2861: Arabic Afrikaans Oct 20, 2024

The South African language of Afrikaans dates back to the 17th century as it diverged from its Dutch origins, but the first texts only arose as late as the early 19th century. While Afrikaans is a Germanic language, the earliest written samples used Arabic script. These texts were religious Islamic and were written by the Cape Malay population, one of the earliest groups to take to Afrikaans as a first language.

Arabic Afrikaans was a short-lived orthographic trend until the language’s writing system developed with Latin letters until its standardization in the 20th century. Nevertheless, over seventy Arabic Afrikaans texts remain extant, with these early writings shedding light on the robust literary and organizational skills of the Cape Muslim slave population. In comparison, the Dutch Afrikaaner group did not publish written material in Afrikaans until the late 19th century.

-Jordyn Stone