A major "oddness" in Dutch is its way of swearing, which is radically different from other neighbouring languages.
The Dutch say "Damn me" and they also use diseases as cursewords. This is unique in Europe. Cancer for example is a verb.
Then there's a link with Afrikaans which I recently figured out.
André ones told me that the Afrikaans(e) word for "cunt" is "kont". Which to me, as a Dutch speaker, is quite funny as "kont" in Dutch means "ass/bum" while "kut" is the word for "cunt". I could never imagine how they so radically changed the words meaning (unless there was a clear and constant shortage of women on the ships to South Africa) but I discovered that during the 17th century "kut" and "kont" were synonyms, both meaning "cunt" the only difference is that "kont" is the nasalized version of "kut". It turns out that at this time (which also was the time most of the future Boers left the Low Countries) "kont" was the more popular of the two and, just like with certain profanity today, gradually lost its "shockvalue" and at a point just refered to a persons bums. In South Afrika however the word "kut" was lost, and "kont" never lost its shock value.
I could never imagine how they so radically changed the words meaning (unless there was a clear and constant shortage of women on the ships to South Africa)
A major "oddness" in Dutch is its way of swearing, which is radically different from other neighbouring languages.
The Dutch say "Damn me" and they also use diseases as cursewords. This is unique in Europe. Cancer for example is a verb.
Then there's a link with Afrikaans which I recently figured out.
André ones told me that the Afrikaans(e) word for "cunt" is "kont". Which to me, as a Dutch speaker, is quite funny as "kont" in Dutch means "ass/bum" while "kut" is the word for "cunt". I could never imagine how they so radically changed the words meaning (unless there was a clear and constant shortage of women on the ships to South Africa) but I discovered that during the 17th century "kut" and "kont" were synonyms, both meaning "cunt" the only difference is that "kont" is the nasalized version of "kut". It turns out that at this time (which also was the time most of the future Boers left the Low Countries) "kont" was the more popular of the two and, just like with certain profanity today, gradually lost its "shockvalue" and at a point just refered to a persons bums. In South Afrika however the word "kut" was lost, and "kont" never lost its shock value.
Hm, and then there's that other horrible word which you use for "cat"...
Speaking of peculiarities, in Afrikaans we have the words "guur" and "onguur". We speak of "die weer is guur" (the weather is bad) and "hy is onguur" (he's a bad person. So the two words have roughly the same meaning (bad), although one relates only to the weather and the other only to people. But here's the funny thing. In the original Dutch, "guur" and "onguur" were antonyms, with "guur" meaning good, with the opposite being "onguur" (adding the prefix on-). So "die weer is guur" then meant "the weather is nice/good" etc. 'n Gure mens = a good/nice person. Somehow "guur" took on a negative meaning over the years. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Hm, and then there's that other horrible word which you use for "cat"... .
That too surprises me! A male cat is called a "kater" in Dutch, a female is a "poes" (or less commonly a "kattin") but if "poes" is a swearword in Afrikaans then how do you call a female cat?
Hm, and then there's that other horrible word which you use for "cat"... .
That too surprises me! A male cat is called a "kater" in Dutch, a female is a "poes" (or less commonly a "kattin") but if "poes" is a swearword in Afrikaans then how do you call a female cat?
Simply a wyfiekat, as compared to mannetjieskat. We have kater for a male cat as well, but it has largely fallen into disuse. It still survises in the word swerkater (a bad guy).I also remember a children's song in which the words "kater kieter kat" appear (. According to my dictionary, kater also means hangover (as in the morning after)... I can't recall that I've ever heard it used in that sense, though. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Last edited by André in Zuid-Afrika on Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
(. According to my dictionary, kater also means hangover (as in the morning after)... I can't recall that I've ever heard it used in that sense, though.
In Dutch "kater" means hangover as well as "dissapointment".
