Regional Varieties

Level 6

Afrikaans is spoken in many ways. Kaaps in and around Cape Town, Oranjerivierafrikaans in the Northern Cape and Namibia, and Oosgrensafrikaans in the east all have their own sounds, words and grammar. Djy moet vir my wag, hoor. (Kaaps: You must wait for me, okay.)

How It Works

1. The main historical varieties. Linguists usually describe three:

  • Kaaps (Cape Afrikaans, also called Afrikaaps): spoken in the Western Cape, especially on the Cape Flats. It has a growing literature and its own dictionary project.
  • Oranjerivierafrikaans (Orange River Afrikaans): spoken in the Northern Cape, Namaqualand, the southern Free State and Namibia, with strong Khoekhoe influence.
  • Oosgrensafrikaans (Eastern Border Afrikaans): the variety on which Standard Afrikaans was mainly built.

Oranjerivierafrikaans is also spoken in Namibia, where Afrikaans has local words of its own. A small community in Patagonia, Argentina, also speaks Afrikaans.

2. Kinds of differences.

  • Sounds: in the Swartland around Malmesbury, many speakers pronounce r at the back of the throat (the bry). In Kaaps, jy and jou are often djy and djou.
  • Words: each region has its own vocabulary, and Kaaps mixes freely with English (see English in Afrikaans speech).
  • Grammar: short forms such as issie (is nie) are widespread in informal speech (see short forms and g'n).

3. Standard and variety. The standard is the shared form for school, news, official texts and most books, and it follows the AWS spelling rules (see spoken and written Afrikaans). A regional form is not an error in speech or in writing that chooses that variety, such as a Kaaps poem. It is simply not the standard. Use standard forms in formal writing.

4. Respect. For a long time, varieties such as Kaaps were looked down on. Many writers and speakers now use them with pride. Treat them as ways of speaking to understand, not as mistakes to fix.

Examples (4)

  1. Djy moet vir my wag, hoor.

    You must wait for me, okay.

    Word by Word: You must for me wait, hear.

    Kaaps djy; the standard form is jy.

  2. Ek sien djou môre.

    I'll see you tomorrow.

    Word by Word: I see you tomorrow.

    Kaaps djou; the standard form is jou.

  3. Hy issie hier nie.

    He isn't here.

    Word by Word: He is-not here not.

    Informal speech contracts is nie to issie; the written standard is Hy is nie hier nie.

  4. Ek gaan gou shop toe.

    I'm quickly going to the shop.

    Word by Word: I go quickly shop to.

    Everyday speech, in Kaaps and elsewhere, often borrows English words; the standard word is winkel.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing a variety name with a small letter.

    Hulle praat kaaps by die huis.
    Hulle praat Kaaps by die huis.

    Names of languages and varieties take a capital letter in Afrikaans, like Afrikaans and Engels.

  • Splitting a compound variety name into two words.

    Sy navors Oranjerivier Afrikaans.
    Sy navors Oranjerivierafrikaans.

    Afrikaans writes compounds as one word, and this name may also take a hyphen (Oranjerivier-Afrikaans). It is never two separate words.

How It Connects

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Regional VarietiesLevel 6

Learn This First

Regional varieties differ from the standard in speech.

Words in This Pattern

Kaaps