LL-L "Orthography" 2009.05.19 (02) [AF-EN-NL]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 20 May 2009 - Volume 02
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From: Mark Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Orthography" 2009.05.20 (02) [EN]

Dear Ron:

Subject: LL-L "Orthography"

Thank you so much for this snippet! Much meat.

> Yesterday I shared my "tweak" of a sentence in Cape Malay Afrikaans of
1977 taken from a blog report (
http://dawudlindewei.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/arabic-afrikaans/).

> One of the theses of the article was that most of the Cape Malays that had
themselves been moved to South Africa had been at least exposed to Dutch in
what is now Indonesia, that their transition to Afrikaans must have been
relatively easy.

If I may add input, there is also the point that it seems to have been much
easier for the Slamaaiers of the Cape to perform the Hadj from Cape-town
than from the colony Batavia. in any event, they lost the Malay tongue &
cultural contact with their Far Eastern brethren quite soon, & connected
rather with Arabia, rather closely. As a result, I am told, our Cape Malays
(pardon the expression) are well schooled in not merely orthodox Islam, but
Sunni, Hunifi at that, & closer to Wahabi than most overseas communities.

Alas, I haven't a contribution to make on Afrikaans with the Arabic script
(& I am grateful for anything I get). However, if I may offer one point, on
the word 'huka', which is another way of saying 'altyd' = forever. Can it be
that the translator & scribe is feeling for the word 'eternal' rather than
'hoge' = hoë' = 'high', 'exalted? Consider, (quoting Boshoff & Nienaber:
Afrikaanse Etimologie), "Hoeka: "Lankal"; Na, "van oudsheer" (WAT);"

This excerpt casts a contrary light on Adam Small's averral that until the
late fourties there was no peculiarly 'Cape Coloured' dialect. I
particularly like the intimacy & precision of the phrase '...al die its.'
where I suppose I would without much reflection just have said 'alles.'

Yrs respectfully,
Mark

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Orthography

Thanks for the interesting comments, Mark.

I like the phrase too: *baas vir al die iets* ("master for/over all the
something/anything").

Here is another 19th-century piece, from the Wikipedia, albeit without the
Arabic script original (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_Afrikaans):

Iek bagent diesie *kitab* met Allah (*ta'ala*) sain naam. Allah (*ta'ala*)
es *rizq* giefar ien *dunya* fer al wat liefandag ies. Allah (*ta'ala*) es
beriengar ien die *gannat* ien dag *ahirat* fer al die miesie an djinns wat
oewhap *iman* gadoet het. Al die dank an parais es rieg fer Allah (*ta'ala*)
alien. Allah (*ta'ala*) het gagief fer oewhans islam sain *agama*. Islam
sain *agama* oek waas gawies fantefoewhar Ibrahim sain *agama*... An Allah (
*ta'ala*) het gamaak die Qur'an an *rasulullah* sain hadit fer seker
*dalil*fer oewhans... An Allah (
*ta'ala*) het galaat oewhans wiet die riegtie wieg fan die *ilm*s an gahelp
fer oewhans oewham ta lier ander miesie oewhap die riegtie manierie.

"Translated" into Modern Afrikaans (on the same page):

Ek begin hierdie boek met Allah (hy is verhewe) se naam. Allah (h.i.v.) is
onderhoudgewer in die wêreld vir al wat lewendig is. Allah (h.i.v.) is
brenger in die paradys in die laaste dag vir al die mense en djinns wat oop
iman gedoen het (m.a.w. in die geloof gesterwe het). Al die dank en prys is
reg vir Allah (h.i.v.) alleen. Allah het gegee vir ons Islam se godsdiens.
Islam se godsdiens ook was gewees vantevore Abraham se godsdiens...En Allah
(h.i.v.) het gemaak die Koran en die profeet se hadit vir seker bewys vir
ons...En Allah (h.i.v.) het gelaat ons weet die regte weg van die
godsdienswetenskappe en gehelp vir ons om te leer ander mense op die regte
manier.

