82-461: The Dutch Reformed Church ( Afrikaans : Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk , abbreviated NGK ) is a Reformed Christian denomination in South Africa . It also has a presence in neighbouring countries, such as Namibia , Eswatini , and parts of Botswana , Zimbabwe and Zambia . In 2013 it claimed 1.1 million members and 1,602 ordained ministers in 1,158 congregations. The Nederduits in
164-810: A custom that eventually spread beyond the confines of the NGK. The revival also led to an interest in mission work which led to the establishment of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church for coloureds and the Dutch Reformed Church in Africa for blacks. These were segregated entirely from the white churches, but eventually united to form the Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa . The NGK expanded from
246-461: A decreasing number of first language Afrikaans speakers in South Africa from 13.5% in 2011 to 10.6% in 2022. The South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) projects that a growing majority of Afrikaans speakers will be Coloured . Afrikaans speakers experience higher employment rates than other South African language groups, though as of 2012 half a million were unemployed. Despite
328-583: A foreign country, and the British authorities were not keen to have them. Presbyterian ministers from Scotland were encouraged to serve the needs of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape. The church was semi- established , and the government helped with stipends of ministers. The colony had expanded a long way beyond the Cape Peninsula in the preceding two centuries, both to the north and the east, and on
410-456: A formalised, committed sexual relationship. The 2015 decision caused a backlash of appeals and objections. In November 2015, the decision was suspended, initially to be discussed again at the 2017 General Synod. However, on 7 September 2016, the suspension was lifted and at the same time an Extraordinary Synod was called, which was held in November 2016. The extraordinary synod reversed much of
492-575: A national, but not official, language. There is a much smaller number of Afrikaans speakers among Zimbabwe's white minority, as most have left the country since 1980. Afrikaans was also a medium of instruction for schools in Bophuthatswana , an Apartheid-era Bantustan . Eldoret in Kenya was founded by Afrikaners. There are also around 30.000 South-Africans in the Netherlands , of which
574-622: A second language. It is widely taught in South African schools, with about 10.3 million second-language students. Afrikaans is offered at many universities outside South Africa, including in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Russia and the United States. In Afrikaans grammar, there is no distinction between the infinitive and present forms of verbs, with the exception of the verbs 'to be' and 'to have'. In addition, verbs do not conjugate differently depending on
656-530: A single negation. Certain words in Afrikaans would be contracted. For example, moet nie , which literally means 'must not', usually becomes moenie ; although one does not have to write or say it like this, virtually all Afrikaans speakers will change the two words to moenie in the same way as do not is contracted to don't in English. Vaal Too Many Requests If you report this error to
738-464: A wide range of opinions, the synods and the General Synod releases "discussion documents" which are intended to move the opinion of congregations in some direction. Milestone decisions about homosexuality were taken in 1967, 1982, 1986, 2004, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The 1986 and 2004 decisions were broadly similar to each other, but the 2015 decision was dramatically different, and was reported in
820-515: Is "a pure and proper language" for religious purposes, especially among the deeply Calvinist Afrikaans religious community that previously had been sceptical of a Bible translation that varied from the Dutch version that they were used to. In 1983 a fresh translation marked the 50th anniversary of the 1933 version. The final editing of this edition was done by E. P. Groenewald, A. H. van Zyl, P. A. Verhoef, J. L. Helberg and W. Kempen. This translation
902-611: Is a West Germanic language , spoken in South Africa , Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana , Zambia and Zimbabwe . It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland ( Hollandic dialect ) spoken by the predominantly Dutch settlers and enslaved population of the Dutch Cape Colony , where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the 17th and 18th centuries. Although Afrikaans has adopted words from other languages, including German and
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#1732780575626984-553: Is a groundswell movement within Afrikaans to be inclusive, and to promote itself along with the indigenous official languages. In Namibia, the percentage of Afrikaans speakers declined from 11.4% (2001 Census) to 10.4% (2011 Census). The major concentrations are in Hardap (41.0%), ǁKaras (36.1%), Erongo (20.5%), Khomas (18.5%), Omaheke (10.0%), Otjozondjupa (9.4%), Kunene (4.2%), and Oshikoto (2.3%). Some native speakers of Bantu languages and English also speak Afrikaans as
