[Editor: This article, regarding words used by the Boers of South Africa, was published in The Sydney Stock & Station Journal (Sydney, NSW), 15 December 1899. The article, and its explanation of various words of the Afrikaans language, is relevant regarding Australia’s participation in the Boer War (1899-1902).]
Boer nomenclature.
Our nation learns geography through war. The nation is acquiring now a knowledge of the country that lies between the Cape of Good Hope and Omdurman. We are also adding to the national vocabulary. Here is a paragraph, from somewhere, that shows how we’re doing it.
Possibly the best-quoted word just now of Dutch South African origin is Uitlander, sometimes written “Outlander.” “Newcomer,” or “outsider,” is perhaps the nearest that can be got to this in translation; and the word is pronounced as nearly as possible like eight-lander. The name of the President of the Transvaal Republic is written Kruger, but it is neither sounded as Kroojer nor Krowger, but — as near as can be indicated — Kree-er. The word Transvaal is, liberally, “across the yellow” (or yellowish-brown) river. Rand, short for Witwatersrand, is pronounced as if spelt rant. The word veld — the final “t” is sometimes added — means field or common, and is pronounced “felt.”
Kopje — a hillock, or piece of rising ground — is neither kop-jay nor kop-jee, but koppy. Dr. Leyds’ patronomic is pronounced Lides. The Boer Parliament House is called the Raadzaal, and the Parliament the Volksraad, the “v” being sounded like “f.” Berg is mountain, the plural being formed by the addition of “en” after the “g.” A drift is a ford, and a dorp a town, or village. Thus we have Krugersdorp, Leydsdorp, etc.
Stad also means town; and winkel — pronounced vinkle — a store where almost everything is sold. Fontein, as the name implies, means spring, and krants, a cliff or precipice. Bochveld (pronounced bushfelt) is an open plain covered with bush. To trek is to travel, voortrekkers meaning pioneers.
A viel (flay) is a pool of water, mostly formed in the rainy season. Rooinek is the term of contempt applied to Britisher, and means “redneck;” it is not infrequently prefixed by the adjective “verdomde” (ferdomdy). Rooibaatjes is Cape Dutch for “Tommy Atkins,” or red-coats. A stoep (pronounced stoop) is a raised platform in front of a house — something like a verandah — on which the Boer loves to take his weed.
Vrouw — meaning housewife — is prounced “frow.” Slim — often applied to General Piet Joubert — is cunning, or artful, or slangily speaking, “fly.” “Kerel” is chap or fellow. Baas — pronunced so — is master, and baas op, boss up. To inspan is to harness, or tether, horses or cattle; to uitspan is to unharness. Uitspan is also applied to the resting-place of the animals. Oorlog is war.
Source:
The Sydney Stock & Station Journal (Sydney, NSW), 15 December 1899, p. 8
Editor’s notes:
Boer = a South African of Dutch descent; Afrikaans for “farmer”; the Europeans in South Africa (primarily of Dutch and French Huguenot descent) who fought against the British in two major wars, the First Boer War (1880-1881) and the Second Boer War (1899-1902)
See: “Boers”, Wikipedia
Cape of Good Hope = a rocky promontory on the southern Atlantic coast of South Africa
See: “Cape of Good Hope”, Wikipedia
etc. = an abbreviation of “et cetera” (also spelt “etcetera”), a Latin term (“et” meaning “and”, “cetera” meaning “the rest”) which is translated as “and the rest (of such things)”, used in English to mean “and other similar things”, “other unspecified things of the same class”, “and so forth”
Kruger = Paul Kruger (1825-1904), President (1883-1900) of the South African Republic during the Boer War (1899-1902); he was born in Steynsburg, Cape Colony (now South Africa) in 1825, and died in Clarens, Switzerland, in 1904
See: 1) “Paul Kruger: South African statesman”, Encyclopaedia Britannica
2) “Paul Kruger”, Wikipedia
Leyds = Willem Johannes Leyds (1859-1940), a lawyer and statesman; he served as the State Attorney (1884-1889) and State Secretary (1889-1898) of the South African Republic (1852-1902); he was born in Magelang (Dutch East Indies) in 1859, and died in The Hague (Netherlands) in 1940
See: “Willem Johannes Leyds”, Wikipedia
nomenclature = a name; a group, set, or system of names or terms (such as is used in scientific fields); the act or process of the choosing of names
Omdurman = a city in Sudan (located in north-east Africa); during the Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1896-1899), on 2 September 1898, the Battle of Omdurman was fought 11 kilometres north of the city, in which a British-Egyptian force (led by Herbert Kitchener) defeated a Sudanese army of the Mahdist Islamic State (led by Abdullah al-Taashi)
See: “Omdurman”, Wikipedia
weed = tobacco (can also refer to: an unwanted plant; marijuana; a thin, weak, puny person)
[Editor: Changed “Leyd’s” to “Leyds’”.]
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