Aspekte van die Afrikaans van Riemvasmakers

Abstract

English summary provided by author:

The language study was confined only to syntactical and morphological considerations. Where material was available, the syntax and morphology of these variations were compared to the other variations of Afrikaans. This resulted in the isolation of frequently applied syntactical and morphological variables. The functions of these and other signs of deviation in discourse could therefore be clearly described

A questionnaire was employed to collect comparable data from educated as well as from uneducated informants. The questions which were verbally presented, were divided into three sections, namely: a group to test the code ability, another to elicit informal dialogue and thirdly, to control and therefore verify morphological data within a formal framework of accepted rules of usage

The data collected was processed in the above three categories and compared to other spoken variations of Afrikaans. From this comparison it was evident that the Afrikaans of the Riemvasmakers shows deviations in the use of pronouns, verb patterns, the subordinate clause incorporation and in the application of extensions. Frequent morphological "deviations" are limited to diminuation and, in a lesser degree, to the plural form. The Afrikaans of the Riemvasmakers differs from standard Afrikaans, particularly in the way in which strategy is applied to reach the same conversational goal

Taken as a whole, the variations in the Afrikaans of the Riemvasmakers bear resemblance to that of the Griekwas and probably to that of other Afrikaans-speaking communities in the area surrounding the Orange River