Is Afrikaans Basically the Same As Dutch?

They're two different languages, albeit very, very similar.

It's true that Afrikaans has no conjugations - it does, however, have a few select irregular verbs. I'll explain:

In Afrikaans, the past tense is formed like this:
Subject + auxiliary (het - from hê, to have) + past participle (formed by adding the prefix '-ge' to the verb. Hê (to have) and Wees (to be) are the only verbs where the infinitive differs from the present tense.

Example:
I = Ek
To speak = om te praat

Ek praat = I speak
Ek het gepraat = I spoke / I have spoken / I had spoken (only 1 past tense in Afrikaans xD)

BUT

Some verbs are formed differently in the past tense - and when I say 'some', I mean 8. Instead of the perfect tense, they use the preterite.

Ek kan = I can
Ek kon = I could

Ek sal = I will / shall
Ek sou = I would / should

Ek moet = I must
Ek moes = I had to

Ek mag = I may
Ek mog = I was allowed to

Ek dink = I think
Ek dag / dog = I thought

Ek het = I have
Ek had = I had

Ek weet = I know
Ek wis = I knew


So basically, all the modal verbs plus 3 others. This shows that not all verbs are regular.

No, Afrikaans is not 'basically the same as Dutch'.

All languages evolve, they can diverge and converge. Not rarely the decision to split a language is political.

Ek kan = I can
Dutch = Ik kan

Ek sal = I will / shall
Dutch = Ik zal
Ek sou = I would / should
Dutch = Ik zou

Ek moet = I must
Dutch = Ik moet
Ek moes = I had to
Dutch = Ik moest

Ek dink = I think
Dutch = Ik denk


Ek het = I have
Dutch = Ik heb
Ek had = I had
Dutch = Ik had

Ek weet = I know
Dutch = Ik weet
Ek wis = I knew
Dutch = Ik wist

The other ones I can't remember:-(((
The Dutch origin of Afrikaans is evident, but it's not the same.

«Franco, said: Tue Dec 01, 2009 11:59 am GMT
If Afrikaans is not the same as Dutch then Brazilian Portuguese isn't the same as Iberian Portuguese»

Little idiot, You don't speak nor Portuguese, neither Dutch, so you do not know what you're writing about. Try to learn Dutch, Afrikaans and Portuguese prior to posting your rubbish.

Try and sum up a language which is the same. Spoken language and written language differ, and every language evolves. It's perfectly possible for two language that have diverged to converge again.
I understand Afrikaans, they understand me. You don't have to purport it to be a wholly different language.

Brazillians too can decide to speak a 'different language' tomorrow.

Still, it's has its own official grammar, orthography, etc... That doesn't reduce the fact we can read each others texts fluently and speak to each other in our own language.
No one is really up to force Dutch on them, but ignoring them would be stupid, as we can understand each other.

Spanish and Portuguese speakers can understand each other's languages when written - and to a large extent when spoken. Are they the same language?


I agree, there was a time when Afrikaans and Dutch were the same language, but if you look at all the differences, however similar they may be, you'll see that they have ceased to be this.

<<Brazillians too can decide to speak a 'different language' tomorrow. >>


Many Brazlians have reported that they understand American Spanish better than Iberian Portuguese.

<< Brazillians too can decide to speak a 'different language' tomorrow. >>
Yes, the decisive criterion is political. As they say, the distinction between a dialect and a language is an army and a navy.

But linguistically I don't think the distance between Brazilian and Portuguese is as large as the one between Dutch and Afrikaans. Essentially, Brazilians have only done away with "redundant" plurals (plural is only marked once, normally in the articles), the second person singular conjugation (but only partly), third person object pronouns, the enclisis of the clitic pronouns, and some other minor stuff. Doing away with genders and most conjugations, like apparently Afrikaans has done, seems a lot more radical.

Anyway, and how about Dutch in the Americas? Is Suriname Dutch any different from the European Standard?

<<Little idiot, You don't speak nor Portuguese, neither Dutch, so you do not know what you're writing about. Try to learn Dutch, Afrikaans and Portuguese prior to posting your rubbish. >>

Big @sshole,

Please learn how to write in English before you attempt to "play professor" with someone else (I refer to "speak nor Portuguese").

By the way, genius, SPEAKING a language does not really mean that you KNOW about the language. You are confusing two separate aspects of knowledge. I know a lot of good native English speakers who know absolutely NOTHING about the English language. So it is with you perhaps.

<<Please learn how to write in English before you attempt to "play professor" with someone else (I refer to "speak nor Portuguese").
>>

Hahaha. Portuguese subhumans are hilarious.

"If Afrikaans is not the same as Dutch then Brazilian Portuguese isn't the same as Iberian Portuguese. " - Are you serious? Do you know what Afrikaans is? what about Dutch?

I know a vast number of dutch people who look at me stunned when I talk Afrikaans.
They are similar and you can understand them, but they're still different from many points of view. Afrikaans vocabulary is what Duch would call " it's like my grandpa spoke" a lot of times.
In no way are they like brazilian and iberian portuguese.That is basically the same language with a slight change in vocabulary

[In no way are they like brazilian and iberian portuguese.That is basically the same language with a slight change in vocabulary.
]

The differences between PtBr and PtPt may be slight in vocabulary, morphology and phonology but they are immense in phonetics (pronunciation) and syntax, and syntax is the essence of a language.
A French linguist called Galves scientifically proved that Brazilian Portuguese and Continental Portuguese have two distinct grammars, there are two many cases in which a grammar construction is grammatical in one Portuguese and agrammatical in Continental Portuguese. Lingustics aside, all movies in Continental Portuguese are subtitled in Brazil, and Portuguese music is practically never enjoyed in Brazil, due to the lack of comprehension and popularity (Laura Pausini is the most popular foreign singer in Brazil).

For more on Brazilian grammar try googling
''Mary Kato'' ''Brazilian Portuguese'' ''different grammar'' ''Galves'' ''Tarallo'' ''Perini'' ''Bagno'' ''Mário de Andrade'' ''Eni Orlandi'' ''Brazilian language'' ''Brazilian grammar'' ''two grammars''

Afrikaans vocabulary is what Duch would call " it's like my grandpa spoke" a lot of times.


The same thing Portuguese say about our words like ''botar, moça'' or ''ruim'' and most other words which are obsolete in Portugal but current in Brazil.

Let's keep Brazilian-Portuguese out of this thread, this one is about Dutch.