Afrikaans, tegnologie en nuwe woorde: ’n paar gedagtes

Die mate waartoe ’n taal kan groei en verander – veral kleiner tale – moet nie onderskat word nie, selfs nie in die geglobaliseerde wêreld waarin ons vandag woon nie. Daar moet, byvoorbeeld, nie aangeneem word dat almal Engels magtig is nie. Dit is ook nie nodig om slegs Engels te gebruik nie, veral nie as die nodige terminologie in ander tale beskikbaar is nie. Indien daar nie terminologie beskikbaar is nie (soos die geval is met, byvoorbeeld, tegnologie wat so vinnig verander), kan daar werk van gemaak word om hierdie terminologie te skep. Daar blyk egter die veronderstelling te wees dat sekere terminologie nie in sekere tale kan bestaan nie. Dít is egter onsin.

Foto: Gratisography

Elke dag word nuwe woorde geskep of bestaande woorde aangepas deur die sprekers van die taal. Daar is ’n kans vir kreatiewe, speelse neologismes en om die “gevoel” van die taal in hierdie nuwe woorde oor te dra. Ons twiet, hou van blaaie en luister na ’n potgooi. Ons neem ’n kiekie van die rekenaarskerm en draadloos verwys nie meer net na ’n radio nie. Ons wil Facebook en Google in Afrikaans sien. In plaas daarvan dat die taal stilstaan en stof opgaar, groei en gedy dit elke dag. 

Die vorming van nuwe woorde is eintlik ’n wonderlike manier om die taalgemeenskap in aksie te sien. Deur ook ’n Afrikaanse gebruikerkoppelvlak vir soveel programme as moontlik te skep kan ander tale ook dié voorbeeld volg en hulle eie tale op hierdie manier aanwend en laat groei.

Taal is tog daar om aan sprekers se behoeftes te voldoen – hoekom sal ons dit nou nie ten volle benut nie?

The “Weird” Life of a Bilingual

Or, a Change to the Blog

If you’ve read this blog a few times, you’ll know by now that I am bilingual. Most South Africans speak at least two languages (we don’t have 11 official languages just to show off). I’m not referring to “I can say ‘hello’, ‘please’, and ‘goodbye’”, but “I’m fluent in both”. It’s normal for me to switch between Afrikaans (my mother tongue) and English (my second language) throughout the day, as these two are the only ones in which I am completely fluent. This type of switching isn’t strange in South Africa and it’s not strange in many countries. But I have found that those who speak only English, for example, (because it’s the only language they need in everyday life) don’t always understand how life as a bilingual generally works.

View image | gettyimages.com

A Typical Day
For example, when I get to work, I’ll switch between English and Afrikaans to greet everyone. Most emails are in English, except when I know the person is Afrikaans and they are the only one who will read it (otherwise, English). Because I translate between English and Afrikaans, I’ll switch between them when speaking to clients. If it’s a new client, I’ll speak English. If I know the client and I know they’re Afrikaans, I’ll switch to Afrikaans. If I do not speak their first language, English is mostly the default. Some of my colleagues may ask me to speak to them in Afrikaans in order to practice understanding it (it’s a lot easier to read a language than understand someone when they speak at a normal tempo) or to explain any differences between translated texts (especially where idioms are used). Some of the research I do during the day may also require me to read Dutch. Most of the time you don’t really think about which language you need to use because you do it every day.

A Merge – the New Hersenskim
To make a very long story short, I’ve decided to make a change to this blog by merging Hersenskim and my Afrikaans blog. The reason for this is that, in many instances, the posts for both are the same, especially when I post flash fiction or videos. It will therefore be easier to post once and just translate the necessary parts of the post. While there will still be posts in Afrikaans (for instance book reviews or podcasts), these can just be skipped by readers who do not understand the language.

Why am I doing this?
Except for making my job easier and giving me more time to work on a variety of posts, it is simply a good way to feel that I don’t have to separate what I could call my life in one language to that in another language because some readers will have to skip some of the posts. There are more than 7 000 languages in the world and to use only a dominant language does not contribute to multilingualism or teaching others about different peoples and cultures. This is as true in SA as it is in most countries and, as a language practitioner, I feel that I want to promote the use of all languages. This is one way in which I can do it.

Book Impression: When Languages Die

When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and the Erosion of Human Knowledge by K. David Harrison

Harrison starts his book by giving a short overview of the rate at which languages are dying: “We do not even know what exactly we stand to lose – for science, for humanity, for posterity – when languages die” (Harrison, 2007:3). Its chapters cover ways in which different calendars, methods of time reckoning and counting, traditional agricultural practices, and immediate surroundings are reflected in different cultures’ languages. For example, the number of months in a year and their names in different languages and cultures are given with a description as to how these names came about. Explanations of the way in which a dominant language is taking the place of these endangered language speakers’ mother tongue is also given.   

When Languages Die. Oxford University Press.

Various case studies are also included, as well as some of the mythology, legends, and folklore of a people which are almost forgotten or lost. The current knowledge of speakers show just how eroded their folk knowledge have become as only snatches of stories and songs are remembered. For me this held special interest. The way in which the use of dominant languages are causing smaller languages’ extinction are at the forefront of this volume. 

However, even though it is quite a fascinating book and Harrison is clearly extremely passionate about his subject, the tone of the book (along with the repetition that dominant global languages are causing the extinction of vast amounts of knowledge) is in some places off-putting and almost patronising. Moving past this, I can recommend this book to not only those interested in linguistics, but also those interested in mythology, legends, and cultures in general.

I got this book from the library, but it is also available from bookshops and online.

Harrison, K. D. (2007) When Languages Die: The Extinction of the World’s Languages and theErosion of Human Knowledge. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Language Matters: Some notes on South African English

Robots, robots, everywhere!

In South Africa traffic lights are very often referred to as “robots” – and not only in English. Though I am not sure where and when exactly this started, I do have an idea about why it keeps on being used.

"Red Robot" by Splenetic

1. When you give directions it is faster to say “turn right and the robot” than “turn right at the traffic light”. This is especially helpful if you, like me, are really bad with directions.
2. The true reason, in my opinion, is that you get to say things like “turn right at the robot” in a normal conversation and, after a rain storm (especially in Sandton *cough cough*) you get to say “there’s a lot of robots out” or simply “the robots are out”. While sitting in traffic it’s a lot more entertaining to think it’s caused by robots lumbering about and blocking traffic than a few lights not working.

Therefore, I will keep on referring to traffic lights as robots. Because sometimes you just need a little whimsy in your day. 

Language Matters: Suzanne Talhouk: Don't kill your language

The Joy of Lexicography by Erin McKean

Bookish Things: A Special Day for Buying a Book

Most of you who often visit my blog know that my mother tongue is Afrikaans. And today, 14 August, is Koop-‘n-Afrikaanse-boek-dag, (“Buy an Afrikaans Book Day”).  With nearly 7 million South Africans who speak the language at home, Afrikaans is the third most-spoken language in South Africa. (English is the home language of approximately 5 million South Africans.)

If you’d like to check out some of the literature, try the translated books by Karel Schoeman, Dan Sleigh or Dalene Matthee. Afrikaans is a young language, but it is the language I grew up with, and it is the language of my heart…

As most of the readers here are English, I’ve decided to add a video of one of my favourite (bilingual) songs to help you get over that midweek slump. (Yes, this is quite a departure from the usual Early Music I listen to!)

For the Afrikaans readers, head on over to Kammastories!