List of English words of Afrikaans origin - Your Art History Reference Guide!

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List of English words of Afrikaans origin

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Words of Afrikaans origin have entered other languages.

British English has absorbed Afrikaans words primarily via British soldiers who served in the Boer Wars.

Many more words have entered common usage in South African English due to the parallel nature of the English and Afrikaner cultures in South Africa.

Internationally Common


There are almost innumerable borrowings from Afrikaans in South African English, including braai (a shortening of braaivleis, a barbecue), dorp (a small town), kopje (a hillock), kraal (a corruption of the Portuguese curral, an enclosure for cattle), laager (a defensive circle of wagons) and lekker (a slang word for 'nice' or 'good').

Cyberbraai has a more complete list of these words, as well as several words from various African languages, such as Zulu.

Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
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