LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.04.25 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Hugo Zweep <hugo.zweep at valuersillawarra.com.au>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.04.25 (05) [A/E]

Hello all stoep sitters
This word just won't go away, will it?

There seems to be a concentration on its Afrikaans meaning from which I get
the feeling that the structure, in its Afrikaans incarnation, is similar to
the Australian verandah where it is an architectural feature brought from
India. Its purpose in India, South Africa and Australia seems to have been
to provide shade and shelter particularly from the heat. In Australia it not
only allowed for a resting or sitting place during the day or into the
evening but could also serve as a sleeping place (usually around the side or
back) for minor members (children usually) of a household. Its real benefit
was to shade the house and to keep that relatively cool during the day. So,
in that context, stoep is a European name for an Eastern feature.

In the USA, it seems to me, the word denotes something more like the
European concept of a step in front of a door. Oxford dictionary considers
the word to be associated with step. In my Groninger country town we all had
a "stoepe" or, more modestly, befitting our modest homes, "en stoepje". It
was never more than a large step or a small platform and, certainly for the
common housing, it was uncovered.

Hugo Zweep

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