Afrikaans Genealogical Word List

This list contains Afrikaans words with their English translations. The words included here are those that you are likely to find in genealogical sources. If the word you are looking for is not on this list, please consult a Afrikaans-English dictionary. Afrikaans is a Germanic language derived from several European languages, primarily Dutch. Many of the words resemble Dutch, Flemish, and German words. Consequently, the German Genealogical Word List and Dutch Genealogical Word List may also be useful to you. Some Afrikaans records contain Latin words. See the Latin Genealogical Word List. Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa and Namibia and by many families who live in other countries in eastern and southern Africa, especially in Zimbabwe. Most early South African records are written in Dutch, while a smaller number are written in French and German. After 1795 many were written in English. Afrikaans did not become an official language until 1925. Afrikaans and English are now the official languages of South Africa. Seventeen official African languages are also spoken.

Variant Forms of Words
In Afrikaans, as in English, the forms of some words will vary according to how they are used in a sentence. Who—whose—whom and marry— marries—married are examples of words in English with variant forms. This word list gives the standard form of each Afrikaans word. As you read Afrikaans records, you will need to be aware that some words vary with usage.

The endings of words in a document also may differ from what you find in this list. For example, the suffix -es is added to words to indicate a feminine form of the word. In Afrikaans, which incorporates many elements of Dutch and German, some words are formed by joining two or more words together. Very few of these compound words are included in this list. You will need to look up each part of the word separately.For example, Geboortedag is a combination of two words, Geboorte (birth) and Dag (day).

Alphabetical Order
Written Afrikaans uses a basic English alphabet order. Most Afrikaans dictionaries and indexes as well as the Family History Library Catalog use the following alphabetical order:

a b c* d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

*The letter c was used in place-names and personal names but not in general Afrikaans words until 1985. The letters ê, ë, and ô are also used in some Afrikaans words.

If an ’n appears with a word, it indicates the English article a or an. For example, rak, ’n means a rack. Rok, ’n means a dress.

This word list is alphabetized according to English alphabetical order.

In Afrikaans indexes of surnames or of places, it is important to note that prefixes such as van der, de, or ter, and so forth are considered in alphabetization.For example, De Wetsdorp would come before van de Merwe or v/d Merwe.

Spelling
Spelling rules were not standardized in earlier centuries. Words were written as they sounded. The following letters could be interchanged:

b used for p s used for z

d used for t t used for d or dt

i used for j v used for w or f

p used for b y used for i or j

Additional Resources
This word list includes only the words most commonly found in genealogical sources. For further help, use a Afrikaans-English dictionary. At the Family History Library, you can find these dictionaries in the AFR./MIDEAST collection. The call numbers begin with 439.36321. You can also find them by looking in the Family History Library Catalog.

In the Subject Search, look under AFRIKAANS LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES.

In the Locality Search, look under SOUTH AFRICA - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES.

Key Words
To find and use specific types of Afrikaans records, you will need to know some key words in Afrikaans. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Afrikaans words with the same or similar meanings. For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Afrikaans words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, legitimate, joined, and other words used in Afrikaans records to indicate marriage.

General Word List
This general word list includes words commonly seen in genealogical sources. Numbers, months, and days of the week are listed both here and in separate sections that follow this list. In this list, optional versions of Afrikaans words or variable endings (such as some plural or feminine endings), are given in parentheses. Parentheses in the English column clarify the definition.

In Afrikaans some words have both a male and female form, such as:

Diaken (male deacon)

Diakenes (female deacon)

Onderwyser (male teacher)

Onderwyseres (female teacher)

When a word has both a male and female version, this word list gives the masculine form of the word. The feminine form of the word will end with an es.

Numbers
In some genealogical records, numbers are spelled out. This is especially true with dates. The following list gives the cardinal (for example, 1, 2, 3) and the ordinal (for example, 1st, 2nd, 3rd) versions of each number. Days of the month are written in ordinal form.

Dates and Time
In early Afrikaans records and in records kept in Dutch or German, dates were often spelled out. For example:


 * Afrikaans. Donderdag,drie en twintig maart in die jaar van ons Heer een duisend agt honderd en sesendertig(Thursday,three and twenty March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and six and thirty)


 * Dutch. Donderdag, drie en twintig maart in het jaar van onse heer een duizend acht hondert en zesendertig (Thursday, three and twenty March, in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred six and thirty)


 * German. Donnerstag, den drei und zwanzigsten märz achtzehnhundert sechs und dreißig (Thursday, the 23rd of March, eighteen hundred six and thirty)

To understand Afrikaans dates, use the following lists as well as the preceding “Numbers” section.

Months

Days of the Week

Times of the Day

Afrikaans (and German- and Dutch-language) birth and death records often indicated the exact time of day when the birth or death occurred. This is usually written out.