MAX DU PREEZ suggests that Afrikaans language monuments should be erected in the Bo-Kaap and Genadendal to acknowledge that the shrine on Paarl Mountain does not truly symbolise the birth of this African language.
ONE of the saddest stories from the southern tip of sunny Africa is that of Ouma Katrina Esau from the Northern Cape. She is the last person fluent in one of the world’s oldest languages, N|uu. This was the language spoken by members of the oldest group of people in the world, the San/Bushmen, the closest we get to the hunter-gatherers of Africa, the ancestors of us all. Researchers believe N|uu has been spoken for more than 25,000 years.
Every language that declines or disappears is a loss for all of humanity.
Language is more than just how our species communicates; it is an expression of our imagination, spirituality and emotion. Each language is an archive of the intellectual wealth of all those who contributed to its creation and development over centuries and millennia – a hard drive with trillions of bits of input...
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HERITAGE
Let’s finally decolonise Afrikaans
MAX DU PREEZ suggests that Afrikaans language monuments should be erected in the Bo-Kaap and Genadendal to acknowledge that the shrine on Paarl Mountain does not truly symbolise the birth of this African language.
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ONE of the saddest stories from the southern tip of sunny Africa is that of Ouma Katrina Esau from the Northern Cape. She is the last person fluent in one of the world’s oldest languages, N|uu. This was the language spoken by members of the oldest group of people in the world, the San/Bushmen, the closest we get to the hunter-gatherers of Africa, the ancestors of us all. Researchers believe N|uu has been spoken for more than 25,000 years.
Every language that declines or disappears is a loss for all of humanity.
Language is more than just how our species communicates; it is an expression of our imagination, spirituality and emotion. Each language is an archive of the intellectual wealth of all those who contributed to its creation and development over centuries and millennia – a hard drive with trillions of bits of input...
Register for free to read this article.
Hello! Vrye Weekblad moved from Arena Holdings to the Nuwe Vrye Weekblad Media Group on 1 October 2022. This means that we must ask you to create a reader profile again.
For October, which C. Louis Leipoldt did not call "the most beautiful month" for nothing, this will give you access to all articles published in that month.
We hope this gives Arena enough time to pay out all outstanding subscription fees to current subscribers.
From 1 January 2023 you will take out a subscription. But for now everything is mahala! Enjoy it. And thanks for being with us again!
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Next articleMax du Preez
Editor-in-chiefMax du Preez is the editor-in-chief of Vrye Weekblad. He was the founding editor of the original Vrye Weekblad.