1066-526: Is absent from the other West Germanic standard languages. For example: Both French and San origins have been suggested for double negation in Afrikaans. While double negation is still found in Low Franconian dialects in West Flanders and in some "isolated" villages in the centre of the Netherlands (such as Garderen ), it takes a different form, which is not found in Afrikaans. The following
1148-554: Is also sinful. An official publication from 1999, "Geloofsverklaring", which deals with various current issues, stated however that while abortion on demand is morally indefensible, abortion should not be denied in cases where it is the "lesser of two evils". [REDACTED] Media related to Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk churches in South Africa at Wikimedia Commons Afrikaans language Afrikaans ( / ˌ æ f r ɪ ˈ k ɑː n s / AF -rih- KAHNSS , / ˌ ɑː f -, - ˈ k ɑː n z / AHF -, - KAHNZ )
1230-475: Is an example: Compare with Ek wil dit nie doen nie , which changes the meaning to 'I want not to do this'. Whereas Ek wil nie dit doen nie emphasizes a lack of desire to act, Ek wil dit nie doen nie emphasizes the act itself. The -ne was the Middle Dutch way to negate but it has been suggested that since -ne became highly non-voiced, nie or niet was needed to complement
1312-569: Is neither a creole nor a direct descendant of Dutch, but a fusion of two transmission pathways. Most of the first settlers whose descendants today are the Afrikaners were from the United Provinces (now Netherlands), with up to one-sixth of the community of French Huguenot origin, and a seventh from Germany. African and Asian workers, Cape Coloured children of European settlers and Khoikhoi women, and slaves contributed to
1394-537: Is seen as the dawn of a new era in Afrikaans cinema. Several short films have been created and more feature-length movies, such as Poena Is Koning and Bakgat (both in 2008) have been produced, besides the 2011 Afrikaans-language film Skoonheid , which was the first Afrikaans film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival . The film Platteland was also released in 2011. The Afrikaans film industry started gaining international recognition via
1476-471: Is stated that no decision may be forced on any parish". In 2019, the secular Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria ruled to reverse the 2016 decision and decided that ministers should bless same-sex unions and that gay and lesbian ministers could marry and be ordained. This decision was reached, in part, on the basis that, while religious organizations have the religious freedom to define marriage, the 2016 decision
1558-405: The -ne . With time the -ne disappeared in most Dutch dialects. The double negative construction has been fully grammaticalised in standard Afrikaans and its proper use follows a set of fairly complex rules as the examples below show: A notable exception to this is the use of the negating grammar form that coincides with negating the English present participle . In this case there is only
1640-605: The Evangelie volgens Markus ( Gospel of Mark , lit. 'Gospel according to Mark'); however, this translation was never published. The manuscript is to be found in the South African National Library, Cape Town. The first official translation of the entire Bible into Afrikaans was in 1933 by J. D. du Toit , E. E. van Rooyen, J. D. Kestell, H. C. M. Fourie, and BB Keet . This monumental work established Afrikaans as 'n suiwer en ordentlike taal , that
1722-645: The Arabic alphabet : see Arabic Afrikaans . Later, Afrikaans, now written with the Latin script , started to appear in newspapers and political and religious works in around 1850 (alongside the already established Dutch). In 1875 a group of Afrikaans-speakers from the Cape formed the Genootskap vir Regte Afrikaaners ('Society for Real Afrikaners'), and published a number of books in Afrikaans including grammars, dictionaries, religious materials and histories. Until
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#17327805756261804-535: The Khoisan languages , an estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of Dutch origin. Differences between Afrikaans and Dutch often lie in the more analytic morphology and grammar of Afrikaans, and different spellings. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form . The name of the language comes directly from the Dutch word Afrikaansch (now spelled Afrikaans ) meaning 'African'. It
1886-737: The Netherlands , the NGK is the largest denomination within South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition . Along with the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NHK) and the Reformed Churches in South Africa , it is considered one of the three sister churches of South Africa. When the Dutch East India Company sent Jan van Riebeeck to start a Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652, most of
1968-733: The Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, were involved. Afrikaans descended from Dutch dialects in the 17th century. It belongs to a West Germanic sub-group, the Low Franconian languages . Other West Germanic languages related to Afrikaans are German, English, the Frisian languages , Yiddish , and the unstandardised language Low German . Afrikaans is also widely spoken in Namibia. Before independence, Afrikaans had equal status with German as an official language. Since independence in 1990, Afrikaans has had constitutional recognition as
