Die konsolidasie van die Afrikaanse taalgemeenskap

Abstract

Without trying to distinguish between the subject Afrikaans and the language Afrikaans, and without denying the metaphoric meaning of a statement like ‘Afrikaans is oppressive’, this article investigates the position of Afrikaans among the other ten main languages of South Africa. The idea that Afrikaans is a mere minority language in South Africa is repudiated. Statistical figures indicate that Afrikaans is the language with the largest number of speakers and the third largest mother longue in South Africa. The question as to why Afrikaans is regarded as a minority language - even by its own users - is also touched upon. In this article it is argued that the political system of apartheid has split the language community into two parts and that therefore this community has never been a unity. The future role of Afrikaans in a democratic South Africa will also be determined by the users of Afrikaans, given that the Afrikaans language community could be consolidated. This article argues that the lack of unity within the Afrikaans speech community is mainly the reason for the belief that Afrikaans is, in a statistical sense, a minority language. I f the Afrikaans speech community can be consolidated, Afrikaans will be able to take its natural place among the other ten languages of South Africa. Such a consolidation, however, has to be brought about by those who form this community.