But if a new South African constitution fails to declare it 'official, ' it could wither away. For 67 years, Afrikaans has been preserved by law as one of South Africa's two official languages, earning it the enmity of many blacks. COLUMN ONE: Afrikaans: an Idiom in Danger: The world's youngest national language, spoken by 13 million, is richly expressive. The other 13 million South Africans speak Tswana, Northern Sotho, Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, Ndebele, Venda and a variety of other African and European languages. "We need a goal and it's coming now-now. For many years, Afrikaans was itself an oppressed language, embraced by the Afrikaners who trekked inland to escape British colonial rule. P. J. O'Rourke, the Rolling Stone writer, says Afrikaans sounds like "a Katzenjammer Kids cartoon, " and, indeed, the language contains many strange concoctions, such as snesies for tissues. 61% Xhosa 6, 891, 358 17. Some suggest that, as a compromise, English be made the sole official language.
The debate over Afrikaans rises from South Africa's deep racial divisions. "The new political flexibility means that language power is up for grabs, " said Elwyn Jenkins, president of the English Academy of Southern Africa. An exclamation of surprise, similar in meaning to "is that so? Afrikaans is third, with 6 million, and English is a distant sixth, with 3. It was walking away with my shoes. The largest established Christian denominations directly rooted in European settlement but now drawing members from all ethnic groups are the Methodist, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Dutch Reformed churches. The keepers of the parliamentary record were stumped when a white member rose recently in debate to warn his colleagues about the "hand-in-bosom" policy they were considering. And a left-wing newspaper, Vrye Weekblad, or Free Weekly, has been a courageous anti-apartheid crusader, publishing investigative pieces that have embarrassed the authorities in their own language. Under apartheid, millions of nonwhites were forcibly relocated from cities and white-owned farms into the Bantustans. South Africas neighbor to the northwest. Explain your answer. Languages of South Africa. Are you a bit babbelas?
And only bilingual listeners can understand most of President Frederik W. de Klerk's speeches, which routinely switch from Afrikaans to English and back again. It's a difficult language. But when his books were banned in the late 1970s, he had to begin writing in English to find a broader audience and survive as a writer. Let us know if you have any more of your own to add. Today, Afrikaans remains a required subject in English-language public schools for blacks as well as whites, and English is required in Afrikaans-language schools. And that has spawned one of the most emotional debates in the country's history. The Zuma presidency.
About one-sixth of the Black population lives on farmland owned by whites. Medicine, from the isiZulu muthi. South African tribe dominant in the Eastern Cape province. Doing a Bafana (bah-fah-nah). Pronounce the Afrikaans "g" as you would "ch" in loch.
During May, the company completed and transferred 22, 200 units of product to finished goods inventory. And while modern Dutch speakers find many similarities with Afrikaans, the South African language differs significantly in pronunciation and grammar. I watch as many games as I can. From the isiZulu word for hangover isibhabhalazi. Confectionary similar to Indian gulab jamun made of plaited, risen dough deep-fried and dipped into ice-cold sugar syrup.
11% Northern Sotho 3, 437, 971 8. But so has Nelson Mandela, the ANC president and liberation leader venerated by millions of blacks. But it could become pretty difficult to preserve our language, especially under an antagonistic government.
Think this could be our year. His latest book, "An Act of Terror, " was published in English in the United States but in both English and Afrikaans in South Africa. Pro-government Afrikaans newspapers have in the past two years become an important force in persuading whites to abandon apartheid and negotiate their future with blacks. Traditional drink made from soured milk. Koeksister (cook-sister).
More than nine-tenths of the inhabitants live in the eastern half of the country and in the southern coastal regions. Mampara (mum-pa-ruh).