The Influence of English on Afrikaans

[p. 195]

7.5 Assimilated loanwords (puristic spelling)

The concept of creating new words or giving new meanings to existing words to avoid using loanwords or internationalisms which look - and sometimes also are - English, has a parallel in the spelling system of Afrikaans: many such words are dressed up in Afrikaans garb, presumably because it is believed that they will then be more readily accepted as part and parcel of Afrikaans, or alternatively, because they have already attained that status and recognition thereof is expressed in the new spelling. The Dutch would often consider the assimilation of such words in Afrikaans as extreme, for example: sjerrie, vanielje, but even Afrikaners seem at times to recognise certain limits, for example: chauvinisties and not sjouwinisties.

The decision at the end of the last century to adopt the Kollewijn spelling for Dutch in South Africa, part of the vain attempt to save the position of Dutch, assured ultimately that that spelling would be used for the writing of Afrikaans after the Anglo-Boer War while the Dutch have hesitated ever since about how far to go in implementing Kollewijn's recommendations but are gradually and inevitably moving towards the same position that Afrikaans has occupied since 1925. For the Dutch it is a question of simplifying their spelling, as it undoubtedly was in South Africa to begin with too. However, the Kollewijn spelling now serves a dual purpose in South Africa: in addition to the obvious advantage of simplicity, it is a perfect means of ‘disguising’ the many loanwords which Afrikaans, like all languages, is forced to adopt. This is important in a country where linguistic purism, however misconstrued that concept may be by the common man, is regarded as integral to one's independent identity as an Afrikaner.

Some scholars have expressed the opinion that retaining the spelling of the original language ultimately effects the pronunciation of that word in Afrikaans:

‘Ek glo ook dat as jy tog 'n vreemde woord moet aanneem omdat dit 'n begrip vertolk wat nie by jou eie volk ontstaan het en weens plaaslike omstandighede nooit by jou volk kan ontstaan nie, dan moet daardie woord tog maar so gou as moontlik 'n Afrikaanse baadjie aankry. Behou jy die woord met sy vreemde spelling, dan veroorsaak dit nie net dikwels 'n verkeerde uitspraak by die gewone mens nie, maar soms bly jy hom aanvoel as 'n vreemde indringer en pleks dat dit jou gees verryk, belemmer dit jou spraak en daar bly in jou 'n

[p. 196]

gevoel van minderwaardigheid hang...’ (Coetzee 1939: 27) (cf. also Rousseau 1937: 171)

I would question whether this is the case in South Africa now, certainly as far as loanwords from English are concerned. There are many cases in Afrikaans of English loanwords or international vocabulary with cognates in English that retain an English pronunciation regardless of their spelling. For the Afrikaner - but this is not the case in Holland - the pronunciation of loanwords is primary and not the spelling; his intimate acquaintance with English makes it impossible to pronounce such words in accordance with the rules for transcribing Afrikaans phonemes onto paper, for example: just because he writes wattelboom, this does not mean that the first part of the compound is pronounced [vatəl] even though [w] is not a phoneme in this position in Afrikaans - the vowel too remains [ɔ] although written a. And how many people pronounce the initial vowel in outomaties as [ɔ:] and not as [œu] as the spelling implies? Vogt (1954: 370) maintains that ‘Loanwords are... apt to affect the phonemic and morphemic system of the receiving language. Even if the phonemes they are composed of are thoroughly assimilated through identification with native phonemes, the new words sometimes introduce phoneme sequences hitherto unknown.’

area^1.

banknoot

basies (adj. & adv.)

basketbal^2.

bemark(ing)^3.

beplan(ning)^3.

bief(skyfies)

biefstuk^4.

bleddie (cf. p. 282)

bloekom

bodder

boeldok

boelie

boeliebief

Boesman

bokkie^5.

bogger(ol)^6., bokker(ol)

bottelnek

bottelstoor

bondeltjie vreugde

boul(er)

bra

brekfis

briek

budjie^7.

bulterriër^8.

