The Influence of English on Afrikaans

[p. 259]

7.25 Numerals

It is a generally accepted fact that counting, however bilingual one may be, is something one normally prefers to do in one's mother tongue but this is not necessarily the case in South Africa (cf. figures given in the HSRC report referred to below). Le Roux (1926: 359) complained:

‘Maar hierdie taalvermenging het in baie gevalle al eerder begin, want op die Engels-mediumskool is al geleer om net op Engels op te tel en af te trek, te deel en te vermenigvuldig, en iedereen wat dit deurgemaak het, weet hoe swaar dit gaan om dit later weer af te leer.’

Although Le Roux's explanation for the Afrikaner's inability to cope with his own counting system may have been valid in 1926, one cannot attribute the difficulties he still seems to have to the same cause any more. It is not uncommon for Afrikaners to read vier-en-tagtig for 48 and is his preference for reading out phone numbers cypher by cypher not also in order to avoid such errors? It should be noted that both the Dutch and the Germans, for example, have no difficulty in reading a phone number as eenenvijftig drieëndertig zesenzeventig. It is of course possible that Afrikaners read a phone number as they do because that also happens to be the normal way in English, despite the fact that English does not reverse the order of its numerals.

In the early 1980's a body calling itself the Logiese Taal Hervormers submitted a request to the Akademie requesting the latter's support to officially change the counting system of Afrikaans on grounds of the English system being more ‘logical’ and because evidence had been collected to indicate that ‘omdraaifoute’ were frequent in Afrikaans. The Taalkommissie ultimately rejected the proposal claiming that ‘Die sentrale probleem lê nie in die aard van die Afrikaanse telwoordsisteem nie, maar in die aanwesigheid van Engels en die predominansie van die Engelse telwyse in Suid-Afrika.’ (page 8 of the ‘Verslag van die Taalkommissie aan die Akademieraad oor die RGN-verslag “Getallebenoeming in Afrikaans”,’ Verslag nr. P33, 1981) This incident is worthy of mention because it is an indication of the extent of the problem in some people's minds.

Apart from acquaintance with English contributing to occasional difficulties with numerals in Afrikaans, there is a host of other subtle influences English has had on the way Afrikaners use their numerals.

[p. 260]

7.25.1

The use of the indefinite article before honderd and duisend would seem to be the result of English influence, for example: 'n honderd rand, 'n duisend mense. Whether the use of en after honderd when a numeral between 1 and 20, or an even ten follows, is in imitation of English, is difficult to determine, e.g. 'n honderd en elf, tweehonderd en vyftig.

7.25.2

The preference for een-en-'n-half over anderhalf (both in HAT) could be the result of English influence as a contributing factor. The following expressions are definitely loan translations: 'n jaar en 'n half, hy is 'n goeie meter en 'n half voor (in running), die afgelope week en 'n half.

7.25.3

It is possible that Dutch expressions of time such as tien voor half vier and vijf over half vijf disappeared from Afrikaans because they were at odds with the English system of telling the time. On the other hand, half agt etc. has survived and this is also foreign to English.

7.25.4

The following expressions involving decades are modelled on English: vroeg in die 1940's (now more common than the Dutch constructions in die jare veertig/in die veertiger jare, at least in speech), in die middel sewentigs, sy is in haar dertigs. Puristic avoidance of the last expression has spawned the hybrid form 'n meisie in haar jare dertig.

7.25.5

The following plural forms involving numerals are probably English in origin: tiene (ten rand notes), twintigs (twenty rand notes, cf. in die 1940's above too), die standerd-vyfs, twee derdes so groot soos.

7.25.6

The use of dubbel and trippel (an English loanword - not in HAT) in saying phone numbers is an English custom, for example: 455666 - vier dubbel vyf trippel ses. Dubbelbed, dubbelbaanpad and dubbeldeuryskas also sound like loan translations.

7.25.7

The following expressions are all translated from English: een uit vier, een uit elke agt Afrikaners, een punt vyf miljoen (instead of komma), in hul honderde/duisende, die drie/vier/ tien van ons/julle/hulle (cf. Ponelis 1979: 121).

[p. 261]

7.25.8

The tendency to talk in dozens, e.g. by dosyne, is undoubtedly a British legacy although the word itself is Dutch.

7.25.9

Although the Akademie decided in 1973 that biljoen would be used in the traditional British sense of a million million, it is commonly heard in the American sense of a thousand million where HAT advocates the use of miljard.

7.25.10

The following uses of ordinal numerals have arisen under English influence: die tweede beste, elke tweede Duitser, jou studie kom tweede, hy het tweede gekom (in a race), ek is in tweede (gear), Nedbank sorg vir 'n eerste in die Suid-Afrikaanse bankwese.

Indigenous structures to avoid the use of ordinals in this way are probably regarded as cumbersome, for example: jou studie kom in die tweede plek.

7.25.11

Referring to the petrol consumption of a car in the following way is in imitation of an English custom: my kar ry 14 kilometer op 'n liter.

7.25.12

The following use of heel before ordinals which are in themselves superlatives, is translated from English: die heel eerste/laaste (compare Dt./Afr. allereerste/-laaste).