Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1899-11-02
SOME soER WORDS.
Meaning and Pronunciation of South
African Dutch Names.


The American reading public has found
considerable difficulty in pronouncing the
Dutch names that come In the cables
from far-off Africa. The language of the
Beers is identical grammatically but not
in idiom with that of the people of Hol-
land. The Dutch Afrikanders are called
Beers because that word describes their
class-farmers. The pronunciations CIV
en- the letters in these Dutch words are
not like those Of the English. The dou-
bic 20" for instance, in Dutch has the
same sound as 20" in Rome, while the
diphthong zoe" is pronounced by the
Dutch as we pronounce 100" in boot. The
English pronunciation Of these two diph-
thongs is the reverse of that given them
by those who speak Dutch. "Ou" has
the sound of tow in owl. The sound Of
''ui' is nearly like that Of the English
10Y" in boy. The Dutch double 'aa'' is
the same as the English "a" in war. AS
there is no ~ in Dutch, its place is
taken by iii" which is sounded as ""
in defy. If one, therefore, would pro-
nounce Dom Paul properly he would say
it as If 1t were spelled '.Ome Powl." The
family name Of Gen. Joubert would. fol
the same reason, be pronounced as if it
were spelled "Yowbert." The word Boer
is pronounced by the Afrikanders as il it
were OF two syllables; the first long and
the second short, thus: :;'Boo-er." The
plural is not Beers" 1t is "Boeren,"
and it is pronounced "Bo-ereh," because
the final N" is slurred. Here are some
Of the Dutch words that are oftenest in
print in connection with the news of the
Transvaal, and their pronunciation and
meaning:
Bloemfontein Gloom fon-tine). ...
p..;,.............. Flower fountain
Boer boo-er) OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Farmer
BEuitenlander hoy, ten-lont-er). -. Foreigner
Burgherregt (buhr-ker-rekt) -. Citizenship
Bui gherwacht Enthusiastically $500.
,;;.;.....,...;.;.... Citizen soldiery
-. Member Of the observation-disclosures
Dom Dom lone1 $500 ................. Uncle
Hana ,ruiuJ .;.;.;.... '............ Senate
Raadhuis (rahd-hoys). ....... Senate house
Rand trahnt). .................M argin-edge
Staatks.-e 1siaht.knhn.d,cii'' po1tice
Staatsraad Enthusiastically -. Council of state
Stad (stoD ..................... city
Stemmer tstemmerl ......... .Votcr--elector
Transyaal ltrans-fahD $500. .Circular-valley
Trekken treck-en) -. 10 draw-to travel
Trekpaard (treckpahrD 49,. Draught horse
Utla DS ,ovt.ont.er, oqtmoGt OF
naal tramp ..................V Valley
Naderlandsliefde (fah-ter-tonts-leef-te)
ye,d ,,ei;, Love OF ones try-patriotism
Aeidheer (felt- hare. General commandant
neidwachteri lfelt-vock-ter).. Rural guard
'oiksraad (fulks-rahd) 49,: ..........
................L Lower house of congress
voorregt fore-rekD.. -. .Franchise-prlvilege
Nreemdeling frame de ling. Stranger
Witwatersrand (vit-vot-ters-ront). .....
............M Margin of the white water
Pretoria. the capital of the South Af-i-
can Republic, is named in honor of its
hrst president, Pretorius, who led the
Dutch in the great trek, or journey, ont
of Cape Colony sixty years ago and into
the Transvaal to escape the dominion
OF England. johannesburg is easily
translated into English as Johnstown.
The term of "Afrikander" is used to des-
ignate the Dutch from the other white
people of South Africa.