busseltjie^9.

donkie^10.

drom

effisiënsie^11.

enemmel

enjin

flennie (< flannel)

fliek (n. & v.)^12.

fluoried^13.

fokken^14.

foksterriër

gelling

ghienie^15.

gholf^15.

ghong^15.

ghries^15.

ghrok, grok^6.^,^15.

hendikep^16.

hen(d)sop(per)

hokkie

implement^1.

jellie^10.^,^17.

jokkie^10.^,^17.

jurie^17.

kabelkar

kafeteria^18.

kar

kasjoeneut

kleim(pie)^19.

klous^20.

klub^21.

kokkerot^22.

kollege^21.

kontrêpsie^23.

kothuis^22.

koukus^20.

krieket^24.

Krismis (Vader -)

kwota

kwotasie

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

2. Basket has undergone a shift in stress so that it now stands side by side with kasset and thus resembles a French loanword. The same applies to permit. (cf. p. 249)

3. Where the Dutch have borrowed marketing and planning from English, the Afrikaners have coined these two words. It is difficult to ascertain whether such words are assimilated loanwords in origin or neologisms.

3. Where the Dutch have borrowed marketing and planning from English, the Afrikaners have coined these two words. It is difficult to ascertain whether such words are assimilated loanwords in origin or neologisms.

4. Biefstuk is an English loanword of long standing in Dutch (< beefsteak). It presumably entered Afrikaans via Dutch for Afrikaners are unlikely to have accepted such a popular etymological form, given their superior knowledge of English.

5. Bokkie belongs to that group of commonly used, fully assimilated English loanwords (e.g. briek, juts, koort, cf. p. 146) that were regularly quoted in pre-war works on anglicisms as indispensable and which have since virtually disappeared from the language.

6. Bogger illustrates that [g] can be preserved medially in loanwords, as well as initially, but that there is then a greater tendency to substitute the unvoiced equivalent in order to fully assimilate the word. Ghrok/grok illustrates the same phenomenon in final position.

7. The assimilated spelling of this word is not a true reflection of how it is actually pronounced. Phonologically speaking it is still entirely an unassimilated English loanword as the vowel is pronounced as in English (cf. 9 below and p. 245)

8. Boelterriër, which does occur, is a more correct representation of the pronunciation of this word (compare boeldok/bulhond).

9. If one compares the first vowel in budjie, bulterriër and busseltjie, each is pronounced differently. Only in the last case does the spelling correspond to the pronunciation.

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.

11. The word has also undergone a shift in stress to the penultimate syllable.

12. A common phenomenon in Dutch is for English loanwords to give rise to derivatives which do not exist in English, for example: liften/lifter - to hitch-hike, hitch-hiker. This is not usually the case in Afrikaans, once again probably because of the Afrikaner's intimate knowledge of English, but fliek is an example of a borrowed noun giving rise to a verb too in Afrikaans, i.e. to go to the flick. Hiemstra (1980: 45) maintains fliek was borrowed from Australian English where, however, it is always used in the plural, ‘flicks’.

13. Although the AWS allows both -ied/-ien and pronunciation of such words in Afrikaans (without final [ə̣]) suggests they are derived from, or at least are perceived as being derived from, English. In Dutch only the latter spelling occurs but in that case it also reflects the way in which these words are pronounced. This may be a spelling pronunciation in Dutch but it may equally be because they are regarded as loanwords from French. At any rate, the presence of cognate forms in English as well as other loanwords that end in -ine (e.g. machine, margarine) has worked in favour of the -ied/-ien. spelling for chemical terms - the choice of one or the other spelling in such cases has repercussions in their plural formation (cf. AWS p. 8). Schoonees (volume I of WAT, 1950) was only prepared to recognise -ied/-ien) and has made the -ien spelling of other loanwords compulsory, for example: dioksied, masjien, vaselien, vitamien.

