It can be difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain whether words such as lot, mop, poel and vorm are outright loanwords in the meanings given below or indigenous words (i.e. Dutch lot - fate, mop - joke, poel - pool of water, vorm - shape) that have undergone an extension of meaning because of their homophony with English words (whether cognate or not) with the new meaning.
In the case of verbs such as bank and lys, which were already present as nouns in Afrikaans, the existence of homophonous verbs in English (to bank, to list) has led to a change of function in Afrikaans, (cf. 7.16.1)
Many of the separable verbs given on p. 184-187 under loan translations can also be seen as belonging to this category, for example: aangaan (to go on), aankom (to come on), inslaap (to sleep in) and uitspel (to spell out).
A form such as agtermiddag is not given here because it is generally recognised in linguistic circles as not being of English origin in Afrikaans. Nevertheless, the partial homophony of agtermiddag with ‘afternoon’ could perhaps explain why it is so much more common in Afrikaans than in Dutch which now uses (na)middag.
(Partial) homophony with non-cognate forms has led to clever popular etymological forms being coined for fun, for example: iemand op 'n paddastoel plaas (to put s.o. on a pedestal) and duisendtree (dysentery). In at least two cases, kothuis (cottage) and kokkerot (cockroach) such forms have actually entered the language officially. (cf. Van der Merwe and Ponelis 1982: 214, 106)
When one part of the compound nouns that follow stands in brackets, attention is being drawn to the homophony of the unbracketed element:
| (bloed)stroom |
- |
bloodstream |
| bottelnek |
- |
bottleneck |
| briewe(tas) |
- |
briefcase |
| broodrolletjie |
- |
breadroll |
| donderstorm |
- |
thunderstorm |
| drywers(lisensie) |
- |
driver's licence |
| fortuin(verteller) |
- |
fortune teller |
| (generasie)gaping |
- |
generation gap |
| koringvlokke |
- |
corn flakes |
| leeftyd |
- |
lifetime |
| middelklas |
- |
middle class |
| (oog)bal |
- |
eye ball |
| (pad-, dooie-)tol |
- |
(road, death) toll |
| (plate)joggie |
- |
disc jockey |
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eind1.
- As in die in-ding, 'n snaakse ding (fig.), jou stoute ding, jou (eie) ding doen, die interessantste ding is dat, motorry is die lekkerste ding in die wêreld, daardie soort van ding/daardie tipe ding (Dt. dat soort dingen), dis die soort van ding wat, alle dinge gelyk synde, hoe is dinge?, dit van alle ding, dinge is aan die roer. (cf. 7.1.1.1)
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eind2.
- Also found in several compound nouns: grondvloer, skougrond(e), speelgrond(e).
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eind3.
- Also found in several compound nouns and expressions: hooflyn (newspaper) kraglyn, pyplyn, dit is in lyn met ons politiek. (cf. p. 98)
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eind4.
- Both the English noun and verb ‘to mark’ are sometimes rendered by merk: landmerk, jou merk maak, merkwerk, vraestelle merk, afmerk (to mark down a price) (cf. 7.1.1.1)
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eind5.
- As in op daardie noot groet ons tot 8.00, op 'n noot van vertroue sluit.
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eind6.
- The semantic fields of English pan and pot (as kitchen utensils) correspond to those of Afrikaans pan and pot, which is not so in Dutch.
-
eind7.
- Commonly found in translated expressions: sy sterk punt, wat is die punt daarvan?, 'n punt hê, by die punt kom, dis nie die punt nie, die punt huis toe bring. (cf. 7.1.1.1)
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eind8.
- Ostyn (1972: 60) noticed the same phenomenon with Dutch gelijken in American Flemish (cf. p. 200-1 and 202-3).
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eind10.
- This word has been the subject of considerable debate during which no-one has mentioned the possibility of the noun wonder, which is not controversial, having simply changed function. (cf. 7.16) Mansvelt (1884: 185) commented on it and Le Roux (1952: 32) sees it as English in origin and attributes its inburgering to ‘sy kortheid’, as does Terblanche (Die Brandwag, 18/10/46) who nevertheless discusses it in a column entitled ‘Twyfelagtige Anglisismes’. Both Le Roux and Rademeyer (Die Brandwag, 19/7/46) seem to find it necessary to circumscribe ek wonder more indirectly than is necessary (e.g. ek sou graag wil weet; ek is nuuskierig om te weet) when in fact it corresponds exactly with jou afvra, an expression which is still in use. De Vooys (1925: 105) mentions Dutch wonderen as being considered ‘een veld winnende Anglicisme’ in poetry in 1910.
