language
Losing Terrain Yet Thriving. The Position and Status of Afrikaans Anno 2018 in South Africa
(Anne-Marie Beukes) The Low Countries - 2018, № 26, pp. 282-287
Although Afrikaans is South Africa’s third most spoken home language (after Zulu and Xhosa) and has been operating in a non-dominant juxtaposition with the nine other official indigenous languages since democracy in 1994, its position and de facto status are largely undervalued. Moreover, the language remains stigmatised in certain quarters owing to its association with the previous apartheid regime notwithstanding its inclusive profile with the majority of its speakers (both first and additional speakers) being non-white. Afrikaans is clearly at a crossroads, at a point where significant domain loss is impacting the vitality of the language and hence its status and position in society.
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