14. The frequently heard interpolation fokken/fokkin - as it is never written, my spelling is somewhat arbitrary - provides food for thought on the phonetic assimilation of English loanwords in Afrikaans. There is no doubt that this adjective is English in origin and thus that the [ɔ] is a case of sound substitution as it occurs in bokker/bogger, bokkie and drom too, for example. Are the words fok and kont then examples of the same phenomenon or are they the original Dutch words which have undergone a shift in meaning under the influence of cognate forms in English? Or has Afrikaans retained an older Dutch meaning of these words (cf. German ficken = to fuck, for example) with or without the assistance of cognate forms in English with the same meaning? Van Dale confirms that kont was formerly used with this meaning in Dutch.

15. There are many loanwords in Afrikaans - not all of them English but also of Malay or Hottentot origin, for example - which are spelt with an initial gh. Whereas this spelling was used in the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages, particularly before e and i, to indicate the fricative [x] or [ɣ] as opposed to the affricate [ʤ], it is used in Afrikaans to indicate that the words concerned are pronounced with the non-indigenous stop [g]. It is interesting to observe that Burchell (1822-24: 331), an Englishman who visited the Cape in the early nineteenth century, suggested that the guttural g of Cape Dutch ‘may be partly represented by imagining such words spelled with a gh.’ Afrikaans is, however, rather inconsistent in its application of the gh spelling to English loanwords, for example: ghrok or grok, garage.

15. There are many loanwords in Afrikaans - not all of them English but also of Malay or Hottentot origin, for example - which are spelt with an initial gh. Whereas this spelling was used in the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages, particularly before e and i, to indicate the fricative [x] or [ɣ] as opposed to the affricate [ʤ], it is used in Afrikaans to indicate that the words concerned are pronounced with the non-indigenous stop [g]. It is interesting to observe that Burchell (1822-24: 331), an Englishman who visited the Cape in the early nineteenth century, suggested that the guttural g of Cape Dutch ‘may be partly represented by imagining such words spelled with a gh.’ Afrikaans is, however, rather inconsistent in its application of the gh spelling to English loanwords, for example: ghrok or grok, garage.

15. There are many loanwords in Afrikaans - not all of them English but also of Malay or Hottentot origin, for example - which are spelt with an initial gh. Whereas this spelling was used in the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages, particularly before e and i, to indicate the fricative [x] or [ɣ] as opposed to the affricate [ʤ], it is used in Afrikaans to indicate that the words concerned are pronounced with the non-indigenous stop [g]. It is interesting to observe that Burchell (1822-24: 331), an Englishman who visited the Cape in the early nineteenth century, suggested that the guttural g of Cape Dutch ‘may be partly represented by imagining such words spelled with a gh.’ Afrikaans is, however, rather inconsistent in its application of the gh spelling to English loanwords, for example: ghrok or grok, garage.

15. There are many loanwords in Afrikaans - not all of them English but also of Malay or Hottentot origin, for example - which are spelt with an initial gh. Whereas this spelling was used in the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages, particularly before e and i, to indicate the fricative [x] or [ɣ] as opposed to the affricate [ʤ], it is used in Afrikaans to indicate that the words concerned are pronounced with the non-indigenous stop [g]. It is interesting to observe that Burchell (1822-24: 331), an Englishman who visited the Cape in the early nineteenth century, suggested that the guttural g of Cape Dutch ‘may be partly represented by imagining such words spelled with a gh.’ Afrikaans is, however, rather inconsistent in its application of the gh spelling to English loanwords, for example: ghrok or grok, garage.

6. Bogger illustrates that [g] can be preserved medially in loanwords, as well as initially, but that there is then a greater tendency to substitute the unvoiced equivalent in order to fully assimilate the word. Ghrok/grok illustrates the same phenomenon in final position.