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
Simply a wyfiekat, as compared to mannetjieskat. We have kater for a male cat as well, but it has largely fallen into disuse.
I wonder, is this use common concerning animals? Do you people prefer to prefix an animal with "wyfie/mannetjies" rather than use a separate word?
What are the Afrikaanse words for these animals?
(I understand if some animals have no real translations as they might not be common in SA)
(. According to my dictionary, kater also means hangover (as in the morning after)... I can't recall that I've ever heard it used in that sense, though.
In Dutch "kater" means hangover as well as "dissapointment".
André in Zuid-Afrika wrote:
Simply a wyfiekat, as compared to mannetjieskat. We have kater for a male cat as well, but it has largely fallen into disuse.
I wonder, is this use common concerning animals? Do you people prefer to prefix an animal with "wyfie/mannetjies" rather than use a separate word?
Nope, usually we have different words for female and male animals.
Quote:
What are the Afrikaanse words for these animals?
(I understand if some animals have no real translations as they might not be common in SA)
(Hare) - (Haas) - (Rammelaar) - (Voedster/Vooi) - (Pulsterling) = mannetjieshaas, wyfiehaas, babahaas _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
André ones told me that the Afrikaans(e) word for "cunt" is "kont". Which to me, as a Dutch speaker, is quite funny as "kont" in Dutch means "ass/bum" while "kut" is the word for "cunt". I could never imagine how they so radically changed the words meaning (unless there was a clear and constant shortage of women on the ships to South Africa) but I discovered that during the 17th century "kut" and "kont" were synonyms, both meaning "cunt" the only difference is that "kont" is the nasalized version of "kut". It turns out that at this time (which also was the time most of the future Boers left the Low Countries) "kont" was the more popular of the two and, just like with certain profanity today, gradually lost its "shockvalue" and at a point just refered to a persons bums. In South Afrika however the word "kut" was lost, and "kont" never lost its shock value.
The same way that 'fanny' has changed its meaning in America. _________________ Hillary Clinton is an acquired taste which I have clearly yet to acquire.
something strange about Italian is that we repeat the object complement in the sentences where we put the complement before the verb.
e.g.: "Illibro lo trovi in camera mia" ---> "The book you find it in my room"
I think that no other language do this...
Hope that what I wrote is correct... _________________ WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY!!!
Whoops, almost forgot the one thing that makes Afrikaans unique amongst West Germanic languages - the double negative. This is probably the one thing that learners of Afrikaans find th most difficult to learn, and is oftern the easiest way of spotting a non-native speaker, regardless of how flawless his/her Afrikaans might otherwise be.
From Wikipedia: Both French and San origins have been suggested for double negation in Afrikaans. While double negation is still found in Low Franconian dialects in West-Flanders and in some 'isolated' villages in the center of the Netherlands (i.e. Garderen), it takes a different form, which is not found in Afrikaans (ie. ikne wil dat nie doen - I not will that not do). The -ne was the Old Franconian way to negate, but it is suggested that since it became highly non-voiced 'nie' or 'niet' was needed to complement the -ne. With time the -ne disappeared in most Low Franconian ("Dutch") dialects.
The double negative construction has been fully grammaticalized in standard Afrikaans and its proper use follows a set of fairly complex rules as the examples below (provided by Bruce Donaldson) show:
Ek het nie geweet dat hy sou kom nie = Eng. I didn't know that he would be coming.
Ek het geweet dat hy nie sou kom nie = Eng. I knew that he wouldn't be coming.
Ek het nie geweet dat hy nie sou kom nie = Eng. I didn't know that he wouldn't be coming.
Hy sal nie kom nie, want hy is siek = Eng. He won't be coming because he is sick.
Dis (=Dit is) nie so moeilik om Afrikaans te leer nie = Eng. It's not so difficult to learn Afrikaans.