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eind11.
- Whether braaf meaning ‘brave’ is an anglicism or not has been the topic of much debate (cf. p. 52, 90, 131).
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eind12.
- The meanings of enig in Dutch (Geerts, i.a. 1984: 274) are such that it is difficult to ascertain where homophony with English ‘any’ has affected the semantic field of this word. Mansvelt (1884: 41) saw enig in the senses of elk and een of ander (e.g. eenig mensch kan dat doen, noem enig dorp) as anglicisms. His recording of the phenomenon is an indication of its antiquity in Afrikaans. Is that then the reason why it is no longer felt to be an anglicism or is it because Afrikaans has preserved an older meaning of the word, as claimed by Francken (1912: 279) who refers to Middle Dutch? Nevertheless, I feel it is highly likely that English has at least played a role (if it is not in fact the source) in the following functions of enig: enige oomblik, te eniger tyd/enige tyd (Dutch te eniger tyd = at some time), enigiemand, enigeen, enigiets (e.g. erwe kos enigiets tussen R20 000 en R25 000), 'n muis vreet enige ding, in enige stad in die land (in watter stad dan ook is awkward by comparison), hulle moenie op enige tone trap nie, dit kan niemand enige goed doen nie, sy wil nooit enige kinders hê nie. The last three examples illustrate enig being used where English switches from ‘some’ to ‘any’ when a negative is involved; this particular use of enig is without any doubt an anglicism in my opinion.
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eind13.
- German uses letzt as Afrikaans uses laas in expressions of time. This may therefore not be an anglicism although laasnag in the meaning of gisteraand definitely sounds like an anglicism, as does laas in ek het twintig jaar laas van haar gehoor.
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eind15.
- Partially homophonous aan is equated with English ‘on’ in many contexts, cf. separable verbs p. 184-7 and prepositions p. 263. It also occurs as an adverb in imitation of English usage: Het jy iets vanaand aan?, en so aan, lateraan, verderaan. Smith (Die Naweek, 28/10/48) discusses ‘Idiome met “aan” wat geen Anglicismes is nie’
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eind16.
- There is a large number of cases where af is equated with English ‘off’ where English influence seems to be undeniable. Consequently, af occurs in Afrikaans in parts of speech that are unimaginable in Dutch, for example: afspitstyd, af diens (opposite of aan diens), 'n af naweek, die wyn is af. (cf. separable verbs p. 184-5) There is a variety of opinion about whether welaf is or is not an anglicism. (cf. Smith, Die Naweek, 11/11/48, 25/11/48, 2/12/48)
-
eind17.
-
Al, alles and almal can all render English ‘all’ in certain given contexts. Afrikaans syntax determines which is correct under the circumstances. On occasions al, presumably because of its phonological similarity to ‘all’ is heard where Afrikaans grammar prescribes one of the other forms, for example: Dis al van Suid-Afrikaanse materiaal gemaak, dis al, al die pad.
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eind18.
- There is some controversy about whether jy is reg is an anglicism or not, but the use of reg meaning ‘correct’, as well as its use in the following expressions, does not seem to have been questioned at all. I think it is highly likely that they are modelled on English and that the adverbial use of reg in the last four examples is without any doubt English: dis reg, doodreg, as ek die argument reg begryp, so reg soos reën, reg oor die land, reg deur die naweek werk, reg in die middel van Johannesburg, reg vanaf die begin.
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eind19.
- The adverbial use of schaars as given in Van Dale does not seem to correspond with its use in Afrikaans but its use in Afrikaans and English is identical in certain cases.
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eind20.
- In addition to the very frequent use of so meaning ‘thus’ - very often at the beginning of an utterance as in English - it is also commonly heard in combination with indien in imitation of ‘(and) if so’.
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eind21.
- See note 16 above for welaf (cf. also Mansvelt 1884: 182) and see p. 257 for a discussion of the conjunction sowel as. The use of wel in the following expressions where it is synonymous with goed would seem to be an anglicism: hy het wel gedoen, ek kon net so wel nie gegaan het nie. The frequency with which wel is used in Afrikaans at the beginning of an utterance (compare so in note 20 above), is probably due to English influence although this use of the word is not impossible in Dutch.
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