15. There are many loanwords in Afrikaans - not all of them English but also of Malay or Hottentot origin, for example - which are spelt with an initial gh. Whereas this spelling was used in the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages, particularly before e and i, to indicate the fricative [x] or [ɣ] as opposed to the affricate [ʤ], it is used in Afrikaans to indicate that the words concerned are pronounced with the non-indigenous stop [g]. It is interesting to observe that Burchell (1822-24: 331), an Englishman who visited the Cape in the early nineteenth century, suggested that the guttural g of Cape Dutch ‘may be partly represented by imagining such words spelled with a gh.’ Afrikaans is, however, rather inconsistent in its application of the gh spelling to English loanwords, for example: ghrok or grok, garage.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.

17. Jellie has only been partially assimilated in spelling - Afrikaans never seems to have considered a dj spelling, unlike the Dutch in Indonesia, for loanwords that retain a [ʤ]. Jokkie and jurie on the other hand have been assimilated completely phonologically and thus the spelling is consistent with the pronunciation.

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.

17. Jellie has only been partially assimilated in spelling - Afrikaans never seems to have considered a dj spelling, unlike the Dutch in Indonesia, for loanwords that retain a [ʤ]. Jokkie and jurie on the other hand have been assimilated completely phonologically and thus the spelling is consistent with the pronunciation.

17. Jellie has only been partially assimilated in spelling - Afrikaans never seems to have considered a dj spelling, unlike the Dutch in Indonesia, for loanwords that retain a [ʤ]. Jokkie and jurie on the other hand have been assimilated completely phonologically and thus the spelling is consistent with the pronunciation.

18. Kafeteria can presumably now be regarded as an internationalism but in Europe the third syllable always contains an a; the retention of e in Afrikaans suggests this is a thinly disguised English loanword in that language.

19. It is interesting to note that Afrikaans considered it necessary to borrow the English word ‘claim’ for a gold claim whereas the Dutch borrowed it at a later date in the sense of an insurance claim and also the verb claimen, which is not used in Afrikaans (= eis).

20. The puristic substitution of au with ou has now led to this sound being pronounced as it is written in Afrikaans, i.e. as [œu] and no longer as [ɔ].

21. The spelling of klub and kollege with k constitutes a very superficial assimilation as both words are still pronounced exactly as in English.

22. Kokkerot and kothuis are examples of popular etymology.

21. The spelling of klub and kollege with k constitutes a very superficial assimilation as both words are still pronounced exactly as in English.

23. I have never seen this word written but it occurs frequently in speech. The [si] suffix implies it has been assimilated sufficiently to require an Afrikaans spelling, but the penultimate syllable retains the English vowel [æ], (cf. note 16 above).

22. Kokkerot and kothuis are examples of popular etymology.

20. The puristic substitution of au with ou has now led to this sound being pronounced as it is written in Afrikaans, i.e. as [œu] and no longer as [ɔ].

24. Where Afrikaans replaces i with ie in the spelling of English loanwords, an attempt is presumably being made to indicate that these words retain the foreign phoneme [ɪ] where i in indigenous vocabulary is pronounced as [ə], for example: krieket, piekniek, pienk, tiekie, vanielje. However, Afrikaans is still rather inconsistent in this regard - compare dip, sfinks, titel, although Mansvelt (1884: 33) wrote diep and Malherbe (1953: 84, but written in 1906) wrote tietel.

[p. 197]

laserstraal^1.

lompsom

lorrie^10.

lyk^25.

margarien^26.

miesies

moestas

nonsens, nonsies

paaiement

pêl^16.

permit^1.^,^2.

petrol^1.

pienk^24.

piouter

plot^27.

poefter

poeding^28.

poel (tiksters-)^29.

poliesman^30.

ponie^31.

program^1.^,^32.

rak

reling

re(i)sies

robbies (seldom written)

rof, rowwer

setlaar

siviel

sikspens

sjampoe

sjerrie

sjieling^24.

skoert (< to scoot)

skorsie

sleng^16.

snoeker

sokker

sonkie (< song)

sprinkel(aar)

spesies

spietkop

stoor (n. & v.)^33.

storie^10.

stres

(ge)swot^1.

têkkie^16.

tenk^16.

tjek

tjop

trem^16.

trippens

trok

trollie^10.

volskaals

waks (n. & v.)

wasser, waster

wattelboom

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.

