The Influence of English on Afrikaans

7.10 Passive constructions

7.10.1

One very frequently hears was used instead of is as the auxiliary in a passive construction in the past tense. Ponelis (1979: 267) talks of ‘die opkoms van was naas is’ where he attributes this to two factors, English influence and ‘in die tweede plek word was in plegtige skryfstyl aangewend ter uitdrukking van 'n voorverlede tyd.’ Ponelis maintains that this was is not heard in the spoken language. One can thus be reasonably sure that when was is used in the spoken language, it is an anglicism; if it does coincide with a pluperfect meaning, this is likely to be purely by chance. Van der Merwe and Ponelis (1982: 220) attempt to sum up the confusion by stating ‘in die lydende vorm slaan Afrikaans is op Engels was’ and ‘Afrikaans was op Engels had been’. I would contend, however, that the pluperfect passive does not and possibly never has existed in Afrikaans, just as was gewees is identical in meaning in the active to was and is/het gewees. (cf. Ponelis 1979: 269) I base this claim on my personal observations of the use of was in passive constructions and it is in fact supported, even if unwittingly, by Botha and Van Aardt (1978: 143) where they state: ‘Daar is nog 'n derde omskrywingswerkwoord in Afrikaans [i.e. in addition to is and word], maar die word meestal foutief gebruik onder Engelse invloed.’ It is usual for Afrikaans grammars to insist on the existence of a pluperfect passive. It would be advisable for their rules to be based more on the reality of the spoken language in future.

[p. 214]

The most detailed study of this phenomenon is by Terblanche (1980) where the author does present convincing arguments to support the tenet that both a past and pluperfect passive exist in Afrikaans.

7.10.2

Although the confusion of is/was in the passive is dealt with in most accounts of anglicisms in Afrikaans, a similar, if not so common, confusion of is/word in the present passive is not discussed as frequently (cf. Terblanche 1980: 49), for example:

Daar is nog twee ouens wat vermis is. (are missing)
Die gebou is gewaardeer teen twee miljoen rand. (is valued at)
'n Mosie wat op iets gemik is. (is aimed at)
Sanlam vra om verskoning vir enige ongerief wat veroorsaak is tydens aanbouings op hierdie perseel. (is caused - displayed during the renovations)

In such cases is could be quite grammatical, as the context is not clear, but these examples were noted in situations where a present passive was clearly implied, as in the fourth example where is would only be grammatically correct after the construction had been completed.

There are instances in Dutch/Afrikaans where a past participle can be used in combination with wees, in which case the participle functions as an adjective; but a past participle used in combination with word renders a passive. In the following examples the participles in question constitute part of a passive construction and thus word would be grammatically correct; wees is an anglicism:

Binne 24 uur kan alles gereël wees
Daar was 'n wet waarvolgens huwelike tussen Blankes en
slavinne van volle kleur verbied moes wees

The second sentence illustrates the distinction more clearly because verbied is a past participle, whereas verbode is an adjective, although it may be argued that verbied can now be used adjectivally.

Ostyn (1972: 245) also noted confusion of zijn and worden in American Flemish and he comments on Wacker's observation of the same tendency in American German.

7.10.3

Substitution of deur with by before agents in passive constructions is discussed on p. 262.

[p. 215]

7.10.4

See 7.27.4.6 for a discussion of the use of subject pronouns instead of object pronouns in certain passive constructions.

7.10.5

The following passive constructions are literal translations of English idioms:

Hy word oorleef deur sy vader (is survived by)
Hy is korrek bewys (was proven right)
Ek is veronderstel om te... (am supposed to) (= Dt. word)
Reis aanvaar te word op 1/2/85 en voltooi te word op 10/2/85. (to be commenced - on railway ticket)
Die polisie is met wapens uitgereik. (discussed on p. 217)

7.10.6

Omission of the auxiliary verb in passive constructions

7.10.6.1

In advertisements and on signs a form of Telegramstil is sometimes found where the auxiliary word is implied but not mentioned. Thus is a frequent practice in English but imitation of it in Afrikaans produces an ungrammatical construction, for example:

Alle petrolkaarte aanvaar
Indien onafgelewer stuur asb. aan...
Versekerde pakette hier aangeneem
Vertoon binnekort (showing soon, cinema ad.)

It is difficult to ascertain in the final example whether this is an abbreviation of Die film word binnekort vertoon or Die film vertoon (= wys) binnekort (also an anglicism).

7.10.6.2

Sometimes, in imitation of English practice, a full relative clause containing a passive is avoided - in some cases it can be wees plus an adjectival past participle which is affected in this way, cf. examples 5 and 6 below - and that clause appears as an adjectival phrase not unlike the adjectival adjuncts in Dutch and German which can be used in lieu of relative clauses in formal style, but there they stand before the noun in question, for example: De door hem in de samenleving beklede betrekking. (cf. Donaldson 1981: 67, 164) In such cases in Afrikaans both the relative pronoun and the auxiliary is or word are omitted, for example:

[p. 216]

Die betrekking deur hom in die samelewing beklee bring mee dat
Skeur die sakkie oop by die gleufie voorsien.
Jy het pligte soos deur die redakteur bepaal.
'n Papiercollage vir 'n Paasfeesprogram op Duitse TV vertoon (caption under an illustration in a magazine)
Die persone betrokke in die situasie...
Dis 'n tragedie vir die mense daarby betrokke.