- Official language in
- South Africa
- Also spoken in
- Namibia
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- 6.7M (2016)
Where it's spoken
Afrikaans is one of the eleven official languages of the Republic of South Africa under section 6 of its Constitution. Statistics South Africa's most recent census confirms a downward trend in the share of the population who speak Afrikaans most often at home. The same census found that two out of every five people in the Western Cape speak Afrikaans most often at home, a higher share than in any province except the Northern Cape. In Namibia, Afrikaans is recognized as one of the country's national languages, while the country's sole official language is English.
Sources
- Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 — Section 6(1), list of official languages
- Statistics South Africa (2023). Census 2022 Statistical Release (P0301.4) — §2.8 "Language most often spoken in the household", Table 2.8-2.9, pp.22-23
- Van Olmen, Daniël; Breed, Adri; Kotzé, Ernst (2025). "Negation in Afrikaans." In: Miestamo, Matti & Veselinova, Ljuba (eds.), Negation in the world's languages I: Africa. Berlin: Language Science Press — p.1, South Africa and Namibia language status
- Constitution of the Republic of Namibia — Article 3(1)
Script & pronunciation
Afrikaans is written in the Latin alphabet, extended with more vowels and diphthongs than the original Roman alphabet it is based on. A circumflex is placed on certain vowels to show that the vowel sound is stretched, as in this app's card Goeiemôre ('good morning'). A diaeresis is placed on certain vowels according to Afrikaans spelling rules, as in this app's card Voël ('bird').
Sources
- Alberts, Mariëtta (2013). "The Afrikaans Orthographic Rules as Guide for Other South African Languages." Lexikos 23 (AFRILEX-reeks/series 23): 1-28 — §3.3.5 Deelteken (Diaeresis), §3.3.10 Kappie (Circumflex), §3.3.16 Vokale
Grammar essentials
In a simple statement, the subject comes before the finite verb, as in this app's card Ek is 'n vegetariër ('I am a vegetarian'). In a yes/no question this order inverts, with the verb coming first, as in this app's card Praat jy Engels? ('Do you speak English?'). Afrikaans verbs show no agreement with the person or number of the subject, so is ('am/is/are') is the same form whether the subject is 'I', 'you', or 'they'; only a few verbs, such as is, still have a distinct past-tense form, like was ('was/were'). Negation of a plain statement is typically marked twice: a first nie comes right after the word or phrase it negates, and a second nie closes the clause, as in this app's card Ek is veganisties en eet geen diereprodukte nie ('I'm vegan and don't eat any animal products').
Sources
- Van Olmen, Daniël; Breed, Adri; Kotzé, Ernst (2025). "Negation in Afrikaans." In: Miestamo, Matti & Veselinova, Ljuba (eds.), Negation in the world's languages I: Africa. Berlin: Language Science Press — p.2 (word order, inflection), p.3 (negation, §2.1), p.5 (interrogatives, §2.2)
Politeness & etiquette
Afrikaans distinguishes formal and informal address with two words for 'you': the formal u and the informal jy. According to Stellenbosch University's Language Centre, u is the safer choice for a public institution, a business, or a professional context, and for greater social distance or weaker intimacy, while jy is used for an audience addressed as a group. This app marks its card Kan u dit sonder ui maak? ('Can you make it without onion?') as formal, using u.
Sources
- Stellenbosch University Language Centre. "'U' or 'jy' and 'jou': How does one choose in Afrikaans?" — Formal vs. informal address