My English translation with provision of Arabic words, their spelling and
meaning:

I begin this *kit**āb* (كتاب book) with the name of Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا
may he be exalted). Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be exalted) is the
provider of sustenance to all that is alive in the *dunyā* (دنيا, world). On
the *ā**hīrat* (أخيرۃ final) day Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be exalted)
will be the bringer of *ʕ**annat *(عدن* *paradise) to all people and djinns
that openly* *practiced* īm**ān** *(إيمان‎ faithful conviction). All
gratitude and praise is due only onto Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be
exalted). Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be exalted) has bestowed upon us
the* aʕāma* (مقام worship) of *Isl**ām* (اسلام). In the olden days, the*aʕāma
* (مقام worship) of *Isl**ām* (اسلام) was the *aʕāma* (مقام worship) of *
Ibrāhīm* (إبراهيم‎ Abraham) ... And Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be
exalted) made the *Qur’ān* (قرآن Koran) and gave irrefutable *dal**īl* (دليل
proof) for the *ḥadīth* (حديث‎ account) of *Rasūl'ullah* (رسول الله the
Messenger of God) ... And Allah *taʕālā* (تَعٲلا  may he be exalted) let us
know the right way of *ʕilm*-s (علم knowledge-s) and helped us to teach
other people in the correct manner.

Note the interesting way of spelling *ons* (oewham), *om* (oewham) and so
forth. I would like to see what this really is in Arabic script. Note also *
y* being rendered as a diphthong here.

The Dutch Wikipedia (http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabisch_Afrikaans) gives
another example, partly in Arabic. You can see a facsimile of the election
poster here:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Arabisch-Afrikaans.jpg

Het pamflet (zie afbeelding hiernaast) is een oproep tot stemmen voor mister
Ohlsson aan de inwoners van Kaapstad. Het dateert uit 1872 indat jaar werden
gemeentelijke verkiezingen gehouden. Anders Ohlsson zou daarbij de stemmen
van veel moslims hebben getrokken. De tekst is deels Afrikaans (regel één
tot en met drie) en deels Arabisch (regel vier tot en met zes).

Het pamflet is met name interessant omdat het aantoont dat ook in het
dagelijkse leven in Kaapstad gebruik werd gemaakt van het Arabisch. (De
originele tekst is ongevocaliseerd en de transcriptie is dan ook een
interpretatie van onderzoekster → zie bron).
Transcriptie van de tekst in het Arabisch-Afrikaans

voot fir mister Olson hy gāt syn beist doen fir die kolonial syn weirks
missie Kul muslimīn fī balad al- kīp yuˈţī arbaˈa voot limister Olson
li-anna murādahu yatruku šuģl al-kīp linafˈ ´ahl al-kīp tafaddalū (Het
laatste woord bevat 2 maal een /d/ die volgens de juiste transcriptie een
streepje onder de /d/ behoren te hebben)
Letterlijke Vertaling van de Arabisch Afrikaanse tekst

Stem op de heer Ohlsson hij gaat zijn best doen voor de werksmissie van de
koloniaal. alle moslims in Kaapstad geven vier stemmen voor de heer Ohlsson
omdat het zijn wens is het werk van de Kaap te laten ten voordele van de
mensen van de Kaap, alsjeblieft.
My translation:

Vote for Mr Ohlsson. He will do his best for the work of the colonial
mission. All Muslims in Cape Town cast four votes for Mr Ohlsson because it
is his wish to make the work of the Cape benefit the people of the Cape. If
you would be so kind please.

In this case, *g* is written as Ø® [x].

Mark, it looks very much like a special Cape Malay language variety, going
by the idiomatic expressions alone. I hardly believe it was limited to
religious writing. Bear in mind that  Considering that "Malays" began to
arrive in South Africa in the 17th century, that their communities absorbed
other Muslims as well, and that the texts discussed here are from the mid to
late 19th century, there are clear indications of an evolving specific
language variety, parelleled by an evolving Arabic spript orthography.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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