|
| |
7.26 Prepositions
Le Roux (1952: 41) remarks on prepositions that Deur hulle vae betekenisinhoud is die gebruik van voorsetsels baie sterk onderhewig aan veranderinge met verloop van tyd and Ostyn (1972: 66) maintains that because of their infinite variety ‘They constitute... a serious burden on our long term memory’ and that ‘The evidence coming from American Flemish overwhelmingly supports the thesis that prepositions are highly unstable elements in language.’ The frequent falling together of certain prepositions in Afrikaans and English is thus a good example of what Ostyn refers to as ‘economy of storage’. It is highly likely that the phonological similarity between some Afrikaans prepositions and their cognate forms in English (e.g. by, in, vir) has also contributed to contamination. For comparison the preposition required in Dutch is given in brackets.
| |
| |
| |
7.26.1 by
By verre, by iets sweer, hierby (hiermee), sy is sleg - wat bedoel jy by sleg? (met), hulle het by die duisende gekom, skeur die sakkie oop by die gleufie voorsien (met), weersomstandighede verander by die uur/hulle word ouliker by die dag, by die datum/by die jaar 2000/by die tyd waar jy... The last examples are presumably an attempt to compensate for the lack of a preposition in Dutch/Afrikaans that has the same temporal connotation as English ‘by’; otherwise only voor/teen exist, although German uses bis in such contexts.
By is occasionally used in passive constructions instead of deur, for example: Die aandag word bepaal by die belangrikheid van die taal.
| |
7.26.2 in
In die agtergrond (op), in die lang termyn (op), in 'n rekening (in)betaal (op), in sigself (op), die man in die straat (op), in die platteland (op), vroeër in die dag (op), in ander woorde (met), in my mening (na).
It is possible that the last example is not in imitation of English but the result of contamination with in my opinie (cf. Dt. na mijn mening, in mijn opinie), although HAT maintains that that expression is na my opinie in Afrikaans.
| |
7.26.3 met
Met enkele uitsonderings na (op), vervang met (deur), wat is verkeerd daarmee (aan - but the whole expression is probably translated English)
| |
7.26.4 na
Vyf na ses grade (tot), oorskakel na (op), na die grond toe val (op), opsien na (teen).
HAT prescribes teen in the last example although I suspect that the entire expression is a loan translation (i.e. in the sense of ‘to respect s.o.’) or else a semantic shift under English influence of the original idiom (i.e. to be anxious about s.t.).
| |
| |
| |
7.26.5 naas
Prins Willem, wat naas Prins Charles, die Britse troonopvolger is (na). Naas means ‘together’ or ‘in combination with’, unlike English ‘next to’. I believe I have occasionally heard it used in Afrikaans where na is required.
| |
7.26.6 omtrent
Daar is geen twyfel omtrent nie (aan), wat kan ek daaromtrent doen (aan), wat is so besonders omtrent 'n huis (aan), wat gaan sy doen omtrent haar bed (met), wat omtrent (= wat van). Are these possibly examples of the adverb omtrent (= about, approximately) being equated with the meanings of the English preposition ‘about’, reinforced by the fact that omtrent does exist as a preposition in Dutch/Afrikaans, but not with these exact meanings.
| |
7.26.7 oor
Oor 'n vyf jaar-tydperk/iets oor twaalf maande afbetaal (gedurende, tydens), oor die jare heen (deur), oor tagtig rand (meer as), hy werk al oor tien jaar (langer as), ek is jammer oor wat gebeur het (Eng. idiom?), mal/dol/gek oor (op). HAT gives mal oor as geselstaal, dol op and gek na, Dutch has only dol/gek op. Presumably mal oor is a loan translation of ‘mad/crazy about’ and thus HAT's label geselstaal (cf. p. 111), and dol/gek oor are contaminated analogies.
| |
7.26.8 op
Op die stadsraad/bestuur/personeel (in - cf. Van der Merwe, and Ponelis 1982: 148), op die telefoon (aan), op 'n spoorlyn woon (aan, by, langs), op die linkerkant (aan), op universiteit (aan die), op die grens (aan), op diens (whether op or aan, both are anglicisms. cf. Terblanche 1972: 48), geld op iets uitgee (voor), hy werk op die myne (aan), op die pil (aan), inruil op (HAT gives vir but Dt. uses tegen), daar is 'n program op die lug (Eng. idiom), op verlof (met), op die naweek (in/tydens - but the expression is unique to Afrikaans), op iets verbeter (Eng. idiom), dis op rekord dat (Eng. idiom), het jy al op 'n loopbaan besluit (Eng. idiom), hy het 'n hartaanval gehad op 32 (met - or is this a contamination with op 32-jarige leeftyd?), kind op trein verkrag (in), navorsing doen op iets/hy werk op siektes (aan).
| |
| |
Because both op and aan, in the meaning of ‘on’, are both rendered by the same preposition in English, confusion seems to be rife, and op is totally ingeburger and even indispensable in many expressions where it cannot originally have been used. Ponelis (1979: 329) discusses very few of these whereas in Die Korrekte woord (Van der Merwe, and Ponelis 1982: 148-9) there is a substantial discussion of the concept.