2050-589: The Senate , in which the Afrikaans language was declared a variety of Dutch. The Constitution of 1961 reversed the position of Afrikaans and Dutch, so that English and Afrikaans were the official languages, and Afrikaans was deemed to include Dutch. The Constitution of 1983 removed any mention of Dutch altogether. The Afrikaans Language Monument is on a hill overlooking Paarl in the Western Cape Province . Officially opened on 10 October 1975, it
2132-538: The Synod of Dordrecht of 1618 and was thus in an archaic form of Dutch. This was hard for Dutch speakers to understand, and increasingly unintelligible for Afrikaans speakers. C. P. Hoogehout, Arnoldus Pannevis [ af ] , and Stephanus Jacobus du Toit were the first Afrikaans Bible translators. Important landmarks in the translation of the Scriptures were in 1878 with C. P. Hoogehout's translation of
2214-509: The constitution of the Western Cape , which went into effect in 1998, declares Afrikaans to be an official language of the province alongside English and Xhosa . The Afrikaans-language general-interest family magazine Huisgenoot has the largest readership of any magazine in the country. When the British design magazine Wallpaper described Afrikaans as "one of the world's ugliest languages" in its September 2005 article about
2296-526: The monument , South African billionaire Johann Rupert (chairman of the Richemont Group ), responded by withdrawing advertising for brands such as Cartier , Van Cleef & Arpels , Montblanc and Alfred Dunhill from the magazine. The author of the article, Bronwyn Davies, was an English -speaking South African. An estimated 90 to 95 percent of the Afrikaans lexicon is ultimately of Dutch origin, and there are few lexical differences between
2378-452: The "language of the white oppressor" by some, pressure has been increased to remove Afrikaans as a teaching language in South African universities, resulting in bloody student protests in 2015. Under South Africa's Constitution of 1996, Afrikaans remains an official language , and has equal status to English and nine other languages. The new policy means that the use of Afrikaans is now often reduced in favour of English, or to accommodate
2460-483: The 10 synods come together and meet as the General Synod. The office of the General Synod is in Pretoria, Gauteng Province. There are ten synods, whose borders roughly resemble those of the provinces of South Africa plus Namibia. They are: Individual church councils may decide for themselves how specific current issues that are not dealt with in the six officially accepted confessions of faith are dealt with within
2542-536: The 1986 General Synod, a proposal was considered to draw up a list of exceptional cases in which abortion might be allowable. After consultation with experts, including medical experts, the synod decided to base their stance on abortion solely on the Bible and not on medical evidence or on a list of exceptions. By 1994, with the election of a new government and the adoption of a new constitution in South Africa, it became apparent that abortion on demand may be legalised, and
Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2624-462: The 2015 decision officially. Therefore, the current view on homosexuality of the NGK is: Progressive members of the clergy and laity have taken the denomination to court to restore the decision from 2015 and reject the reversal. Although the decision was reversed, local congregations, as aforementioned, are able to make their own decisions. The church's reversal still "makes allowance for ministers and parishes to make their own decision around this. It
2706-589: The Afrikaner people, they also became politicised, and many became spokesmen for Afrikaner nationalism . The Church supported apartheid and in 1982 was expelled from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches which declared apartheid to be a sin. In 1986 during the General Synod the church changed its stance on apartheid and opened its doors to people of all races (the Andrew Murray ministry within
2788-676: The Arabic script. In 1861, L.H. Meurant published his Zamenspraak tusschen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan Twyfelaar ( Conversation between Nicholas Truthsayer and John Doubter ), which is considered to be the first book published in Afrikaans. The first grammar book was published in 1876; a bilingual dictionary was later published in 1902. The main modern Afrikaans dictionary in use is the Verklarende Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (HAT). A new authoritative dictionary, called Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (WAT),
2870-766: The Boers and their servants." In 1925 Afrikaans was recognised by the South African government as a distinct language, rather than simply a vernacular of Dutch. On 8 May 1925, that is 23 years after the Second Boer War ended, the Official Languages of the Union Act, 1925 was passed—mostly due to the efforts of the Afrikaans-language movement —at a joint sitting of the House of Assembly and
