Random question: why did Dutch language in Africa evolve so much more than English here?

Why the frick am I getting downvoted. It’s just a lingual history question.

quote:

---

Why the frick am I getting downvoted. It’s just a lingual history question.

---

I'm sure your avi is triggering some snowflakes

quote:

---

Afrikaans is so distinct from Dutch that only around 80% of the 2 languages are intelligible with each other, to the point that while a Dutchman can understand an Afrikaner speaking, an Afrikaner cannot understand a Dutchman speaking.

Compare that to American vs Brit English: 98-99% intelligible and only differences for most part are spellings of some words.

---

Comparing anything to British and American English is a bit unfair. Afrikaans and Dutch have a higher intelligibility than West Frisian and Dutch (West Frisian is the Germanic language that is closest to English fwiw). English has had a much stronger standardization project, and from much earlier in history. Afrikaans developed from a specific dialect of Dutch, which didn't achieve standardization with Standard Dutch until after settlers had left for the Cape, meaning any standardization occurred after a group already left. That already creates separation with an original language, and when combined with loanwords, you get a distinct language, rather than a dialect of the same language, as is the case for American and British English.

To Give an answer that should be sufficient that isn't research based:

The English Empire replaced the Dutch in the Indian Ocean World around the start of the 19th Century. The English Empire was also much larger and more potent than the Dutch Empire ever was. Dutch colonial rule, such as that on Ceylon, was based on control of the trade rather than the direct control of the people. All this means that with Dutch power gone, there was less of a connecting factor, as English had. The large amount of indigenous languages, the disconnect with large-scale Dutch trade, and the lack of world importance of South Africa all factor into this.

The US, on the other hand, were quickly re-integrated into the British empire trade during the period before the Civil War. Cotton was extremely important to British Industry. This connection probably facilitated the continuity of language.

I believe the Dutch East India Company established Cape Town around 1550 or 1560. It was initially intended as just a refit/repair/resupply for ships travelling between Eurooe and Indonesiaa. The locals herded cattle and sheep and were willing to trade with the Dutch.

I'd guess that once Dutch serttlers started farming they were interacting with the native tribes more frequently than other Dutchman and the language evolved. Isn't Cajun French almost indecipherable to people speaking "proper" French? As Fr33 suggested, I think the frequent contact between England and the US colonies prevented any significant change from taking place.

The Dutch in South Africa were very much isolated from the home country especially since 1810 when the Brits took over. The Afrikaans were none too happy about it as well. They use some English mixed with Dutch and they even adopted a few local terms as well. The Dutch in SA don't much care for the English and vise versa and have always tried to keep their separation and uniqueness.

They were immigrants that wanted to keep their own culture and not assimilate.

Here the language was spoken primarily by people descendant from the country of the languages origin or from countries from same geographical region (some of which spoke a related germanic language). In South Africa, the language was spoken primarily by the descendants of indigenous tribes who had a totally unrelated language and basically made this new language their own. I suspect that is a difference. There are some english speaking areas of Africa that have developed derivative dialects that we would be hard pressed to follow. Heck, I think that in South Louisiana sometimes.


And I think the English tend to think we butchered their language

quote:

---

Why the frick am I getting downvoted. It’s just a lingual history question.

---

It's probably because you missed the most regionally relevant comparison... creole and french My former bff married a chick who grew up as a missionary kid in the ivory coast. She speaks french, but I've seen't her talking to Haitians without a hitch.