Learn about formal Afrikaans
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Intro |
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| Antoni: How does formal Afrikaans work? |
| Dewan: And when is it used? |
| Antoni: At AfrikaansPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine this scenario: Jurg Venter, a high-school student, runs into his neighbor's mom, Karen Lee, on the street. He says, |
| "Good morning, Mrs. Lee. How are you?" |
| Jurg Venter: Goeiemore, Mevrou Lee. Hoe gaan dit met u? |
| Dialogue |
| Jurg Venter: Goeiemore, Mevrou Lee. Hoe gaan dit met u? |
| Karen Lee: Haai Jurg. Dit gaan goed met my, dankie, en met jou? |
| Antoni: Once more with the English translation. |
| Jurg Venter: Goeiemore, Mevrou Lee. Hoe gaan dit met u? |
| Antoni: "Good morning, Mrs. Lee. How are you?" |
| Karen Lee: Haai Jurg. Dit gaan goed met my, dankie, en met jou? |
| Antoni: "Hi Jurg. Fine, thank you, and with you?" |
Lesson focus |
| Antoni: In this lesson, you will be learning how formal Afrikaans works and when it is used. We use formal Afrikaans in situations where we want to keep some degree of social distance from the person we are talking to, and in situations where we need to be very polite. |
| Informal Afrikaans is typically used with people you are familiar with, or who are close to you in age or younger. We'll discuss different scenarios for each form of address in the lesson. |
| You might have noticed that, in the dialogue, Jurg and Karen used different pronouns for the word "you" and that Jurg did not use Karen’s first name when addressing her. Let’s have a closer look at why that is by examining the dialogue again. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Antoni: Do you remember how Jurg says "Good morning, Mrs. Lee. How are you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dewan as Jurg Venter: Goeiemore, Mevrou Lee. Hoe gaan dit met u? |
| Antoni: Here, Jurg has addressed Karen Lee as |
| Dewan: Mevrou Lee |
| Antoni: which translates to "Mrs. Lee." From this, we can deduce that there is a certain degree of formal distance between him and his neighbor’s mom. He also probably doesn’t know her very well. When Afrikaans speakers use a person’s title, such as: |
| Dewan: mevrou |
| Antoni: meaning "Mrs," and |
| Dewan: meneer |
| Antoni: meaning "Mister" or "Sir," then they are being formal. This is not unlike English, so it should be easy to understand. In some more casual settings, strangers can be also addressed by |
| Dewan: oom |
| Antoni: meaning "uncle," or |
| Dewan: tannie |
| Antoni: meaning "aunt." This is still a very polite way to approach strangers, and to show respect, especially if the age gap is significant. So, for example, since Jurg run into Karen Lee on the street, he could also greet her with |
| Dewan: Goeiemôre, tannie Lee. |
| Antoni: However, if the setting is more formal, such as a business meeting or a gala, approaching people with |
| Dewan: Meneer, or mevrou |
| Antoni: is the better choice. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Antoni: Let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Karen says "Hi Jurg. Fine, thank you, and with you?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Dewan as Karen Lee: Haai Jurg. Dit gaan goed met my, dankie, en met jou? |
| Antoni: Here, Karen has used Jurg’s first name. This is because Jurg is probably significantly younger than her or is not yet an adult. Using a title with him would seem strange, just as it would in English. She also addressed him using the informal pronoun |
| Dewan: jou. |
| Antoni: This is the most common way to address a person in Afrikaans. Why, then, did Jurg use a different pronoun when talking to Karen? He used the formal pronoun |
| Dewan: u |
| Antoni: and he did so because he wants to show her respect and to be as polite as possible. This formal pronoun can be used in any situation where a demonstration of respect is warranted, such as when one is speaking to a significantly older person or to someone who is in a senior position at work. For anyone who has not encountered this pronoun in their reading yet, note that it is spelled with a single letter—"U." |
| Just like in English, this formal pronoun remains the same, irrespective of the number of people you're addressing. This is not the case with informal Afrikaans pronouns, but more about that later. |
| Let’s quickly review what we’ve learned so far and then look at some examples of situations in which one can use more formal language in Afrikaans. |
| [Summary] |
| Antoni: So far, in this lesson, you have learned that, when you want to be formal in Afrikaans, you should use a person’s title, along with their surname. If you are talking to a woman whose surname is Botha, for example, you should address her as "Mrs. Botha," |
| Dewan: Mevrou Botha, |
| Antoni: and if you are talking to a man with the same surname, you would address him as "Mister Botha:" |
| Dewan: Meneer Botha. |
| Antoni: Remember also to use the formal pronoun |
| Dewan: u |
| Antoni: when you need to be formal. Let’s now look at some examples of situations in which formal speech might be required. |
| Expansion/Contrast (Optional) |
| Antoni: A waiter in a restaurant who is serving a dignitary, such as a minister of parliament, will use an expression like: |
| Dewan: U kan daar sit, meneer. |
| Antoni: This means, "You can sit there, sir" and is a very polite way of addressing someone. This pronoun can be used to mean "you" and "your." For instance, if this same waiter later wants to ask, "May I refill your glass, sir?" he would say |
| Dewald: Mag ek u glas hervul, meneer? |
| Antoni: In some fine diners, this is the way all the patrons are addressed. In business too, using the formal |
| Dewan: u |
| Antoni: to address a business correspondent in an email is sometimes a good way to indicate respect for the other party. |
| In the dialogue for this lesson, Jurg also used this pronoun. When young people want to show a great deal of respect for their elders, they will use this pronoun. It could make especially a much older person immediately warm up to the younger person because of the fact that they feel respected. |
| As a general rule, use formal language whenever you think the situation warrants it, and, as previously mentioned, wait for an invitation to do otherwise. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion (Optional) |
| Antoni: While it is good to know how formal Afrikaans works, it’s also important to know when to use it and how commonly it is used. The truth is that, in this day and age, formal Afrikaans is not being used nearly as often as it was until only a decade or two ago. For instance, it used to be common practice to address any group, such as a group of university students, as |
| Dewan: u-julle, |
| Antoni: but, if a lecturer were to do that these days, there is a good chance that the students would think the lecturer is being ironic. It is more common nowadays to address large groups with the informal plural form for "you:" |
| Dewan: julle, |
| Antoni: or to use the two singular informal pronouns for "you:" |
| Dewan: jy [pause] jou. |
| Antoni: That said, it does depend on the degree of intimacy and familiarity that one has with the audience so, if you are unsure, it would be wisest to err on the side of caution and use the formal pronoun. This is the general rule in most business situations. If you are unsure, stick with the formal address. Another helpful guideline is to take your cue from the person you are interacting with. If they use your first name and refer to you using informal pronouns, then it should be safe for you to do the same in return, unless they are a dignitary or a lot older than you. |
Outro |
| Antoni: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Dewan: Totsiens! |
| Antoni: See you soon! |
| Credits: Dewan (Afrikaans, Pietermaritzburg), Antoni (English, synthetic voice) |
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