LL-L "Language education" 2008.01.15 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  15 January 2008 - Volume 08
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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2008.01.15 (01) [E]

Hello  Elsie, Ron Mark and others.

Elsie makes an interesting remark: "I think the difference
of 'indigenousness' between American English and Afrikaans, for instance, is
that English has been carried, as is, to the US. Its linguistic structures
have not been influenced by any first nation or any other language, for that
matter. The same is not true of Afrikaans."

I think there may be a reason for that phenomenon.

The first argument is that the Dutch were more interested in trading than in
anything else and that the English immigrants were more interested in
farming *their *way. The Dutch also tended to try and trade in the language
of the people they traded with. The first Dutch settlement in South Africa
was mainly a "watering hole" used to restock the trading ships on their way
to the Spice Islands and that the farmers being sent there by the East Indië
Company to provide food for the sailors did not come in large enough numbers
to start farming without the help of the Indigenous people. There are some
examples of Dutch based creoles in North America like "Black Jersey  Dutch"
, which was a mixture of Dutch, English and Mohawk. It was still being
spoken in some areas along the New York-New Jersey border at the beginning
of the 20th century by some people of mixed racial ancestry .

The other argument is that I have the impression that the English
immigration to America was much heavier and consisted mainly of farmers.
They were also more interested in the expansion of the Empire.  There was
less interaction with the local Indians and that the relationship between
settlers and the locals was much more painful.

So that's my two cents worth. Jacqueline
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