French influenced English enormously, mainly because of the Norman invasion in the 11the century, and so many words were shared, but there are many which you think mean the same thing but they don't, like medecin, which means doctor in English. Medicine is medicament in french. Cave in French means a cellar in English, a librairie is a bookshop, not a library. I wonder how that happened?
In isiXhosa, there are many words which are like pictures, like ixhesha abantu bahle, which refers to a particular time of sunset when everyone is bathed in a rosy golden hue, the "time of the beautiful people". Impumalanga is the word for east, meaning, "the coming out of the sun".
When I was young, Afrikaans was the hated language, the language of the oppressors, but in grade 11 I discovered its poetry. We had a rather large Afrikaans lady who taught us, Mevrou Botha, I think her name was. She smelt sweetly of talcum powder and was always impeccably dressed in matching pastel shades. For a rebellious teenager this teacher was definitely not high on the list, and yet, when she introduced us to the Afrikaans poetry of N P Van Wyk Louw, D J Opperman, Elisabeth Eybers, Olga Kirsch, et al, all read in the most beautiful voice you have ever heard, rich and low and expressive, I fell in love! This is one of my favourites. It is better understood if you have lived in a parched land.
DIE DANS VAN DIE REËN – Eugene Marais
Lied van die vioolspeler. Jan Konterdans.
Uit die Groot Woestyn
O die dans van ons Suster!
Eers oor die bergtop loer sy skelm,
en haar oge is skaam;
en sy lag saggies.
En van ver af wink sy met die een hand;
haar armbande blink en haar krale skitter;
saggies roep sy.
Sy vertel die winde van die dans
en sy nooi hulle uit, want die werf is wyd en die bruilof groot.
Die grootwild jaag uit die vlakte,
hulle dam op die bulttop,
wyd rek hulle die neusgate
en hulle sluk die wind;
en hulle buk, om haar fyn spore op die sand te sien.
Die kleinvolk diep onder die grond hoor die sleep van haar voete,
en hulle kruip nader en sing saggies:
“Ons Suster! Ons Suster! Jy het gekom! Jy het gekom!”
En haar krale skud,
en haar koperringe blink in die wegraak van die son.
Op haar voorkop is die vuurpluim van die berggier;
sy trap af van die hoogte;
sy sprei die vaalkaros met altwee arms uit;
die asem van die wind raak weg.
O, die dans van ons Suster!
The Dance of the Rain
Song of the violinist: Jan Konterdans
translated by:Nikita
The Dance of the Rain
Oh, the dance of our Sister!
First, over the hilltop she peeps stealthily
and her eyes are shy
and she laughs softly
From afar she begs with her one hand
her wrist-bands shimmering and her bead-work sparkling
softly she calls
She tells the wind about the dance
and she invites it, because the yard is spacious and the wedding large
The big game rush about the plains
they gather on the hilltop
their nostrils flared-up
and they swallow the wind
and they crouch to see her tracks in the sand
The small game, deep down under the floor, hear the rhythm of her feet
and they creep, come closer and sing softly
“Our Sister! Our Sister! You’ve come! You’ve come!”
and her bead-work shake,
and her copper wrist-bands shine in the disappearance of the sun
On her forehead, rests the eagle’s plume
She decends down from the hilltop
She spreads her ashened cloak with both arms
the breath of the wind disappears
Oh, the dance of our Sister!
The translation is quite awful really. I suppose this is why you should always read poetry in the language in which it was written. One of my Nombulelo students learned Spanish just so that he could read the poetry of Lorca and Neruda. Amazing. I knew a man in Grahamstown who could read in six different languages!
Noam Chomsky developed the idea that language is innate, basing his theory on the fact that children learn language even though adults do not speak "adult language" to children, which he called "impoverished input". He believes that the human brain has evolved (probably only in the last 100 000 years) neural circuits that contain linguistic information at birth so that the child's natural predisposition to learn language is triggered by hearing speech. So the learning of language is biologically and genetically determined. Chomsky is always lovely to listen to, and in this little clip he talks about the way theories grow and develop, and explains the addition to the universal grammar theory of principles and parameters.
My little granddaughters are grasping at their language, believing they can talk just like anyone else. Ella in her deep voice with long vowel-sounds, telling me long stories about her day on Skype, and Luna bubbling over with her little language too, with a few recognisable words happening now, like "Hello, dog, and (maybe I'm imagining it) Granny".
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| Ella-Bella |
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| Luna-Moon |
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