THE RISE AND POSSIBLE DEMISE OF AFRIKAANS AS PUBLIC LANGUAGE

Abstract

Afrikaans developed from Dutch into a distinct language as a result of the interaction of imported slaves, indigenous Khoikhoi and European colonists at the Cape of Good Hope. English, which became the official language in 1806 in the Cape Colony, threatened both Dutch, the official language between 1652 and 1795, and Afrikaans. The dispersal of the Dutch or Afrikaner colonists across South Africa, the rise of Afrikaner nationalism triggered by the South African War (1899–1902), and widespread Afrikaner poverty in the early decades of the twentieth century created the conditions for the rapid growth of Afrikaans as public language. It is one of only four languages in the world that in the course of the twentieth century was standardized and used in all walks of public and private life, including postgraduate teaching. The transition of South Africa to an inclusive democracy in 1994 freed Afrikaans from its apartheid shackles but also made it only one of eleven official languages. As a result its future as a public language is far from secure.