The Influence of English on Afrikaans

[p. 234]

7.16 Change of function

As was discussed in 2.1.4, the close affinity of Afrikaans and English which, among other things, includes much common Germanic and international vocabulary and the loss of formal morphological distinction between the parts of speech, has worked in favour of many words changing their function, for example: as the word bank also occurs as a verb in English and as Afrikaans, like English, makes no formal distinction between nouns and verbs, the way was open for bank to also be used as a verb in Afrikaans. It is not necessary, however, for the words to be phonologically similar or etymologically related, as in the case of bank, for such change of function to take place, for example: where the Dutch talk of ‘service’ (i.e. of a car, washing machine etc.) Afrikaners use the loan translation diens, derived from the verb dien, but as ‘service’ in English is both a noun and a verb, its puristic translation also serves both functions in Afrikaans. When a word is borrowed from English that is both a noun and a verb in that language, there is a possibility that it will be borrowed in both senses, for example: ghries (noun and verb). The exact course of the process is not always clear, however: if the noun prop (cf. p. 224) assumed a new meaning in Afrikaans under the influence of English, was that noun then simply used as a verb too (e.g. inprop) or did the Dutch verb proppen shift in meaning along with the noun? In other words, is the verb prop a case of semantic shift or change of function?

Although there are more cases of change of function from noun to verb and verb to noun, the phenomenon is not limited to these two parts of speech:

7.16.1 Noun > verb

bank
blom
dieet
draf	-	to jog
galop
kamp
kolf
kontak
lys	-	to list
merk	-	e.g. to mark exams
paddastoel-		to mushroom
poel
raam
sirkel
spioen
stort	-	to shower
toring oor
vurk	-	e.g. die pad vurk
wonder (cf. p. 228)
wurm

[p. 235]

7.16.2 Verb > noun

breek	-	pause
(u-)draai
fok
gooi	-	e.g. 'n pragtige gooi
kyk	-	e.g. een kyk was genoeg, iemand 'n vuil kyk gee
maak	-	brand (of a product)
moet
mondspoel
rook	-	geen rook in die eerste 6 rye (nie)^34
swem	-	dankie vir die swem
wag	-	'n lang wag
weggee
wen	-	dit betaal R50 vir 'n wen

34 It is not the use of an infinitive as a noun as such that constitutes the anglicism, for this is common to both Dutch and Afrikaans, but in this particular example rook is used nominally in a way that is not possible in Dutch (= Dt. niet roken).

7.16.3 Noun/verb > noun/verb

bottel

briek

ghries

monitor

trok

7.16.4 Noun > adjective

ek is dors, honger, jammer, reg, spyt (cf. Le Roux 1952: 45)

ek voel jammer vir jou

beginsel (standpunte)

ekwivalent

gemeenplaas

gunsteling

korttermyn (probleem) (cf. p. 7.28.7)

7.16.5 Adjective > noun

antiek(e) (sing, exists only as a coll. noun in Dt.)

burgerlike(s)

finaal (sport)

pedant (cf. p. 223)

terminaal (computer)

[p. 236]

7.16.6 Noun > adverb

volprys	-	jy moet volprys betaal
somer/winter	-	die oord bied somer en winter...

7.16.7 Adverb > noun

kontant

-

hy is van kontant beroof; 'n bakkie vir kontant koop (= Dt. kontanten)

7.16.8 Adjective > adverb

onbepaald	-	die goudprys sal nie onbepaald (indefinitely) $340 per ons wees nie
tweede	-	hy het tweede gekom

7.16.9 Adverb > adjective

'n af dag

binnenshuise versiering

onlangs (attrib. adj.) (cf. Ostyn 1972: 252)

oornag - e.g. geen oornag kampeerdery

'n toe nes

'n verdere som van R50

'n welaf Jood

7.16.10 Adjective > verb

benodig (cf. p. 219)

7.16.11 Preposition > adverb

af	-	ons gaan af Kaapstad toe (cf. p. 228)
op	-	ons gaan op Pretoria toe (cf. p. 185)
in	-	is hy in?, die kar is in vir 'n diens
voor	-	padwerke voor

[p. 237]

7.16.12 Adverb > preposition

af

-

af diens (cf. afhê, 'n af dag and p. 230)

7.16.13 Noun > preposition

binne-, buitekant

7.16.14 Verb > adverb/adjective

oornag

-

geen oornag kampeerdery (cf. 7.16.9); dit het oornag gebeur