Afrikaans

Indo-European (Germanic)17 million totalLatin

RegionSouth Africa/Namibia

FamilyIndo-European (Germanic)

Speakers17 million total

ScriptLatin

TypeAlphabetic

About Afrikaans

The youngest standardized Germanic language, split from Dutch in the 1800s. Grammar is famously lean, with almost no conjugation. Layered with Malay, Portuguese, and Khoisan sources. One of 12 official languages of South Africa. Its first texts were Islamic writings in Arabic script.

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