AFRIKAANS LANGUAGE FACTS:

NATIVE: Afrikaans

NATIVE SPEAKERS: 7 million L1; 10 million L2

OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN 2 COUNTRIES: South Africa and Namibia

WRITING SYSTEMS: Latin (Afrikaans alphabet)

REGULATED BY: Die Taalkommissie (The Language Commission)

HELPFUL RESOURCES:

Dictionaries:

Kromhout, Jan. Afrikaans-English, English-Afrikaans dictionary. New York, NY: Hippocrene Books, 2001.

Academic Research:

Afrikaans Department, University of Pretoria

Language

Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa and Namibia. Afrikaans and Dutch are largely mutually intelligible.

Economic Significance

South Africa has the largest and best developed economy on the continent, so the ability to translate the language will be helpful to companies conducting business there. Afrikaans is also cruciall to understanding South African literature and culture, or scholars interested in southern Africa with a focus on anthropology, agriculture, sociology, economics, political science, linguistics.

History

The language descended from Dutch vernacular brought by Dutch settlers to what is now South Africa in the 17th century. During the 18th century, Afrikaans diverged from Dutch.

Dialects

Northern Cape, Eastern Cape and Western Cape