Afrikaans

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A language of South Africa

ISO 639-3
afr
Population

6,860,000 in South Africa (2011 census), decreasing. Population total all countries: 7,096,810. L2 users: 10,300,000 in South Africa.

Location

Widespread, but less speakers in East Cape and KwaZuluNatal provinces.

Language Maps
Language Status

1 (National). Statutory national language (1996, Constitution, Art 6(1)).

Classification
Indo-European, Germanic, West, Low Saxon-Low Franconian, Low Franconian
Dialects

Cape Afrikaans (West Cape Afrikaans), East Cape Afrikaans, Orange River Afrikaans. A variant of the Dutch [nld] spoken by the 17th century colonists, with some lexical and syntactic borrowings from Malay [zlm], Bantu languages, Khoisan languages, Portuguese [por], and other European languages. Earliest Afrikaaners were brought from Java 300 years ago.

Language Use

Some also use English [eng].

Language Development
Taught in primary and secondary schools. Fully developed. Bible: 1933–2000.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Afrikaans
Writing

Braille script [Brai], used since 1953. Latin script [Latn], primary usage.

Other Comments

Muslim, Christian.

Also spoken in:

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