Linguistic Schizophrenia!

[eric l]

My knowledge of Afrikaans does not stretch far beyond "Sarie Mareis", "Bobbejaan beklim die berg" and some other songs we used to sing around the campfire (we were made to learn some Afrikaans poems in school, but I'm affraid I don't remember much of those).

Anyway, I would have thought that the "sy" in "Hij het sy koffie gedrink" would be rooted in the Dutch "zijn" for his (compare to the German "sein"); the "sy" for the English "she" in "sy het haar koffie gedrink" would be rooted in the Dutch "zij" (compare to the German "sie"). So, different roots again.

[Boerseun]

Without a doubt, but with the Standard Spelling rules introduced in the 1900s, it really is confusing for the uninitiated!

If you're into Afrikaans poetry, I can send you some. Because of the simplicity of the spelling, poetry is one area in which Afrikaans really excells. It's really cool that you guys did some Afrikaans in school! We did a bunch of Dutch reading in school, and once you wrap your mind around the spelling differences, it's really the same language; save for the Malay and other influences in Afrikaans.

[HydrogenBond]

It may have to do with someone coining a new word or phrase (given the status of money) and then through marketing and fad appeal, it becomes popular and then assimulated into a language.

Maybe coining words and coin collecting is a good analogy. Just as people will collect pennies, with the one;s with the oldest data stamp often more valuable, these will appear first in dictionaries (most value). The acception are mis-stamped pennies, which are technically defective, given extra value by the collectors of words.