The Influence of English on Afrikaans

7.12 International vocabulary

No aspect of the influence of English on Afrikaans has aroused as much confusion, and thus debate, as the presence of so much international or classical vocabulary in the language. Reference has previously been made to the fact that it is precisely those items of vocabulary which the common man regards as anglicisms and thus academics have gone to great lengths, most recently Combrink (1984), to put the record straight in this regard. Nevertheless, the reality of the matter is infinitely more complicated than asserting that because such words occur in French and Dutch, as well as English, they have thus nothing to do with English influence. Their generic origin may be French, and thus they are found in Dutch, but their historic origin in Afrikaans is undoubtedly English in many cases although it is impossible to prove in each individual case. But whether words such as kompartement (in a train), populasie and subskripsie - all of which are to be found in a Dutch dictionary although they are not (or are no longer?) commonly used in Dutch - reached Afrikaans via Dutch or English, there would seem to be little doubt that the frequency of their use in Afrikaans is a direct consequence of their indispensability in English and thus the bilingual individual's uninhibited use of them in Afrikaans. Van Dale

[p. 220]

recognises journaal and ordinair as having the additional meanings of tijdschrift and gewoon but also labels these meanings as archaic. Is one thus to presume that when these words occur in Afrikaans with those meanings that they have preserved a meaning they formerly had in Dutch? This is of course possible, but it is more likely that the presence of cognate forms in English has at least assisted in retaining those meanings and it may even be solely responsible. It is impossible to ascertain.

When collecting examples for this section, I noted many items of vocabulary which at first glance appeared to be non-indigenous to Dutch/Afrikaans or which at least had meanings unknown to me in Dutch. On consulting Van Dale, I ultimately found many of these words and their unusual meanings to be present in Dutch and was forced to discard them. Nevertheless, I was left with a lingering feeling that the influence of English cannot be completely absent, even if only as a contributing factor, from words such as lisensie (drywerslisensie), natureel (= natuurlik), okkasioneel (as an adjective and an adverb), personaliteit (= persoonlikheid) and sekondêr (sekondêre onderwys) even though Van Dale maintains that these words can have that meaning in Dutch and does not give them as archaic. When one continually hears talk of kompetisie instead of konkurrensie, despite the fact that both occur in both Dutch and Afrikaans dictionaries, one cannot help but assume that konkurrensie, the infinitely more common form in Dutch, is less frequent in Afrikaans because the alternative has a near homonym in English. Presumably few would disagree with me on such issues but they remain impossible to be conclusive about. The following categories do, however, offer some kind of proof that English has had a definite role to play in the adoption and assimilation of international vocabulary in Afrikaans.

7.12.1

These words do not exist in Dutch (cf. p. 90):

akkreditasie (but accrediteren is Dutch)

applikant, appliseer

apologeties^23

area

biodegradeerbaar

dekade

deterioreer, deteriorasie (former not in HAT)

dominasie, dominering^24^,^25

23 This word does exist in Dutch in the religious sense, which is unlikely to be the source of the word in Afrikaans.

24 Puristic deformation of an English loanword. (cf. p. 207)

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

[p. 221]

estimasie, estimeer

federeer^26

fornikasie

fotostaat, fotostateer^25

in-, uitfaseer^25

kanselleer, kansellasie, kansellering^24

kommoditeit

kompeteer^25

kovert

motoris

ongeïnhibeerd^25

prisonier^25

prosesseer^25

skeduleer^25

soneer^25

suspisieus^25

26 Dutch uses federaliseren but I suspect that federeer is in direct imitation of ‘to federate.’

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

24 Puristic deformation of an English loanword. (cf. p. 207)

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

25 Words which have cognate forms in Dutch but as other parts of speech: domineren, fase, fotostatisch, competitie, inhibitie, prison, proces, schedule, zone/zonering, suspicie.