2952-525: The British rulers, and many farmers left the Cape Colony in the Great Trek during the 1830s and 1840s. The Dutch Reformed ministers generally tried to discourage them and, as the Dutch Reformed Church was the established church of the colony, did not initially provide pastoral ministry for the emigrant farmers, who eventually formed several independent republics in present-day South Africa. Several of
3034-546: The Cape Colony in 1795 to prevent the French from doing so. The French had occupied the Netherlands, and so the link between the church in the colony and the Amsterdam classis was broken. The first British occupation was temporary, but in 1806 a long-term occupation was undertaken. For the next century, the colony would be under British control. Ministers from the Netherlands were not as willing to serve in what they now considered
3116-532: The Cape Colony, but in Natal and the two inland republics it set up separate synods that were at first loosely federated but later developed a closer relationship. Following the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) the NGK played an important role in reconstruction and resisting the tendency of the British rulers to anglicise the Afrikaners . As the church ministers became increasingly involved in attempts to uplift
3198-598: The Cape. Though at first allowed to hold services in French, they were eventually assimilated into the Dutch-speaking population and became members of the Dutch Reformed Church, which had a monopoly in territory controlled by the company. An exception was eventually allowed for a Lutheran church in Cape Town (many of the company's employees were German). During the Napoleonic Wars , the British occupied
3280-743: The Doppers broke away from the state church to form the Reformed Churches in South Africa (GK) in 1859. There were thus now three Dutch Reformed churches in what would become South Africa—the NGK (the Cape Synod), the NHK (the state church of the South African Republic), and the GK (led by Postma). In the NGK meanwhile there was more controversy over theological liberalism and conservatism . An evangelical revival led by Andrew Murray tipped
3362-519: The Dutch Cape Colony between 1652 and 1672 had a Dutch father. Sarah Grey Thomason and Terrence Kaufman argue that Afrikaans' development as a separate language was "heavily conditioned by nonwhites who learned Dutch imperfectly as a second language." Beginning in about 1815, Afrikaans started to replace Malay as the language of instruction in Muslim schools in South Africa, written with
Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3444-458: The Dutch Reformed Church, since its inception, had its doors open to people of different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities). After various processes the Church has been accepted back into the World Alliance of Reformed Churches . In recent years, there have been efforts at reuniting the various branches of South Africa's Dutch Reformed tradition. From 6 to 8 November 2006, 127 representatives of
3526-957: The Dutch Reformed Churches without legislative intervention". Theologically, the Dutch Reformed Church is in the Reformed branch of Protestantism . It holds the Bible as authoritative Word of God by which all doctrine is judged. It has three doctrinal standards: the Belgic Confession , the Heidelberg Catechism , and the Canons of Dordt . The NGK has a presbyterian polity with power divided between synods , presbyteries, and church councils. Church councils govern local congregations. Local churches are organised geographically into 146 presbyteries ("rings") which are further organized into synods. Every four years,
3608-618: The GK, the Uniting Reformed Church and the Dutch Reformed Church met at Achterbergh near Krugersdorp to discuss the reunification and how this can be realized. The Dutch Reformed Churches Union Act Repeal Act, 2008 of the Parliament of South Africa has one of its objectives as to "remove obstacles in the unification process of the Verenigende Gereformeerde Kerk, Reformed Church of Africa and
3690-458: The Lord's Supper and may become elders, deacons or pastors, if they are otherwise eligible. The 1986 decision confirmed the existence of homosexuality as a sexual orientation, but labelled it a deviant form of sexuality. By 1990, the mood was changing, and the 1990 General Synod appointed a committee to investigate the validity of the 1986 decision. The 1994 and 1998 General Synods did not deal with
3772-560: The Netherlands over hymn singing as well resulting in a group breaking away from the Dutch Reformed Church to form the Christian Reformed Churches . A minister from this group, Dirk Postma [ af ] , traveled to the South African Republic and was accepted as a minister of the NHK. After learning that he and his congregation could be required to sing these untested hymns, however, he and
3854-472: The Transvaal in 1853 and became the first minister of the newly established Dutch Reformed Church (NHK) , which became the state church of the South African Republic in 1860. There were also religious divisions among the trekkers themselves. The more conservative ones (known as Doppers ) were opposed to singing hymns that had not been determined to be scripturally sound in church. There was controversy in
