Abstract

VAN NIEKERK, Angélique. A historical overview of continuous language development in Afrikaans in Huisgenoot since 1916. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2025, vol.65, n.1, pp.152-187. ISSN 2224-7912.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2025/v65n1a8.

The article offers a data-driven overview of the continuous language development in printed Afrikaans advertisements during a relatively short (historical) time span. Advertisements were selected from the first edition of the Huisgenoot magazine in a five-year interval dating from 1924 to January 2024. The very first edition of the magazine in 1916 is also included. Research within historical linguistics normally spans a much longer time than 100years. The chosen data from a young language, Afrikaans, however, offers an interesting view on especially the following categories in which data were listed as examples of continual language change (development), namely politeness, pronoun use (including forms of address), spelling, vocabulary, grammar (including sentence structure, articles, form of the adjective and verb), linguistic creativity (language play) and code-switching. Noticeable and continual language change (development) was studied with respect to the periods 1916 to 1949 and 1994 to 2024 respectively. Despite the debates on the process of standardisation and the purist and dualistic theories used in this process that were followed up to 1925 (when Afrikaans obtained official status as one of three languages in South Africa) the written and standardised form of Afrikaans in the mainstream media in 2024 offers a point of reference for interpreting the data (timeframe one vs. timeframe two) in this overview. The data captured in section four (and the addendum) include an important historical corpus relevant to possible future investigation of language change. The data have indicated the following noteworthy changes on a language level: • In timeframe 1 (1916-1949), more grammatical variation is noticed in terms of the use of articles, the form of the adjective, the form of the verb (tenses), and the use of the personal pronoun - sections A and D of the analysis. • More shortened sentences (under-lexicalisation) can be identified in the second timeframe (1994-2024) compared to the first timeframe in section D of the analysis. • Continuous renewal on the lexicon level (section C of the analysis) in both timeframes studied (1916-1949 and 1994-2024) is noticed. • An increased informality and less politeness (section A of the analysis) in timeframe 2 compared to timeframe 1 (1916-1949) can be mentioned. • There is noticeably more language creativity and wordplay in timeframe 2 (section E of the analysis) than in timeframe 1. • Only in the second timeframe (1994-2024) code-switching with the African languages is included (section F of the analysis). • Dutch influence on Afrikaans decreased in the first timeframe since 1916 (1916-1949), and almost no noticeable Dutch influence in the second time frame (since 1994) can be seen. • There is no variation in spelling in the second timeframe (1994-2024) of the analysis. Exact examples of the data (examples divided by semicolons) are copied from the advertisements in the addendum (link) of this article to reflect the above trends within each category of analysis. It is evident from the literature study that the sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic aspects of change will be reflected on a language level. This includes, for example, the way in which communication was carried out regarding the following aspects in the two selected timeframes: (1) gender roles and social status; (2) views held about physical appearance; (3) language pride and literature; (4) cultural world and daily life; (5) career, world of work (further) education; (6) the land (earth) and culture; (7) nation and ethnicity; (8) role of farmers; land and earth; (9) communication practice; and (10) financial practice. Change is an inherent quality of any living organism, such as a tree, and Afrikaans displays the qualities of an organism that is very much alive. Language change in general (that is, in all languages) makes it evident that a continuous push and pull between disruption and restoration is part and parcel of a living language as is evident from the data (link in the addendum). Language change and development cannot be stopped ifa language is used as is evident from the Huisgenoot data.

Keywords : Language development; language change; politeness; spelling; vocabulary; grammar; language creativity; language mixing; psychological and social aspects; contextual change.

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