The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-29

ports OF the Nhf-t pHFtcA EEphuh
citation.
From the Chicago Inter Ocean.
News readers always suffer inconven-
fence when The reports from abroad con-
tain unfamiliar words and expressions lido
matte to the locality from which they may
have been written. The occurrence Of such
'mtiandische" terms viii be frequent in
tie dispatches which viii record the strife
between Eng and and her stubborn neigh
bors in South Africa, for that country has
a patois all its own.
We therefore propose to furnish our read
en- with a glossary. simply Illustrating the
terms which are most likely to find their
horns from the dust of the dry African
"veldt." And this Uhe comprehensive term
for ali open country there. and not merely
"the piains'O will do to start with. Dealing
as we are with de Afrikaansche taal,"
and not with what the Beers (meaning
farmers and nothing more) can ''pront ho-
laus"-correct European Dutch-we prop
cry spell this word with a final T." be-
cause phonetically the word is in Africa
felt even though the books spell il
weld"
Some people mistakenly connect with the
above word the term 'velschoens," and
spell this, which stands for the farmer
made skin shoes-which are only one de-
gree removed from our moccasins-with
an added 'dt" under the impression that
the word means shoes for the vefdt
a word as 10 pronunciation. AS remarked
che "Boer taal' is not the "NederSansche''
of to-day, but patois the body of which
consists Of archaic Oh of he
tenth century, eked out by adaptations
from French, Spanish, Malay, and some
native words, The vowel sounds are as
in French or the Latin in schools. But in
many instances the "a" is "ah," so long
drawn out that il ought properly be writ
ten "a" TO express the drawl which
Boer always uses i'm that word. This also
appears i'm the word "kweaie," immortaliz-
ed by Uncle Powl when he described the
great Queen as 'ene kweale vrouw." Pun
dts in three continents ran their heads
against the phrase-mostly in vain-for IL
was used as a term of respectful awe. In
its archaic, and therefore Krugerian. sense
1t is the explicit equivalent of dread
lady"
Two Important ConsOnants.
OF the consonants only two need be men
honed-'k" and ''g." The first when a
terminal, has the sound of eek" and we
often therefore so spell it The "g'' is a
cultural so vibrant as to have no repre-
sentative equivalent in English lettering
even "ch" (Scotch) in "loch" hardy
reaches it. as uttered by a plainsman;
'kh," deep in the throat, might convey the
idea The proper name George" as used
by them, has precisely the sound of a vio-
lent effort to remove a bit of tough phlegm
from ones throat.
"Uit" is one of the most puzzling sylla-
bles for the AnglO-SaXon reader to master
a I3VOTtfN nrOUunpiatfOr1 ie srua e
sound in a Tranvaalers mouth is exactly
as we say 50 in English, e. e., uitanders
"eight-landers." Even in South Afrcia it.
self the Saxon tongue boggies at this 'uit."
and for "spruit' brook or streamlet
most of them say "sproot;" nevertheless
the Beers always pronounce it "spr-S"
Some physical features of landscape like
~ TO be presented 10 their readers by the
news writers in ''taal" words are shown in
the following commentary: Rand" any
long, rolling hill; range is a rand; mo g
specially the grassy ridge itself Of such
a formation. Cats rand and Witwater's
rand are illustrations. "Kopje''-pronounc
ed koppe-desgnates Isolated hills, espe-
clally such as are round and have pointed
tops. A "kop' is larger; it must be an
isolated mountain peak TO attain the dig
nifty of kop To be a "spitzkop" the peak
must be high, sharp, and craggy. Berg
or bergen signify extensive mountain
range as Mahaliesbergen, and Drakens-
berg and the Werzaamelbergen
Mex" and Its Meaning.
To descend to the lower features of the
tandscape-say. from the top of Matuba
'kop"-we come down the grassy. rock
streWn "hoogte," or braeside, and find our
selves in Laing's Mex. Mex means the
rounded hollow of the dip between anv
two peaks of mountain chain. But do
not make the error of confounding the
aspaKF with T.ofp
pass, because the road goes over it, but
there are "neks" which are not passes.
II, however, we were upon a mountain
which offered us no easy "hoogte" TO de-
scend by, we should have to scramble
down same narrow and rugged "xloof." A
kioof is precisely what in America we call
IA canyon, and, as with the word canyon, so
also the word kloof may with equal pro
priety be applied to a deep narrow cut in
plain, or a level, narrow pass and loses
It's Identity. AS New Years view" "a
strong stream, ivan Wyck's vley," and
others. Indeed, Lienberg's vley runs for
more than 100 miles under that appellation
before its identity is lost by joining the
Wilge river. There are "vleys" on the
plains, also, more or less true marshes.
having no outflow. A pan" again differs
from vley in that, though also depres-
sion in the plain, catching the drainage OF
en- area, but having no outflow-ft must
have a hard bottom.
laagte again is different, and IS one
OF the distinctive forma tions of South Az
RIGA, due to the clear-cut distinction be-
tween the dry and wet seasons A laagte
Is properly wide and comparatively sha.-
E9w depression, dropping suddenly from
the prevailing country level. II is usually
Sall of pitfalls, and woe betide the foreign
general who shall try to push cavalry or
big guns across in the face of farmers
occupying the opposite built" The bot
tom land is, when dry, a well-grassed turf
OF rich mold, no one can say how deep
often two miles or more wide, and run
ming twenty 10 thirty miles-mostly level
as a billiard board, but with a gentle tilt
sufficient TO let the water run Glands
laagte is a good example. These fat bot
toms are dotted all over with deep water
pits C'cyfer-saten'D, often almost hidden
from the incautious horseman by the long
grass; these swarm with fish, although
they are totally disconnected from each
other, and may be miles from any river.
During the wet season, however. the floor
OF laagte will become a gently flowing