List of English words of Afrikaans origin
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.
*
aardvark*
aardwolf*
apartheid*
boomslang*
commando*commandeer (
verb)
*
spoor*
springbok*
stoep*
trek*
veld*
Voortrekker*white, in the species name "
white rhinoceros", from
wyd meaning "wide" (describing the animal's mouth)
There are also several English words derived from
Cape Dutch a forerunner of Afrikaans:
*
hartebeest (modern Afrikaans equivalent is
hartebees)
*scoff (as in scoffing food): from
Cape Dutch schoff, the word does not survive in modern Afrikaans
*
wildebeest (modern Afrikaans equivalent is
wildebees)
*
veldt borrowed again by English in the modern form
veldThere are almost innumerable borrowings from Afrikaans in South African English, including
braai (a shortening of
braaivleis, a
barbecue),
dorp (a small town),
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.