3936-439: The balance away from theological liberalism. One result of the revival was that many young men felt called to the ministry, and a seminary was opened at Stellenbosch. The NGK was thus no longer dependent on getting its clergy from overseas, and as most of the recruits to the ministry had emerged from the revival this was the dominant element. One of its features was a kind of Reformed " Lent ", between Ascension Day and Pentecost ,
4018-451: The challenges of demotion and emigration that it faces in South Africa, the Afrikaans vernacular remains competitive, being popular in DSTV pay channels and several internet sites, while generating high newspaper and music CD sales. A resurgence in Afrikaans popular music since the late 1990s has invigorated the language, especially among a younger generation of South Africans. A recent trend is
4100-468: The church was forced to re-examine and restate its stance. Abortion on demand became legal in South Africa in 1997. The church's current decision on abortion was taken at the 1994 General Synod. The church regards all types of abortion as sinful, including involuntary abortion. However, in cases where abortion is "unavoidable", it is sufficient that the mother protest against the abortion, confess her guilt, and feel genuine remorse. Assisting in an abortion
4182-458: The company's employees were members of the Dutch Reformed Church. At first there were no ordained ministers from the Netherlands but only a sick comforter. In 1665, Johan van Arckel arrived in the Cape Colony and became its first minister. A consistory was formed but was still subject to the control of the classis (presbytery) of Amsterdam . In 1688, 200 Huguenot refugees arrived at
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#17327805756264264-421: The congregation. This can lead to widely differing approaches on issues such as marriage, gambling, sexuality, sins in general, social issues, etc. between congregations. Both the General Synod and the regional synods may pronounce an official statement on certain issues, which local church councils broadly follow. There can be marked differences between the synods with regard to social issues. When an issue has
4346-762: The course of the 18th century. As early as the mid-18th century and as recently as the mid-20th century, Afrikaans was known in standard Dutch as a 'kitchen language' (Dutch: kombuistaal ), lacking the prestige accorded, for example, even by the educational system in Africa, to languages spoken outside Africa. Other early epithets setting apart Kaaps Hollands (' Cape Dutch ', i.e. Afrikaans) as putatively beneath official Dutch standards included geradbraakt , gebroken and onbeschaafd Hollands ('mutilated, broken, or uncivilised Dutch'), as well as verkeerd Nederlands ('incorrect Dutch'). Historical linguist Hans den Besten theorises that modern Standard Afrikaans derives from two sources: So Afrikaans, in his view,
4428-408: The denomination's Afrikaans name refers to the old nomenclature for the Dutch language , formerly written as Nederduitsch in Dutch. This is not to be confused with the literal translation, Low German , which is a dialect in the north of Germany. It is therefore correctly referred to as the "Dutch Reformed Church" in South Africa. Originating in the 17th century from the Dutch Reformed Church of
4510-512: The development of Afrikaans. The slave population was made up of people from East Africa, West Africa, Mughal India , Madagascar , and the Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). A number were also indigenous Khoisan people, who were valued as interpreters, domestic servants, and labourers. Many free and enslaved women married or cohabited with the male Dutch settlers. M. F. Valkhoff argued that 75% of children born to female slaves in
4592-459: The early 20th century Afrikaans was considered a Dutch dialect , alongside Standard Dutch , which it eventually replaced as an official language. Before the Boer wars , "and indeed for some time afterwards, Afrikaans was regarded as inappropriate for educated discourse. Rather, Afrikaans was described derogatorily as 'a kitchen language' or 'a bastard jargon', suitable for communication mainly between
4674-469: The eastern frontier the Dutch farmers came into contact with Xhosa -speaking cattle herders. There were conflicts over grazing and water and cattle rustling across the frontier. The frontier farmers did not like the way the government in Cape Town handled the situation, and the ending of slavery in 1834 was another bone of contention. Afrikaner Calvinism was developing a different worldview to that of
4756-673: The end of Apartheid, the NG Church held the view that homosexuality is a mental health issue or a sinful state of being. No distinction was made between homosexuality and homosexual activity, as both were regarded as either a psychological illness or a deliberate decision to sin. The 1982 General Synod declared that homosexual sex is sinful and that homosexuals may not participate in the Lord's Supper or become elders, deacons or pastors, regardless of whether they have sex. The 1986 General Synod confirmed that homosexual sex and homosexual relationships are sinful, but declared that homosexuals may use
