What language is Afrikaans?
Q: What language is Afrikaans?
A: Afrikaans is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in South Africa and Namibia.
Q: Where did the dialect of Afrikaans originate from?
A: The dialect of Afrikaans originated from among the Afrikaner Protestant settlers, the unfree workers, and slaves brought to the Cape area in southwestern South Africa by the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC) between 1652 and 1705.
Q: Who were these settlers?
A: Most of these first settlers were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands), though there were also many from Germany, some from France, a few from Scotland, and various other countries. The unfree workers and slaves were Malays, and Malagasy in addition to the native Khoi and Bushmen.
Q: How much of White Afrikaans speaking population was Dutch according to J. A Heese's research?
A: According to J. A Heese's research until 1807 36.8% of the ancestors of White Afrikaans speaking population were Dutch.
Q: What other nationalities made up this population?
A: 35% were German, 14.6% were French and 7.2% non-white (of African and/or Asian origins).
Q: When did people start recognizing it as a different language than Dutch?
A:Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect until early 20th century when it began to be widely known as a different language.
Q:What does "Afrikaans" mean in English?
A:The name "Afrikaans" means "African" in English; it is an African form of Dutch
