Feb 02 2007
4 Spuds: An Afrikaans Lesson
I have a difficult time with Afrikaans. I have no idea how to pronounce stuff. The various double-vowel combinations stop me in my tracks.
I did learn a few words, including some useful phrases and Idiomatic Expressions. I will describe what little I learned about Afrikaans while I was in Cape Town.
Pronunciation:
“W” = “V”
“J” = “Y”
“ooi” = “oy” (as in boy)
That’s it. Sum total of my Afrikaans Rules Of Pronunciation knowledge.
Let’s put them to use. My lesson will be described this way:
Word or phrase: Meaning: Ms. Q’s phonetic guide
Rooibos Tea: Redbush Tea: ROY-bohs tee
Rooi Els: Red Alder: ROY ehls
Kak: Shit: kack (rhymes with pack. I first heard the word here.)
lekker: delicious/tasty/fun: lehk-irr (rolling R which I can’t do)
Be careful with how you say the Afrikaans word for biscuit. Oy before Ay especially after K:
beskuit: biscuit (rusk): biss-koyt (biss rhymes with kiss)
No beskeit: don’t shit yourself: noh biss-kayt
afslag: discount: OFF-slahgh (I kept wanting to say “aflac” like the talking duck for Aflac insurance)
poehol:asshole: poop-hole. Sometimes things make perfect sense.
How about something intermediate:
“Wikkel jou boude!”: Move your ass!: Vickle die bow-dah. Vickle rhymes with pickle. Die rhymes with eye.
“Moenie worry me”: Don’t worry: moo-nee wurrie me. Where wurrie sounds like furry or worry.
Let’s get advanced.
I had a difficult time with this one and probably sounded like a child while saying it (aay…beee…seee..deee…) , but I gave it my all. I first learned it phonetically and it wasn’t until the end of the day that I had Shirley spell it out for me.
I memorized the phrase via a mnemonic:
FOUR SPUDS UH-HUH NEVER YAR.
I know it makes no sense, but the “Four spuds” got me going and triggered the rest of the phrase.
The pronunciation:
For spood uh-hhuh NEH-vay Yar.
For sound like 4.
Spood rhymes with rude.
hhuh starts at the back of the throat. Kinda like you’re going to hawk some phlegm. The rest I hope is obvious.
I learned it on January 1st.
It means “Happy New Year”
The spelling?
Voorspoedige Nuwe Jaar.
Uh-hhhhuh.
Your pronunciation is a bit off.
Kak: Shit: kack (rhymes with pack) Wrong
It actually rhymes with duck.
A short “a” vowel sound is pronounce the same as a “u” in English
Klap (smack) would be pronounced pup (as in puppy)
Pap (porridge) is pronounced the same, pup.
lekker: delicious/tasty/fun: lehk-irr (rolling R which I can’t do) Close
Don’t worry so much about rolling the r, it’s pronounce the same as lacquer, as in the varnish.
beskuit: biscuit (rusk): biss-koyt (biss rhymes with kiss) Wrong
Say the bizz as in business but replace the z’s with an s’s
and skuit would be “skayt”, pronounced like late.
No beskeit: don’t shit yourself: noh biss-kayt Wrong
The word No does not appear in the Afrikaans language.
It would be geen. A rough g followed by ee-uhn
ghee-uhn
afslag: discount: OFF-slahgh Wrong
Not off, more like uff as in rough
poephol:asshole: poop-hole. Almost right, but the poop is a short ooh.
“Wikkel jou boude!”: Move your ass!: Vickle die bow-dah. Vickle rhymes with pickle. Die rhymes with eye. Wrong
Wikkel does not rhyme with pickle
its more vuh-kel Like the u in fur.
jou means your and rhymes is pronounced yo as in yo-yo
Die does not rhyme with eye, but rhymes with the ee in happy
I dont know where you got the pronunciation from for voorspoedige nuwe jaar…but
Its voor as in spoor and roll the r
Its the same as the h in Ahmed
spoed as in mood but a short oo
ige is uh-gha with a rough g, think of clearing your throat
Nuwe can be broken up
nu pronounced like me with an n but a bit shorter. Like the ee in happy
Think Monty Python’s Knights of Ni!
and the we is pronounced vuh
nee-vuh
Jaar means year and is pronounced yaar.