4838-473: The government for Afrikaans, in terms of education, social events, media (TV and radio), and general status throughout the country, given that it now shares its place as official language with ten other languages. Nevertheless, Afrikaans remains more prevalent in the media – radio, newspapers and television – than any of the other official languages, except English. More than 300 book titles in Afrikaans are published annually. South African census figures suggest
4920-406: The increased availability of pre-school educational CDs and DVDs. Such media also prove popular with the extensive Afrikaans-speaking emigrant communities who seek to retain language proficiency in a household context. Afrikaans-language cinema showed signs of new vigour in the early 21st century. The 2007 film Ouma se slim kind , the first full-length Afrikaans movie since Paljas in 1998,
5002-414: The issue. By the 2002 General Synod, the synod indicated that it was doubtful about the 1986 decision. The 1986 decision was formally withdrawn in 2004, although in practice the 2004 decision (which replaced the 1986 decision entirely) was the same as the 1986 decision. The church's previous stance on homosexuality was published in 2004, and confirmed by the 2007 and 2013 General Synods. The 2004 decision
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#17327805756265084-544: The language distance for Anglophones once remarked that the differences between (Standard) Dutch and Afrikaans are comparable to those between the Received Pronunciation and Southern American English . Afrikaans is an official language of the Republic of South Africa and a recognised national language of the Republic of Namibia. Post-apartheid South Africa has seen a loss of preferential treatment by
5166-525: The language of instruction for half the subjects taught in non-White schools (with English continuing for the other half). Although English is the mother tongue of only 8.2% of the population, it is the language most widely understood, and the second language of a majority of South Africans. Afrikaans is more widely spoken than English in the Northern and Western Cape provinces, several hundred kilometres from Soweto. The Black community's opposition to Afrikaans and preference for continuing English instruction
5248-513: The likes of big Afrikaans Hollywood film stars, like Charlize Theron ( Monster ) and Sharlto Copley ( District 9 ) promoting their mother tongue. SABC 3 announced early in 2009 that it would increase Afrikaans programming due to the "growing Afrikaans-language market and [their] need for working capital as Afrikaans advertising is the only advertising that sells in the current South African television market". In April 2009, SABC3 started screening several Afrikaans-language programmes. There
5330-425: The majority are of Afrikaans-speaking Afrikaner and Coloured South-African descent. A much smaller and unknown number of speakers also reside in the Dutch Caribbean . Contrary to popular belief, the majority of Afrikaans speakers today are not Afrikaners or Boers , but Coloureds . In 1976, secondary-school pupils in Soweto began a rebellion in response to the government's decision that Afrikaans be used as
5412-414: The media under headlines such as "Gays now welcome in NG Church", even though strictly speaking homosexuals had been welcome since 1982. The 2016 decision reversed most of the 2015 decision; local congregations are still able to decide to support same-sex unions. In 2019, a secular court overturned the 2016 decision and allowed the blessing of same-sex unions to resume. Traditionally, and certainly prior to
5494-412: The mother's life, or if the conception was due to rape that had been reported to the police. The 1982 General Synod declared that abortion is indefensible on both Biblical and scientific grounds, and that abortion is always "the termination of a life". The church believes that life begins at conception, and that using contraceptives that cause a fertilised ovum to be expelled is therefore also sinful. At
5576-434: The other official languages. In 1996, for example, the South African Broadcasting Corporation reduced the amount of television airtime in Afrikaans, while South African Airways dropped its Afrikaans name Suid-Afrikaanse Lugdiens from its livery . Similarly, South Africa's diplomatic missions overseas now display the name of the country only in English and their host country's language, and not in Afrikaans. Meanwhile,
5658-410: The other way round. Mutual intelligibility thus tends to be asymmetrical, as it is easier for Dutch speakers to understand Afrikaans than for Afrikaans speakers to understand Dutch. In general, mutual intelligibility between Dutch and Afrikaans is far better than between Dutch and Frisian or between Danish and Swedish . The South African poet writer Breyten Breytenbach , attempting to visualise
5740-411: The past tense is also often replaced with the perfect.) When telling a longer story, Afrikaans speakers usually avoid the perfect and simply use the present tense, or historical present tense instead (as is possible, but less common, in English as well). A particular feature of Afrikaans is its use of the double negative ; it is classified in Afrikaans as ontkennende vorm and is something that
5822-406: The republics in the land beyond the Vaal (" Transvaal ") eventually merged to form the South African Republic in 1852. Because the NGK was seen by the trekkers as being an agent of the Cape government, they did not trust its ministers and emissaries, seeing them as part of the British Empire 's attempts to annex the Boer Republics . A minister from the Netherlands, Dirk Van der Hoff , went to