| |
7.26.9 teen
Hoe hoog staan die rand teen die dollar (ten opsigte van)
| |
7.26.10 uit
Een uit elke twintig kinders/agt uit twintig/jou kans is een uit 100 (op - Ostyn 1972: 67 observed the same phenomenon in American Flemish), uit asem (buiten in Dt.), uit verband (buiten kontext in Dt.)
| |
7.26.11 van
Tipies van (voor in Dt.), kenmerkend van (vir), van die oomblik dat (vanaf in Dt.), wat van (translation of ‘what about?’), moeg van (vir - HAT gives vir but is the idiom in the figurative sense not a loan translation?) (cf. 7.26.13, Insertion of prepositions)
| |
7.26.12 vir
Sy doen dit vir 'n hobby (as), vir water boor (na), vir twee redes/vir watter rede/vir die eenvoudige rede, vra vir (om), soek (vir) (naar or no preposition in Dt.), wag vir (op). Although the use of vir with soek and wag when personal objects are involved may have nothing to do with English influence (cf. Raidt 1969: 47) that does not explain its use with inanimate objects, (cf. Hiemstra 1980: 133) (cf. Insertion of prepositions below)
| |
7.26.13 Insertion of prepositions
Sometimes a preposition occurs in Afrikaans where none is required but where English requires one: ons het dit in gemeen, ek het byna van die fees vergeet, op iets besluit, iets van iemand ontneem, met iets wegdoen.
| |
| |
Ponelis (1979: 160) treats the topic of van-invoeging: ‘In al drie die tipes NS + NS-konstruksies kom daar variante met ingevoegde van voor wat aan Engelse inwerking toegeskryf kan word.’ He then gives examples of the three:
‘1) lys name - lys van name etc.
2) hierdie soort geelhout - hierdie soort van geelhout 'n slegte tipe mens - 'n slegte tipe van mens
3) iemand met die naam Gert - iemand met die naam van Gert etc, die Departement Nasionale Opvoeding - die Departement van Nasionale Opvoeding.’
From the point of view of Dutch idiom it would seem likely that the examples given under 1) are anglicisms; soort van + noun does occur in Dutch, although far less frequently than without the preposition. This does not necessarily mean that the construction is not an anglicism in Afrikaans. The very common expression daardie tipe van ding is undoubtedly a loan translation and thus I tend to agree with him in the case of tipe van. I do not think, however, that constructions of the sort die Departement van Nasionale Opvoeding are the result of English influence; in such instances the van is even obligatory in Dutch. On the other hand, I would see die stad van Pietermaritzburg as a definite anglicism. (cf. Hegman 1968: 250 where a convincing argument is presented to suggest that Die Republiek van Suid-Afrika is an anglicism)
There is a great number of expressions in Afrikaans which contain a superfluous vir where English requires ‘for’. With the exception of behalwe vir, vir seker and ek het vir geen oomblik daaraan gedink nie all examples contain a temporal vir expressing duration: sy het daar vir 'n lang tyd gebly, die potte wat vir 14 dae in die son gestaan het, die koek moet vir 'n uur bak (no preposition would be correct Diets). Die huis is vir baie jare deur die predikant bewoon, dié houer hou die wyn vars vir weke nadat hy oopgemaak is, vir eeue/jare en jare (jare, weke and eeue lank or simply omission of the preposition would be correct Diets although contamination can occur e.g. Vir 12 jaar lank staan hy aan die spits van die taalstryd - praesens historicum). With actions that began in the past and continue into the present (i.e. instances where English uses a perfect tense + ‘for’ and Dutch/Afrikaans use a present tense + al) a contamination of the Afrikaans and English is frequently heard: ek koop al vir 50 jaar hier, dit verduur ons nou al vir die afgelope 8 jaar but also vir 50 jaar doen ons dit. (cf. Raidt 1969: 47)
| |
| |
| |
7.26.14 Omission of prepositions
Sometimes a preposition is omitted in Afrikaans where none is used in the corresponding English idiom:
eendag (op een dag in Dutch. NB. this expression also contains the numeral, as in Eng., whereas Dt. uses the indefinite article), dusver (tot dusver - so far), op datum bring (tot op datum bring), hy kom naweke terug/ons is Saterdae oop (op), die pad vra (na), hierdie glas is handgemaak (met die hand gemaak), droogtegeteisterde gebiede (deur droogte geteisterde), iemand trou (met iemand trou: met is sometimes omitted in Dutch too but it is unusual to do so - cf. p. 217) iemand skei (van), bal/'n fliek kyk (na voetbal kyk - watch televisiekijken occurs in Dutch, as in Afrikaans, without a preposition and thus the loss of na in such cases may be analogy at work and not English influence.) Ponelis (1979: 200-1) and Raidt (1983: 183) mention this phenomenon without any reference to English influence although Raidt does state that it is a ‘Merkmal der Umgangssprache’.
| |
7.26.15
Preposition stranding is a syntactical issue which is discussed under 7.27.1 and 7.28.4.
|
|
Auteursrechtelijk beschermd