“Isn't that Afrikaans a funny language!" What do the Dutch know, and what do they think they know about Afrikaans?

In this presentation at the Language Centre, Carel Jansen (University of Groningen) will discuss a number of salient beliefs held by many Dutch people when it comes to Afrikaans. Questions such as the following will be discussed:

-          What do the Dutch know (or think they know) about the origin of Afrikaans?

-          How do the Dutch feel about words constructed in Afrikaans for newly coined English words?

-          What do the Dutch know (or think they know) about the speakers of Afrikaans, and about past and present political and cultural aspects related to Afrikaans?

Furthermore, some striking grammatical and lexical similarities and differences between Afrikaans and Dutch will be touched upon.

Carel will do his best to accommodate not only speakers of Afrikaans, but also speakers of English who only have a modest mastery of Afrikaans.