Afrikaans Language Monument

#Afrikaans Language Monument The Afrikaans Language Monument is a prominent landmark on the side of the Paarl (“pearl”) mountain in the Cape Winelands in South Africa. This may arguably be the only monument ever erected for a language. It commemorates the history of one of the youngest and most modern languages in the world.

The history of the language starts with the Dutch settlement in 1652. Soon after arriving the Dutch imported slaves from Malaysia which had already been colonized by the Dutch. The Malaysian slaves brought a simplified Dutch to the new settlement in the Cape. From this developed a lingua franca that was used by all the inhabitants of the new settlement - although Dutch was still the official language and used in Government and the Church. The French Huguenots that arrived in 1866 added their influence, as did the English who took over the Cape Colony in 1806.

Although Afrikaans was generally used by the Dutch and French descendants, as well as the descendants of the slaves and the local Khoi people, it was scorned as “kitchen Dutch.” It was only as a result of the efforts of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (Society of True Afrikaners) in Paarl that Afrikaans was officially recognised as a language in its own right. The first Afrikaans Bible was published in 1933.