One must note, however, that certain words in Afrikaans arise due to grammar. For example 'moet nie' which literally means 'must not' usually becomes 'moenie'. Although one does not have to write or say it like this, virtually all Afrikaans speakers will change the two words to moenie.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afrikaans_grammar" _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Interestingly, where I live, double negatives are very common in the regional variation of English. However, it is not generally accepted as 'correct' and people who use it are generally perceived as uneducated, unfortunately.
Examples:
I haven't got no money = I haven't got any money / I have no money
I didn't never do that = I didn't do that / I never did that
I haven't done nothing = I haven't done anything / I've done nothing
Middle Dutch and even early modern Dutch had the double negative, it is one of the few signs of truly complex grammar that remains in Afrikaans. Traditionally all Old Germanic language had a double negative, Afrikaans is the last of its kind
Anothing intersting thing about Dutch (and quite possibly Afrikaans as wel) is that it has a postive form of "not".
In English you can say "I did not give that book" and "I did give that book" but in Dutch you say "Ik heb je dat boek wel gegeven". "Wel" being the positive form of "not".
Tagalog has a peculiarity in that if you use the word for 'this', 'that' or 'that over there' in front of the noun then you must repeat it after it:
Itong mesang ito. = This table. (literally: This table this)
Iyong paaralang iyon. = That school over there. (literally: That school that over there)
Iyang librong iyan. = That book. (literally: That book that)
If you don't use the determiner before the noun then use "ang" in front and place the determiner after it:
Ang mesang ito. = This table.
Ang paaralang iyon. = That school over there.
Ang librong iyan. = That book.
Interestingly, where I live, double negatives are very common in the regional variation of English. However, it is not generally accepted as 'correct' and people who use it are generally perceived as uneducated, unfortunately.
Examples:
I haven't got no money = I haven't got any money / I have no money
I didn't never do that = I didn't do that / I never did that
I haven't done nothing = I haven't done anything / I've done nothing
You often hear that in SA English as well, but it's considered as slang. It also happens in Afrikaans eg. Niemand vertel my nooit niks nie=nobody never tells me nothing. The thing is that sentences like these actually mean the opposite of what the person is trying to say. _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Middle Dutch and even early modern Dutch had the double negative, it is one of the few signs of truly complex grammar that remains in Afrikaans. Traditionally all Old Germanic language had a double negative, Afrikaans is the last of its kind
Anothing intersting thing about Dutch (and quite possibly Afrikaans as wel) is that it has a postive form of "not".
In English you can say "I did not give that book" and "I did give that book" but in Dutch you say "Ik heb je dat boek wel gegeven". "Wel" being the positive form of "not".
We have that too (Ek het wel vir jou die boek gegee). _________________ Toe ek jonk was, het ek al die antwoorde geken. Nou verstaan ek nie eens die vrae nie.
Location: San Francisco, Noord-Kalifornië, Noord-Amerika
Posted: Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:28 pm Post subject:
One feature of Italian that isn't shared by other romance languages (at least, not by French and Italian, the only other romance languages I'm familiar with) is the use of the definite article with the possessive article:
la sua tavola = her table
i miei amici = my friends
However, when speaking of members of your own family, you drop the definite article:
mia sorella = my sister
Are there any other exceptions? (Laura, Patriccke, Tiffany, Daniel, anyone?)
You often hear that in SA English as well, but it's considered as slang. It also happens in Afrikaans eg. Niemand vertel my nooit niks nie=nobody never tells me nothing. The thing is that sentences like these actually mean the opposite of what the person is trying to say.
It's often difficult to work out exactly what they mean, as well. Like, I know a song with the line 'no-one never shot no-one, I swear they do it just for fun' — quite difficult to understand. Was someone shot or not?
All times are GMT + 2 Hours Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5Next
Page 1 of 5
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Join! (free) 
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Well, they did forget how to say 
We have kater for a male cat as well, but it has largely fallen into disuse. It still survises in the word 
I can't recall that I've ever heard it used in that sense, though.