7.12.2

These words exist in Dutch but have a different meaning (English meanings given here):

affekteer	-	to have an effect on
akkommodasie	-	shelter
akkommodeer	-	to shelter, house
antiek	-	antique (noun)
basies	-	basic; basically
eventueel	-	eventually
formidabel	-	formidable
funksie	-	party
gedetermineerd	-	determined to do something
hanteer	-	to handle (influx of people, situations)
honneurs	-	honours (university degree)
ignoreer	-	to ignore (where Dutch would use negeren)
induseer	-	to induce a birth
karavaan	-	mobile house (Dutch uses caravan and woonwagen is a Gypsy style caravan)
konsumpsie	-	t.b.
kontrakteur	-	building contractor
kwalifikasie	-	with the qualification (i.e. limitation) that
kwotasie	-	price, tender

[p. 222]

modelleer	-	to model as of mannequins
paneel	-	panel of judges, panel beater, panel van
partikulier(e)	-	specific, particular; fussy; personal particulars
prefek	-	school prefect
promoveer	-	to promote (of a product; Dutch uses promoten)
proses	-	all the meanings of English process
residensieel	-	residential college
solied	-	solid gold, wood etc. (Dutch uses massief)
simpatie, -tiek	-	sympathy, -etic (i.e. Dt. medelijden)
standaarde	-	as in ‘by South African standards’
stoffasie	-	to show what stuff you're made of
tema	-	theme tune (in a movie)
uitsorteer	-	to sort a person out

7.12.3

These words exist in Dutch but have assumed new functions in Afrikaans:

ekwivalent	-	adjective and noun, only a noun in Dutch
essensieel	-	adjective and adverb, only an adjective in Dutch
finaal	-	adjective, adverb and noun (sport), only an adjective and an adverb in Dutch
kontak	-	noun and verb, only a noun in Dutch
monitor	-	noun and verb, only a noun in Dutch

7.12.4

These words exist in Dutch but according to Van Dale are anglicisms in that language too:

kontroversieel	-	not in HAT
opsioneel
permit	-	stress on first syllable in Dutch but on the second in Afrikaans, although it is not a current word in Dutch.
permissiwiteit
plastíek	-	plástic in Dutch and with [æ] (not unknown in Dt.)
prospekteer(der)	-	prospecteren/prospéctor in Dt. (in as far as it exists at all)
tifoon

7.12.5

These words exist in Dutch but according to Van Dale are considered as germanisms in that language; that is unlikely to be the origin of them in Afrikaans:

brutaal

-

i.e. the meaning of brutal, not cheeky

[p. 223]

identies
plasties	-	i.e. made of plastic (only used figuratively in Dutch, e.g. plastische chirurgie/beeldspraak)
program

7.12.6

These words are found in Dutch but in a different form. It would seem that contact with English has had an influence on the formation of these words:

departementeel	-	departementaal in Dutch (puristic avoidance in Afrikaans?)
disinvestering, disinfeksie	-	desinvestering, desinfectie in Dutch (HAT gives dis- and des-)
entoesiasties, eksentries, fanaties	-	enthousiast, excentriek, fanatiek in Dutch
idioties, paranoiïes, pedanties	-	idioot, paranoïde and pedant in Dutch (cf. identies and plasties under 7.12.5)^27
kontrovérsie	-	kontroverse in Dutch (also according to HAT)
kosmopolitaans	-	kosmopolities in Dutch (also according to HAT)
legitimiseer	-	legitimeer in Dutch (also according to HAT)
plastiek	-	plástic in Dutch (puristic avoidance in Afrikaans)
prostituut	-	prostituée in Dutch
rekommendasie	-	rekommandasie in Dutch and HAT

27 The distinction that exists in Afrikaans between polities and politiek (i.e. the adjective) does not exist in Dutch as Dutch only has the latter word. Could English have played a role in the coining of the former? Dutch does, on the other hand, also have the couplet kritisch/kritiek as in Afrikaans. Dutch also has excentrisch, but only in the mathematical sense. (cf. Hiemstra 1980: 57-8)