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- Afrikaans
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- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Coordination and Ellipsis
- Nouns and noun phrases (JANUARI 2025)
- 15 Characterization and classification
- 16 Projection of noun phrases I: Complementation
- 16.0. Introduction
- 16.1. General observations
- 16.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 16.3. Clausal complements
- 16.4. Bibliographical notes
- 17 Projection of noun phrases II: Modification
- 17.0. Introduction
- 17.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 17.2. Premodification
- 17.3. Postmodification
- 17.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 17.3.2. Relative clauses
- 17.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 17.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 17.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 17.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 17.4. Bibliographical notes
- 18 Projection of noun phrases III: Binominal constructions
- 18.0. Introduction
- 18.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 18.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 18.3. Bibliographical notes
- 19 Determiners: Articles and pronouns
- 19.0. Introduction
- 19.1. Articles
- 19.2. Pronouns
- 19.3. Bibliographical notes
- 20 Numerals and quantifiers
- 20.0. Introduction
- 20.1. Numerals
- 20.2. Quantifiers
- 20.2.1. Introduction
- 20.2.2. Universal quantifiers: ieder/elk ‘every’ and alle ‘all’
- 20.2.3. Existential quantifiers: sommige ‘some’ and enkele ‘some’
- 20.2.4. Degree quantifiers: veel ‘many/much’ and weinig ‘few/little’
- 20.2.5. Modification of quantifiers
- 20.2.6. A note on the adverbial use of degree quantifiers
- 20.3. Quantitative er constructions
- 20.4. Partitive and pseudo-partitive constructions
- 20.5. Bibliographical notes
- 21 Predeterminers
- 21.0. Introduction
- 21.1. The universal quantifier al ‘all’ and its alternants
- 21.2. The predeterminer heel ‘all/whole’
- 21.3. A note on focus particles
- 21.4. Bibliographical notes
- 22 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- 23 Referential dependencies (binding)
- Syntax
-
- General
A general introduction to Afrikaans
quickinfo
Afrikaans is typologically categorised as an Indo-European, West Germanic, Low Franconian language (also see Carstens and Raidt 2017; Kotzé 2018). Afrikaans has roundabout 7 million native speakers (anno 2016), of which circa 95% live in South Africa; another estimated 10 million second-language speakers live in Southern Africa. It is an official language in South Africa, and an officially recognised minority language in Namibia. Other communities of Afrikaans native speakers can be found in, among other countries, Namibia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, and even Argentina.
From a genetic perspective, the grammar (including the lexicon) of Afrikaans can be divided into two primary strata (i.e. diachronic layers or etymological tiers):
- primary native stratum, i.e. Germanic, specifically Low Saxon-Low Franconian; and
- primary non-native stratum, i.e. Classic, specifically Latin and Ancient Greek.
In addition, other languages also had an influence on the genesis of Afrikaans. The following secondary strata can be identified (see Coetzee 1987; Combrink 1990:365):
- secondary native stratum, namely an English stratum;
- secondary non-native strata, including:
- an Arabic stratum;
- a Creole Portuguese stratum;
- a Khoe stratum (mainly Cape Khoekhoe and Nama/Khoekhoegowab);
- a Malay stratum;
- a Ntu stratum
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- The term stratum is used here loosely to refer to diachronic layers/tiers of the lexicon and grammar ( i.e. etymological and grammatical "growth rings", so to speak), rather than in the strict sense of 'contact language' as it used traditionally in historical linguistics, and language politics.
- These different strata are to more or lesser degrees of importance to different levels of the grammar. For instance, in morphology the distinction between the two primary strata (Germanic vs. Classic) is of utmost importance to understand competition between morphemes, while the influence of secondary strata is important in understanding specific constructions (e.g. the Khoe stratum to understand the associative plural construction, the Malay stratum for the productivity of reduplicative compounds, etc.).
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[+]Historic varieties of Afrikaans
Afrikaans has a complex history, resulting in a varied and colourful language. Traditionally, three historic varieties are distinguished:
- Gariep Afrikaans (GAfr.; also known as Khoe Afrikaans, or more traditionally as Orange River Afrikaans) is the oldest variety of Afrikaans, dating back to the end of the sixteenth century when the first contact between local people and seafarers occurred. This variety became strongly associated with the territories north of Cape Town and into Namibia, and as the language of the Khoekhoe, Nama, San, Rehoboth Basters, and Griqua, among others.
- Cape Afrikaans (K-Afr.) was strongly associated with Cape Town and the area around Cape Town as the language of the slaves imported mainly from Malaysia. This variety also became closely associated with the Muslim community in the region, with some of the oldest Afrikaans texts been written in Arabic script.
