Patagonian Afrikaans

Patagonian Afrikaans is a form of Afrikaans brought to Argentina by Boer immigrants following the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

Patagonian Afrikaans
Patagoniese Afrikaans
Native to	Argentina
Region	Chubut Province Sarmiento Comodoro Rivadavia
Ethnicity	Boer Argentines
Native speakers	(undated figure of <600)
Revival
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Weser–Rhine Germanic Low Franconian Central Dutch Dutch Hollandic Afrikaans Patagonian Afrikaans
Early forms	Frankish Dutch Afrikaans
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
IETF	af-u-sd-aru

Today, there are still Afrikaans-speaking communities with a well established cultural identity.

History

Afrikaans was brought to Patagonia in 1902 by approximately 600-650 Boers following their defeat in the Second Boer War. An Argentine delegation visited South Africa around the turn of the century and published advertisements in newspapers in Bloemfontein, Philipstown, and Burgersdorp to encourage Afrikaner immigration to Chubut. Many of them firstly settled in Comodoro Rivadavia, but later relocated to Sarmiento, as it had better access to fresh water. Many of these colonists' descendants still speak Afrikaans and continue to attend the Dutch Reformed Church. An early arrival described the territory as "painfully discouraging: bare ridges, with huge limestone rocks scattered around, threatening to tumble down. Yes, the coast was so unattractive that one might think that this part of the creation was still incomplete, and the bare mountains were heaps of sand which were left over when the Creator - with respect - had completed His task." Very few people under the age of sixty still speak Afrikaans, but it has been retained by third-generation descendants; this shift is believed to have been encouraged by intermarriage, increased immigration by Spanish speakers during the 1950s for economic reasons, and the suggestion by South African journalists that Afrikaner-Argentines were less-than.

Characteristics

The word nege (Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈniəχə]), meaning "nine" in Afrikaans, is pronounced with a hard "g" as [ˈniəgə]).

Some words also differ completely, some of which were adapted in the twenty-first century. For example, airport in Afrikaans is lughawe, which is a word that did not exist when the first Boers settled in Argentina. In Patagonia, the word for airport is vliegtuigstasie (lit. 'aeroplane station'). Other examples are listed below.

Comparison of Some Lexical Differences

Patagonian Afrikaans	Standard Afrikaans	Standard Dutch	English	Spanish
vliegtuigstasie	lughawe	luchthaven	airport	aeropuerto
kapok	sneeu	sneeuw	snow	nieve
kapokpop	sneeuman	sneeuwman, sneeuwpop	snowman	hombre de nieve
leermeester	onderwyser	leraar	teacher	maestro/a
mister	meneer	meneer	mister	señor
goewerment	regering	regering	government	gobierno
juts	regter	rechter	judge	juez(a)
operasiedokter	chirurg	chirurg	surgeon	cirugano/a
maalbolletjie	frikkadel	gehaktbal	meatball	albóndiga
camión	bakkie	vrachtwagen	truck	camión
sí	ja	ja	yes	sí