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The name of the language comes directly from the Dutch word Afrikaansch (now spelled Afrikaans) [n 4] meaning 'African'. [12] It was previously referred to as 'Cape Dutch' (Kaap-Hollands or Kaap-Nederlands), a term also used to refer to the early Cape settlers collectively, or the derogatory 'kitchen Dutch' (kombuistaal) from its use by slaves of colonial settlers "in the kitchen".
Afrikaans, a language primarily descended from Dutch, is the mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds. [10] According to the South African National Census of 2022, 10.6% of South Africans claimed to speak Afrikaans as a first language at home, making it the third most widely spoken home language in the country. [11]
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigenous language and an official language of Bolivia .
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken widely in South Africa and Namibia, and to a lesser extent in Botswana and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular [ 17 ] [ 18 ] of South Holland ( Hollandic dialect ) [ 19 ] [ 20 ] spoken by the mainly Dutch colonists of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop ...
Indo-European languages, while not indigenous to Africa, are spoken in South Africa and Namibia (Afrikaans, English, German) and are used as lingua francas in Liberia and the former colonies of the United Kingdom , former colonies of France and of Belgium , former colonies of Portugal , former colonies of Italy , former colonies of Spain and ...
[17] [23] Culturally and linguistically, they are divided into Afrikaans-speaking and English-speaking groups. [citation needed] According to the 2022 census, one of the top three most spoken languages is Afrikaans (10,6%). The first census in South Africa in 1911 showed that Whites made up 22% of the population; who declined to 16% in 1980. [24]
Afrikaans is also spoken widely across the centre and north of the country, as a second (or third or even fourth) language by Black or Indigenous South Africans (which, in South Africa, popularly means SiNtu-speaking populations) living in farming areas. The 2011 census recorded the following distribution of first language speakers: [6]
Trekboers also traded with indigenous people. This meant their herds were of hardy local stock. [citation needed] They formed a vital link between the pool of animals in the interior and the providers of shipping provisions at the Cape. Trekboere were nomadic, living in their wagons and rarely remaining in one location for an extended period of ...