- Eastern Frontier Afrikaans (EFAfr.; from a social rather than geographic perspective also known as Veeboer Afrikaans, literally Stock Farmer Afrikaans, or rarely Burgher Afrikaans) was the variety of Afrikaans spoken on the frontier east of Cape Town as the language of mainly the Dutch cattle farmers (the so-called veeboere). Often also included under Eastern Frontier Afrikaans is so-called Trekboer Afrikaans (literally Trek Farmer Afrikaans). Eastern Frontier Afrikaans is the historical variety that would later spread into the north-eastern regions of Southern Africa to where gold and diamonds were discovered, and so became over time the dominant geographical and socio-political variety of Afrikaans.
extra
- It is argued by Du Plessis (2018) that the term Frontier Afrikaans should be used as a superordinate term for all the varieties spoken on the inland frontier, with the two main subvarieties being Khoe Afrikaans, and Veeboer Afrikaans. The main distinction between Frontier Afrikaans and Cape Afrikaans is the influence of the languages of slaves on the latter.
- Also consider the concise overview of Conradie and Groenewald (2014), or the comprehensive history of Carstens and Raidt (2017; 2019). For a comprehensive history written in English, consider Ponelis (1993).
[+]User varieties of Afrikaans
From a synchronic perspective, Afrikaans has many geographical and social varieties, all of which are by and large mutually intelligible. These user varieties (i.e. associated with groups of users) include, among others:
Names of varieties are presented in Afrikaans, since these names are often untranslatable (e.g. Tronsvôls the variety of Afrikaans spoken in the northern parts of the country, specifically in what was formerly known as the Transvaal Province, and which is stereotypically characterised by the rounding of lang /a/.
- Afrikaans as a second language
- Afrikaans as a third and foreign language
- North-Eastern Afrikaans (NEAfr.):
- Bosveldafrikaans
- Johannesburgafrikaans (eastern suburbs)
- Johannesburgafrikaans (western suburbs)
- KwaZulu-Natalse Afrikaans
- Laeveldafrikaans
- Tronsvôls (eastern suburbs of Pretoria)
- Vrystaatafrikaans
- North-Western Afrikaans (NWAfr.):
- Boesmanlands
- Griekwa-Afrikaans (GRAfr.)
- Kharkamsafrikaans
- Namakwalands
- Namibiese Afrikaans
- Oorlams
- Rehobothafrikaans
- Richterveldafrikaans
- Riemvasmaakafrikaans
- South-Western Afrikaans (SWAfr.):
- Boelands/Bolands
- Boereworsgordynafrikaans (suburbans of Cape Town)
- Kaaps
- Kaapse Moslem-/Moesliemafrikaans
- Klein-Karooafrikaans
- Krooafrikaans
- Oos-Kaapafrikaans
- Overbergafrikaans
- Sandveldafrikaans (between Hopefield and Lutzville) (also sometimes called Weskusafrikaans)
- Strandveldafrikaans (between Napier and Cape Agulhas)
- Swartlands
- Weskusafrikaans (also sometimes called Sandveldafrikaans)
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- For more details, consider the overview of Conradie (2013).
[+]Usage varieties of Afrikaans
Next to user varieties, we could also identify numerous usage varieties (a.k.a. utility varieties), for instance:
- Kanselafrikaans (literally: Pulpit Afrikaans; referring to a very formal variety associated with religious contexts)
- Koerantafrikaans (literally: Newspaper Afrikaans; the Afrikaans of written journalism)
- Radioafrikaans (traditionally associated with the national Afrikaans radio service)
- Regsafrikaans (literally: Legal Afrikaans, used in laws, contracts, and courts)
- Standaardafrikaans (SAfr.; the standardised variety of Afrikaans, of which the orthography has been described since 1917 in different editions of the "Afrikaanse woordelys en spelreëls" ( Afrikaans Word List and Spelling Rules))
- Sypaadjieafrikaans (literally: Pavement Afrikaans; referring to informal Afrikaans used for chatting)
- Zefrikaans (referring to a variety often used in literature, music, blogs, etc., and which mimics the language of users in certain suburbs of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town)
[+]Online resources for linguists
The following list of resources and information sources might serve as a point of departure for linguists interested in doing research on the grammar of Afrikaans.
- Corpora
- Previous research (literature)
- Digitale Bibliografie van die Afrikaanse Taalkunde ( Digital Bibliography of Afrikaans Linguistics)
- Glottolog references
- General information and other resources
References
- 2017Die storie van Afrikaans uit Europa en van Afrika. Deel 1: Die Europese geskiedenis van Afrikaans.Protea Boekhuis
- 2017Die storie van Afrikaans uit Europa en van Afrika. Deel 1: Die Europese geskiedenis van Afrikaans.Protea Boekhuis
- 2019Die storie van Afrikaans: uit Europa en van Afrika (deel 2).Protea
- 1987Morfologiese aspekte van stratumkenmerke in die Afrikaanse leksikon.South African Journal of Linguistics = Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Taalkunde51-23,
- 1990Afrikaanse morfologie: capita exemplaria.Academica
- 2013Afrikaans (On language variation).(In Hinskens, F., Taeldeman, J., eds. Language and space: an international handbook of linguistic variation. Volume 3. Dutch. [Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science (HSK) 30/3]. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 897-917).
- 2014Die ontstaan en vestiging van Afrikaans.Bundels
- 2018Herkomsseminaar: Afrikaans sonder grense.
- 2018The classification of Afrikaans.
- 1993The development of Afrikaans.ReeksP. Lang
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