THE BIRTH OF A LANGUAGE: AFRIKAANS
From his home in Oudtshoorn, Arbeidsgenot (House of Work and Pleasure), C.J. Langenhoven (1873-1932) co-authored the South African Anthem, “Die Stem”. Langenhoven was, however, much more than the legacy of this one work. Arbeidsgenot was donated to the country following the death of Langenhoven’s wife in the 1950s. Langenhoven and his wife, a widow ten years his senior, have been re-interned on the property after vandalism damaged the original family cemetery. The house, complete with its original furnishings, is open on weekdays for tours.
Born into an Afrikaans-speaking farming family, Langenhoven was educated as a lawyer and became a distinguished Afrikaans author of stories for children ages 2 to 100. When asked about studying in Europe, Langenhoven replied that there was more than enough to occupy his time in South Africa. Langenhoven’s most noted works, all written in Afrikaans, include “Christmas Kinder”, the Trouble with Neighbors, and Harrie the Elephant. Noted for his sense of humor, Langenhoven was also committed to the adoption of Afrikaans as an official language of South Africa as he was opposed to having just English and/or “high Dutch” used in schools, and the government. Langenhoven felt that both Dutch and English were dominating education and the courts, and that full meanings and subtleties of words were being lost in translations of legal precedence. Langenhoven was successful in having Afrikaans, as opposed to Dutch, adopted in public schools, by 1914, and after becoming a senator in the 1920s, was also able to have Afrikaans adopted as an official language of the courts and country by 1927.
Of course, this was to have far reaching implications as the adoption of Afrikaans in the townships, during the Apartheid era and at the expense of English and native languages, was to lead, in part, to the Soweto Uprising in the 1970s. This is the subject of the Hector Pietersen Museum in Soweto and the Apartheid Museum as discussed in previous posts.
Afrikaans, according to Peter – the manager of Arbeidsgenot, is “a language of Africa” and is constantly changing to reflect the diversity of the country as a whole. Indeed, as I travel through the country, it appears that Afrikaans is the language of communication between ethnic groups with English as a second. Although, it is not uncommon to hear words in English, Zulu, and/or Hindi/Urdu thrown in for good measure. Having originally developed from Dutch, after the Dutch originally settled the Cape of Good Hope in the 1600s (as a refueling station for its ships heading to the spice islands in Asia), it is the direct result of how local Blacks and Coloreds tried to make sense of the Dutch language and then how the Whites themselves took control over the development of the language.
Afrikaaners today are descended from these original Dutch settlers as well as from Germans and French Protestants who fled Catholic France in the wake of religious persecution. Common Afrikaaner names include, but are not limited to, Van De Berg, Van de Mewre (sp?), Du Plessy, Joubert, Le Roux, and De Marais. It is also from this Afrikaaner group that some individuals, those unhappy with growing British domination as Dutch maritime power waned and British power increased, left the Cape colonies moving east and north - eventually to establish the Free State and to settle the areas that would become Johannesburg and Pretoria. Coloureds are descended from the mixing of white, black, and Malays/Asians brought into the country as cheap labor by the European controlling powers. While rare during the Apartheid era, South Africans are mixing much more openly today.
Often referred to as “pigeon Dutch”, Afrikaans was originally looked down upon because indeed it includes fewer words than in High Dutch. Nonetheless, Dutch, Flemish (Belgian form of Dutch), and Afrikaans speakers can communicate with one another to this day if with occasional difficulty over pronunciation differences.
From his home in Oudtshoorn, Arbeidsgenot (House of Work and Pleasure), C.J. Langenhoven (1873-1932) co-authored the South African Anthem, “Die Stem”. Langenhoven was, however, much more than the legacy of this one work. Arbeidsgenot was donated to the country following the death of Langenhoven’s wife in the 1950s. Langenhoven and his wife, a widow ten years his senior, have been re-interned on the property after vandalism damaged the original family cemetery. The house, complete with its original furnishings, is open on weekdays for tours.
Born into an Afrikaans-speaking farming family, Langenhoven was educated as a lawyer and became a distinguished Afrikaans author of stories for children ages 2 to 100. When asked about studying in Europe, Langenhoven replied that there was more than enough to occupy his time in South Africa. Langenhoven’s most noted works, all written in Afrikaans, include “Christmas Kinder”, the Trouble with Neighbors, and Harrie the Elephant. Noted for his sense of humor, Langenhoven was also committed to the adoption of Afrikaans as an official language of South Africa as he was opposed to having just English and/or “high Dutch” used in schools, and the government. Langenhoven felt that both Dutch and English were dominating education and the courts, and that full meanings and subtleties of words were being lost in translations of legal precedence. Langenhoven was successful in having Afrikaans, as opposed to Dutch, adopted in public schools, by 1914, and after becoming a senator in the 1920s, was also able to have Afrikaans adopted as an official language of the courts and country by 1927.
Of course, this was to have far reaching implications as the adoption of Afrikaans in the townships, during the Apartheid era and at the expense of English and native languages, was to lead, in part, to the Soweto Uprising in the 1970s. This is the subject of the Hector Pietersen Museum in Soweto and the Apartheid Museum as discussed in previous posts.
Afrikaans, according to Peter – the manager of Arbeidsgenot, is “a language of Africa” and is constantly changing to reflect the diversity of the country as a whole. Indeed, as I travel through the country, it appears that Afrikaans is the language of communication between ethnic groups with English as a second. Although, it is not uncommon to hear words in English, Zulu, and/or Hindi/Urdu thrown in for good measure. Having originally developed from Dutch, after the Dutch originally settled the Cape of Good Hope in the 1600s (as a refueling station for its ships heading to the spice islands in Asia), it is the direct result of how local Blacks and Coloreds tried to make sense of the Dutch language and then how the Whites themselves took control over the development of the language.
Afrikaaners today are descended from these original Dutch settlers as well as from Germans and French Protestants who fled Catholic France in the wake of religious persecution. Common Afrikaaner names include, but are not limited to, Van De Berg, Van de Mewre (sp?), Du Plessy, Joubert, Le Roux, and De Marais. It is also from this Afrikaaner group that some individuals, those unhappy with growing British domination as Dutch maritime power waned and British power increased, left the Cape colonies moving east and north - eventually to establish the Free State and to settle the areas that would become Johannesburg and Pretoria. Coloureds are descended from the mixing of white, black, and Malays/Asians brought into the country as cheap labor by the European controlling powers. While rare during the Apartheid era, South Africans are mixing much more openly today.
Often referred to as “pigeon Dutch”, Afrikaans was originally looked down upon because indeed it includes fewer words than in High Dutch. Nonetheless, Dutch, Flemish (Belgian form of Dutch), and Afrikaans speakers can communicate with one another to this day if with occasional difficulty over pronunciation differences.
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