LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.06.28 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 28.JUN.2004 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
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)
=======================================================================

From: Ruth & Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2004.06.23 (01) [E]

Dear Kenneth, Reinhard & Gabriele & All,

Subject: Formal & Informal Language.

Reflecting on our last correspondence, Kenneth, I am moved to raise certain
points of interest.
Although I aver that Afrikaans is at present represented by only one
dialect, there are nonetheless significant differences between various kinds
of Afrikaans.

These differences are the product of Formal & Informal, Deferential &
Intimate. This is surely not peculiar to Afrikaans. I would rather believe
that English has lost most of what the Afrikaner takes for granted in this
regard. For those ( this probably excludes most of us) who wonder what I
mean, I would say this. Deferential Formal Speech uses 'U' in place of the
English 'You', Intimate Informal, 'Jou'  for the English 'Thee' (long gone),
& so on. The Deferential Informal abandons personal pronouns, using rather
constructions like this 'Will Mama do such-&-such' instead of 'Mama, will
you do such-&-such. Etc. There are a host of such differences.

& then there is the deliberate affectation of informal as opposed to formal
vocabulary. Much of this is slang known & used to a greater or lesser degree
across the whole language spectrum, in selected social contexts. It is a
universal phenomenon, I know. Some slang usages can be lasting, & come
gradually into formal use, but most is ephemeral, & changes from decade to
decade. We have the case that Grikwas of the older generation confess with
outrage that they don't understand the younger. On the other hand, the
features accredited to their grandparent's 'dialect' is as obscure to them
as it is to us, failing study. It isn't dialect lost, it is slang.

There is the inclination common to all polyglottal communities, to borrow
casual terminology from other language groups, but to abandon them in formal
context. Some Czech language students came over to S. Africa a while ago,
who had acquired fluency in Afrikaans, & I heard them speak; they had.
However, they complained that when conversation became casual, they lost the
thread - there was too much English in it, & they hadn't enough English.

When people accredit the Grikwa, or Koranna, or Nama, or Rehaboth Baster, or
Namakwalander, or Namibia Afrikaner, or Botswana Afrikaner, with a
'Dialect', I am moved to wonder to what extent the Scholars in question
augered in on Informal Speech & casual language, the ephemera, or borrowings
(just for the occasion)
from another tongue.

Certainly, these features will in the future lead to divergent dialects, but
I think not yet.

Here is something from R. K. Belcher:

DISTRICT SIX

Ma is dood
onder 'n trein.
Ons leef van brood
en Pa van wyn.

Hoit gamat, kappit kappit eit
want môre is jy alles kwyt.
Spoeg in die lug en sing jong, sing
want die lewe is 'n bitter ding.

Georgie Peorgie pudding and pie -
hoe sê jy ek het God verraai?
Ou klong, you sommer make me cry.
Hoes daai?

Mary had
a little lamb,
its feets was white
like snow.
hul het hom toe
mos vasgenael,
en kyk
hoe lyk
hy
nou.

This is touted by some as dialect, but not by me. The party that would speak
this way in the intimacy of his drinking buddies could equally well speak
fluent Algemeen Beskaafde Afrikaans in the Magistrate's Court (for example).
All the language found here could with the same facility be used by a  white
Transvaaler, in the appropriate context.

'Hoit' is peculiar to the Boland, by any racial group, but a Freestater will
use it in a 'Cape' anecdote. 'Gamat' is a group nickname for a Cape Malay
(short for Muhammad), as 'Taffy' in England applies to a Welshman. 'Kappit
kappit' 'step it step it'  is slang; an urge to dance: These days though, a
ghoffel is more likely to say 'get down'. 'Eit' is 'casual' for 'uit'.
'Klong' is the term for a Cape Malay of the previous generations, & a
Transvaaler would know & use it too. 'You "sommer" make me cry.' is English,
with an Afrikaans interpolation: In both directions, it is common practice
across the board. Notice how much English there is? It might be another
language, though, like Nama. As with the rather more polyglottal Englishman
of previous generations, who used a lot of French in his common
conversation, this had no bearing on the English he spoke.

Yrs Sincerely
Mark.

================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================