AFRIKAANS ENGLISH

AFRIKAANS ENGLISH. English used as a second language in South Africa and Namibia by speakers of AFRIKAANS. It is generally rhotic, characterized by a trilled or rolled r. It also has schwa where RP has the vowel /I/ in such words as pin and sit (/pən/ and /sət/), a sound regarded as the characteristic South African vowel, with a varying influence on SOUTH AFRICAN ENGLISH. Initial and medial /h/ is often voiced, and gives the impression of being dropped, so that red hair may be heard as ‘red air’. Conversely, there is often an intrusive aspirate between vowels, as in ‘cre-haytion’ for creation and ‘hi-haytus’ for hiatus. Before /ju/, as in you, the intrusive /h/ is palatalized as in English huge, while huge is often rendered as ‘yoodge’. Final voiced consonants tend to be devoiced: ‘dok’ for dog, ‘piecess’ for pieces. Because Afrikaans verbs are not marked for third-person singular, confusion of concord is common, including in the media, particularly with is/are, has/have, does/do. Use of prepositions is also influenced by Afrikaans: He's by the house (at the house), She's not here on the moment (at the moment), They're waiting on their results (for their results). Many expressions are carried over from Afrikaans: 'I rode (drove) all over town looking for my shoes but didn't find it (compare *dit, the Afrikaans inanimate pronoun for ‘them’). Most frequently heard is the phrase Is it?, from Afrikaans Is dit? (Really? Is that so? Are they?, etc.). Some Afrikaans-derived expressions have been assimilated into South African English, such as He's lazy to get up He's too lazy to get up, The tree is capable to withstand frost The tree is capable of withstanding frost, He farms with wine grapes He grows grapes for wine, and The village boasts with beautiful vineyards The village boasts beautiful vineyards.