The development of Afrikaans

Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa and Namibia and belongs to the Germanic language family of the Indo-European language family. Afrikaans is currently one of the 11 official languages ??stipulated in the South African constitution, and is also a "national language" recognized by the Namibia constitution, although English is the country's official language. Afrikaans is spoken by approximately 6.2 million people.

Afrikaans was originally a dialect of Dutch used in South Africa. It was basically developed between 1652 and 1705 by European immigrants who believed in Christianity and the Dutch East India Company. "Developed together by indentured workers and slaves brought to South Africa. Most of these European immigrants are Dutch immigrants, but there are also many immigrants from Germany, France, Scotland and other European countries. In addition to the Malays from Indonesia, the indentured workers and slaves also included the Khoikhoi and Bushmen who were indigenous Africans.

As early as 1652, the Dutch East India Company occupied the Cape Peninsula, the southernmost tip of Africa. In 1657, the first batch of Dutch immigrants landed in South Africa, starting the history of Western colonialism in South Africa. With the arrival of Dutch immigrants, Dutch began to be spoken in South Africa by this group of European immigrants. Soon after, many indentured workers and slaves from Asia were also "imported" by the Dutch East India Company to South Africa as helpers. The main language spoken by these Asians is a form of Portuguese mixed with Malay vocabulary. As a result of language contact, these different languages ??began to interact with each other.

By the 18th century, this language-mixing project became more complex, and more other elements were slowly added, including the language used by the Khoikhoi people who worked as nannies and helpers. Iraqi, French used by French Protestants who newly immigrated to South Africa, etc. Due to the stimulation of the new environment, the emergence of new things, and the face of things they had never seen in their hometown before, these Dutch immigrants had to borrow many sailors' Li language and new vocabulary learned from other languages ??to adapt to the new life in Africa. Starting around 1740, the daily language used in South Africa was no longer purely Dutch.

South Africans

In 1795, the British occupied the Cape and became the new owners of this land. As the British assumed political power, English became the main language of government agencies and educational institutions. In this case, English has a higher social status than Afrikaans. Whether it is the upper class, government officials or intellectuals, English is the main language spoken, rather than Afrikaans. Afrikaans is also jokingly called a "kitchen dialect".

In this case, in order to get rid of British control, some European immigrants who called themselves "Africans" or known as "Boers" launched the so-called "ox cart" in South Africa's history. "The Great Migration" (1836-1844), began to move east and north from the Cape Dunes on the coast, and established several small independent republics of their own, including the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. Bang et al.

In the process of the Boers establishing their own country, issues related to language and culture, especially those related to the Afrikaans they used, became increasingly politically charged. Meaning.

Although these Boers already have Afrikaans, they still use the so-called Standard Dutch when writing. The Bible, in particular, was written and printed in standard Dutch. Under this circumstance, a group of pastors and teachers launched the so-called "First Afrikaans Language Movement" around 1870, hoping to elevate Afrikaans from a spoken language to a written language. In 1875, the Orthodox South African Association was formally established in the Cape. In the same year, the first grammar book and dictionary focusing on Afrikaans was officially published by the association.

After the Second Anglo-Polish War, although the British won the victory, the Boers were also promised the power of autonomy, and Dutch became South Africa's other official language besides English. . In 1905, the Afrikaans Language Association and the Afrikaans Language Union were formally established, vigorously demanding the widespread use and research of Afrikaans at various levels. In 1910, the British government merged the four autonomous states of Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange to form the Union of South Africa. In 1925, with the joint efforts of South African language activists and nationalists, Afrikaans replaced Dutch and became the second official language of the Union of South Africa.

In 1948, the National Party, composed of South Africans, came to power until the African National Congress, composed of South African indigenous people, took power in 1994. Relevant scholars usually refer to this period as South Africa's racial crisis. The period of isolation (1948-1994). This period was the peak of "African" power and the golden age of Afrikaans. However, this was also a stage in which Afrikaans transformed from the language of the oppressed into the language of the oppressors.

South Africa

At the same time, Afrikaans is also highly protected and promoted by the state apparatus, including the writing of scripts, the establishment of various literary awards, and research in the academy, etc. Afrikaans-centred.

According to the views of the powerful South African cultural figures, Afrikaans is considered the youngest of the Germanic languages. These people not only emphasize the purity of Afrikaans and do not like to borrow vocabulary from English, but also claim that Afrikaans is South African. (i.e., white South Africans), forgetting that Afrikaans itself is a cultural product of the interaction between Dutch and other different languages ??(including indigenous African languages). More importantly, these South Africans have also ignored an important fact. In South Africa, there are at least 2 million non-whites (mostly mixed-race South Africans) whose mother tongue is Afrikaans.

In 1961, the Federation of South Africa announced its withdrawal from the British Federation and formally established the "South African Republic". The status of Afrikaans also reached its highest peak in history.

In this case, English was used by black people as a powerful tool to resist South Africans, which fully demonstrated the paradox of history. In 1976, the South African government required black schools to use Afrikaans as the language of instruction instead of English, and large-scale racial conflicts broke out in Soweto. The South African government ordered the police to shoot at the demonstrators, killing more than 600 people, which aroused fierce resistance among black people against the white government. Street fighting also broke out in Cape Town, with more than 100,000 black workers going on strike at the same time. In 1977, 190,000 students protested against the South African government's shooting of student leaders.