The Influence of English on Afrikaans

[p. 203]

7.7 Hybrid compounds and derivatives

The familiar saying Moenie jou tale opmix nie makes use, for humorous effect, of what I have chosen to call hybrid loan translations, i.e. compound words where either the first or second element is an English loanword and the other is translated from English into Afrikaans. A subdivision of such hybrids consists of derived words where the English loanword acquires an Afrikaans bound ending in order to nominalise the English word (e.g. stupidheid) or to turn it into an adjective (e.g. braggerig) or both (e.g. braggerigheid). If an English verb is borrowed and is then used with a ge- prefix to form the past tense, this could possibly also be regarded as a hybrid derivative but I have classed such words as English loanwords as the ge- is of course not always present (for example when such words are used in the present tense)

Boshoff (1963: 55) refers to hybrids as basterwoorde but this is at odds with the way in which that term is used in all other literature on loanwords in Afrikaans and Dutch. Le Roux (1952: 1) calls them hibridiese samestellinge (hybrid compounds) and hibridiese afleidinge (hybrid derivatives).

The degree to which the English part of a hybrid compound has been phonologically, semantically and graphically assimilated can differ from word to word and can also be difficult to assess. Reisigerstjek has been graphically assimilated and the fact that Afrikaans does not normally have the phoneme [tj] presents no problems for Afrikaners although many Dutch people have trouble with that sound in English loanwords in Dutch (e.g. ‘lunch’ commonly pronounced [lœns]). In jeughostel no graphic assimilation is required and in poniestert only a minimum of phonological adaption is needed for the words to look and sound Afrikaans. As the

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compounds with box are seldom if ever written, although they are commonly heard, it is difficult to assess whether the Afrikaner considers them sufficiently Afrikaans to write boks or still foreign enough to write box. Uitpass is also never written but as it is pronounced [pa:s] and not [pas], it is obviously still considered a hybrid and thus the spelling pass is appropriate. Wattelboom, on the other hand, has not been phonologically assimilated at all, despite the fact that [w] does not occur initially in indigenous vocabulary, and yet the spelling has been adapted. The compound sultanadruif could well be considered an indigenous word incorporating an international element were it not for the fact that the first vowel is pronounced [ʌ] and not [œ], as in Dutch, and is thus clearly perceived by Afrikaners as being English.

armyoutjie

baskétbal^16

biefskyfies

boxwyn^15

tiekiebox^15^,^16

boysenbessie

youngbessie

busstop

horssweep

jeughostel

kidleer

plotrot

paaiboelie

poniestert

reisigerstjek

sultanadruif

tenkskip (also Dt.)

uitpass (to faint)

uittry

wattelboom

braggerig(heid)

moanerig

stupidheid

sprinkelaar

16 Actually both constituent parts of tiekiebox are English in origin but basket (because of its new stress) and tiekie are no longer regarded as English.

15 Box is not to be found in Afrikaans dictionaries. It is thus presumably officially regarded as an unassimilated loanword but in practice it is highly likely that most Afrikaners no longer regard it as a foreign word and would write boks.

15 Box is not to be found in Afrikaans dictionaries. It is thus presumably officially regarded as an unassimilated loanword but in practice it is highly likely that most Afrikaners no longer regard it as a foreign word and would write boks.

16 Actually both constituent parts of tiekiebox are English in origin but basket (because of its new stress) and tiekie are no longer regarded as English.