The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-11-03
PRONUNCIATION OF BOSR NAMES
Spelling Is Similar to That of the
German Language

Wichita is having of course the same
trouble with the Transvaal war that 1t
had with the Dreyfus trial-the pronun-
citation of the names. What rlisleads one
in the language of the Beers is its SINH
larity in spelling TO German, The confu-
sion is increased by an occasional over
sight of sthe London transmitters Of
Transvaal news, substituting, e. g., the
German "stein" for "steen," the Dutch
for "stone." 1t looks as if the Dutch
were philologically akin to the Germans
more than to English. The fact is just
the reverse English, Dutch and Elem
ish belong to one group of the Teutonic
languages dow DUTCH; German is the
only surviving written language of the
other group Chigh Dutch. This once un-
derstood, it is not difficult, especially If
one has read a little Chaucer, or even
Spenser, to guess correctly the meanings
of the TransvaaI names which will soon
fill all the European dispatches. 'Blom-
fontein,'' for instance - pronounced
"Bloom-fon-tin e"-is bloom spring or
flower spring. Laing's Mex needs no ex-
PLANTATION Majuba-pTonOunced, of course
Ma-yoo-ba-is not a Dutch word, except
by right of conquest and adoption, but
Kaffir. A Beer general is called yield
heer' or field lord" The weld" is sim
ply the field or open country, as when it
is said an army takes the field. The rural
guard or military police of the Transvaal
are the weld wachteren," or field watch
Ners. The weld in many parts of the Trans
vaal is much cut up by elefts or ravines,
which the newspaper correspondents are
sure to cali by the Cape name Of
"kloofs''-pronounced "klofes," as, by the
way, President Kruger's pet name should
be pronounced "Ome Powl." You must
also be sure, if you would do the proper
thing to speak of Dom Pauls general not
as If Joubert were a French name, but
with the pronunciation Yow-bert. The
members of the first and second .'raads"
or orders, of the legislature are called
| "Jonkheeren'- pronouneed ''Yonkhairen'
or young lords. and they assemble in
the 'raad huis"-pronounced 'rahd
hoys." The much banded name Of the
| individuals who are excluded from vot-
ing. spelled ''uitlander." is pronounced
! "oytlahnder."
That part Of the Transvaal territory
which has been found 10 contain the
wealth of Ophlr and OF Golconda COM
| bined IS the rand" the word means
! division OF Border llne"-the line
! that renders or sewers one state from an
other. 'Witwatersrand" means edge OF
! the white water" Many OF the Boer
/ names Of places end in "dorp." which IS
neither more nor less than "thorp." the
/ Yorkshire name for hamlet: German
I "dorf' "Stad" IS Ike the German
I ''stadt." city ''Stroom," sometimes
printed "zsrorn." Is stream. Berg
means mountain. but "kopje." or little
+ head. IS also used for smaliel eminences.
/ one feature Of the South African open
country OF which much Is likely 70 be
heard. IS the .meaiie field" The Eng
( lish-speaking oolonists often pronounce
the former ~ these two words as 1t
would BE- IN English: the Dutch pr7Hun-
citation IS more IKE nelly" Il means
lust what Il looks-a field where you ge-
the vegetable material for a meal, which
material IN those parts Is chiefly what
Americans call corn. and Ensiranaen
| maize. The unfortunate Young Prince
Imperial was killed In nealie fed IN
the Zulu war he had gone on a recon
noizsanee several miles away from MS
"laageyr - pronounced something Ike
b-he--Ehich means 2 camp. or, 81 8;
would Be called Z ;hs host we're sost
/ ~ wild beasts. his layer - modern
sqa7linz lair" When hsntsrs Or soldiers
a. Ia. - - il fsT1aasres sfse=- are
on the s.trek. oT making tracks As
I the Forty-nfEers were IN the hzosz q
( SAYING Ard the Dutch settlers Wa
/ made TIE great trek acS0ss tze wal
/ river sixty-flve years a<o. be1zUse tRe
! British authorities suppressed thesr '2e-
/ culsar lns;liuelsa' q slavery. ard wH9
/ have seen hleeislug up TIE trek" q a9-
! vanrsuz ciyillzas.sn ever ssnes pToaoszsze
! their distinctive name ~Bogrs.~ which
/ Ike the German '15zuer~ ard TIE sSs1-
teal English word. means ''rast1rs-" Il
seems little Sarz9axscaI % rad q 'sse