5904-442: The subject. For example, Only a handful of Afrikaans verbs have a preterite , namely the auxiliary wees ('to be'), the modal verbs , and the verb dink ('to think'). The preterite of mag ('may') is rare in contemporary Afrikaans. All other verbs use the perfect tense, het + past participle (ge-), for the past. Therefore, there is no distinction in Afrikaans between I drank and I have drunk . (In colloquial German,
5986-537: The two languages. Afrikaans has a considerably more regular morphology, grammar, and spelling. There is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, particularly in written form. Afrikaans acquired some lexical and syntactical borrowings from other languages such as Malay , Khoisan languages , Portuguese, and Bantu languages , and Afrikaans has also been significantly influenced by South African English . Dutch speakers are confronted with fewer non-cognates when listening to Afrikaans than
6068-589: Was erected on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Real Afrikaners , and the 50th anniversary of Afrikaans being declared an official language of South Africa in distinction to Dutch. The earliest Afrikaans texts were some doggerel verse from 1795 and a dialogue transcribed by a Dutch traveller in 1825. Afrikaans used the Latin alphabet around this time, although the Cape Muslim community used
6150-451: Was formally withdrawn in 2015. The 2015 General Synod decided that sex outside of marriage is no longer sinful, as long as both partners live good Christian lives and are committed to each other. This applies to both homosexuals and heterosexuals. The church recognises South African civil unions, but does not regard legal marriage between homosexuals as Biblical marriage – instead, the church regards legally married homosexuals as simply having
6232-464: Was influenced by Eugene Nida 's theory of dynamic equivalence which focused on finding the nearest equivalent in the receptor language to the idea that the Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic wanted to convey. A new translation, Die Bybel: 'n Direkte Vertaling was released in November 2020. It is the first truly ecumenical translation of the Bible in Afrikaans as translators from various churches, including
6314-408: Was not made in accordance with the church's own proper process. The General Secretary Gustav Claasse told the press that, despite the court decision the church will hold to its 2016 official stance against same-sex marriage. Prior to 1994, the church's view on abortion was broadly aligned with South African legislation, namely that induced abortion was only acceptable if there was immediate danger to
6396-399: Was previously referred to as 'Cape Dutch' ( Kaap-Hollands or Kaap-Nederlands ), a term also used to refer to the early Cape settlers collectively, or the derogatory 'kitchen Dutch' ( kombuistaal ) from its use by slaves of colonial settlers "in the kitchen". The Afrikaans language arose in the Dutch Cape Colony , through a gradual divergence from European Dutch dialects , during
6478-574: Was that homosexuality is not a deviant form of sexuality, and that homosexuals may become active members of the church (including becoming ministers). The decision also states that homosexuals may not marry in the same gender, and that all sex outside of marriage is sinful. Due to changes in South African legislation concerning marriage and civil unions, the 2007 General Synod clarified that it does not regard homosexual civil unions and homosexual legal marriages as "marriage", and that homosexuals may only become pastors if they don't have sex. The 2004 decision
6560-679: Was the translation of the whole Bible into Afrikaans. While significant advances had been made in the textual criticism of the Bible, especially the Greek New Testament , the 1933 translation followed the Textus Receptus and was closely akin to the Statenbijbel . Before this, most Cape Dutch-Afrikaans speakers had to rely on the Dutch Statenbijbel . This Statenvertaling had its origins with
6642-477: Was under development As of 2018. The official orthography of Afrikaans is the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls , compiled by Die Taalkommissie . The Afrikaners primarily were Protestants, of the Dutch Reformed Church of the 17th century. Their religious practices were later influenced in South Africa by British ministries during the 1800s. A landmark in the development of the language
6724-622: Was underlined when the government rescinded the policy one month after the uprising: 96% of Black schools chose English (over Afrikaans or native languages) as the language of instruction. Afrikaans-medium schools were also accused of using language policy to deter Black African parents. Some of these parents, in part supported by provincial departments of education, initiated litigation which enabled enrolment with English as language of instruction. By 2006 there were 300 single-medium Afrikaans schools, compared to 2,500 in 1994, after most converted to dual-medium education. Due to Afrikaans being viewed as
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