Ian James Parsley" <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L "language varieties" 2000.10.21 (02) [E]
I would suggest quite the opposite, Criostoir.
In 1822 indeed most Scottish citizens would probably
have spoken Scots for most of the day, but the key
thing to remember is that *English was the language of
administration and the Church*, and had been to all
intents and purposes since the early C17th. This is an
essential point when dealing with the history of the
Scots tongue.
McClure rightly points out that 'Scottish English' is
quite distinct from Scots - they influence upon each
other but they are not in the same spectrum. In many
ways the English of Scotland is *learned*, thus making
it based on the 'standard' variety and therefore
*better* in many ways than the English of England
(which usually displays regional dialect variations).
This would explain perhaps why Scots were sought in
this case.
I will leave it to other subscribers to carry on this
train of thought. But it does strike me that there is
an obvious parallel with Low-Saxon-speaking areas,
whose (High) German is often considered 'better' than
that of southern Germany, because it is *learned* over
the top of Low Saxon (whereas in the south dialect
variation is more readily permitted in High German, as
there is no perceived need to 'learn' the 'standard'
anew).
Best,
------------------
Ian James Parsley
www.geocities.com/parsleyij
+44 (0)77 2095 1736
JOY - "Jesus, Others, You"
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