25. Despite repeated condemnation in the literature of this word, lyk in the sense of ‘like’ is still very common in the spoken language. It is not clear, however, whether one is dealing with the loanword ‘like’ which has undergone phonological assimilation, or the Afrikaans word lyk which has undergone semantic shift under the influence of a like-sounding form in English. Burchell (1822-24: 15) remarked that lyk was used in this sense when he visited South Africa in 1821. Lockwood (1965: 153) mentions that gleich is used in a similar way in Pennsylvania Dutch. (cf. p. 202-3)

26. Cf. p. 245.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

2. Basket has undergone a shift in stress so that it now stands side by side with kasset and thus resembles a French loanword. The same applies to permit. (cf. p. 249)

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

24. Where Afrikaans replaces i with ie in the spelling of English loanwords, an attempt is presumably being made to indicate that these words retain the foreign phoneme [ɪ] where i in indigenous vocabulary is pronounced as [ə], for example: krieket, piekniek, pienk, tiekie, vanielje. However, Afrikaans is still rather inconsistent in this regard - compare dip, sfinks, titel, although Mansvelt (1884: 33) wrote diep and Malherbe (1953: 84, but written in 1906) wrote tietel.

27. No change to the spelling of plot was necessary to assimilate this word, but the vowel has been assimilated as has the plural, plotte. It also frequently occurs in indigenous compounds such as plotrot.

28. Cf. p. 241.

29. Dutch/Afrikaans have an indigenous word poel (= water). Dutch uses the English ‘pool’ for a typing pool whereas Afrikaans uses poel. This too (see note 14 above) is a case where it is not obvious whether the indigenous poel has acquired a new meaning or whether poel is a puristic spelling of the loanword ‘pool’.

30. In speech this word seems to be as common as the indigenous polisieman.

31. Ponie is not just a puristic spelling but is pronounced as an Afrikaans word with a broken vowel in the stressed syllable.

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

32. Program must be considered an internationalism, and not simply an English loanword, but as Dutch uses programma(s), one wonders if program(me) did not enter Afrikaans directly from English.

24. Where Afrikaans replaces i with ie in the spelling of English loanwords, an attempt is presumably being made to indicate that these words retain the foreign phoneme [ɪ] where i in indigenous vocabulary is pronounced as [ə], for example: krieket, piekniek, pienk, tiekie, vanielje. However, Afrikaans is still rather inconsistent in this regard - compare dip, sfinks, titel, although Mansvelt (1884: 33) wrote diep and Malherbe (1953: 84, but written in 1906) wrote tietel.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

33. From the verb is formed storing. (cf. p. 207)

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.

1. The words area, implement, laserstraal, permit, petrol, program and swot have not been adapted in spelling because this was unnecessary. They are all pronounced according to the phonological rules of Afrikaans and can thus be regarded as having undergone assimilation.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

16. As commonly occurs in Dutch, English short [æ] is realised in Afrikaans as [ɛ] and is written e, although the Dutch commonly retain a in the spelling, (cf. Afrikaans sleng/slang). Long [æ], on the other hand, is perceived by Afrikaners as ê (e.g. pêl, têkkie) although neither the AWS nor HAT seem to recognise this use of the kappie - the two examples given here do not occur in either of the works mentioned and yet têkkie is an indispensable word in Afrikaans and pêl is very common in the spoken language and, as the plural form pêlle (also pêls) indicates, it has undergone a considerable degree of assimilation.

10. Donkie, jellie, jokkie, lorrie, storie and trollie are examples of a simple spelling assimilation resulting in the words possibly now being perceived differently: I think these words are of such longstanding in Afrikaans that the -ie may by now even be perceived by some native-speakers as a diminutive ending, but this is debatable Hiemstra (1980: 111) and others before him maintain that storie is not an anglicism in Afrikaans but a medieval Dutch word that has died out in Holland.