| 'n Lied vir BEGINNER-STUDENTE van Afrikaans [boodskap #8810] |
Sa, 15 Maart 1997 00:00 |
Izak Bouwer
Boodskappe: 464
Geregistreer: Januarie 1996
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DAAR KOM TANT ALIE
Daar kom tant Alie, tant Alie, tant Alie,
daar kom tant Alie,
tant Alie om die draai.
En tant Miena kook stroop van die mebos-konfyt,
van die Wellingtonse suiker
teen 'n trippens die pond,
en tant Miena kook stroop van die mebos-konfyt,
van die Wellingtonse suiker
teen 'n trippens die pond.
Tant: aunt. (French "tante") Afrikaans tante/tantes.
tant' used in front of names.
Draai: turn in the road
kook : cook
stroop: syrup
konfyt: jam
mebos: a confection of salted and sugared dried
apricots ( Dictionary of SA English.)
suiker: sugar
trippens: three penny coin, used in old SA money
until the fifties. English "thrupence."
Pond: pound (weight). Also old SA monetary unit.
The origin of the word "mebos" fascinates me. The
Dictionary of South African English gives the origin as
probably from the Japanese "umeboshi." Now in Japan
umeboshi are pickled plums, a good complement to a
fresh bowl of rice. They make it much like the Germans
make sauerkraut: The green ume (Japanese plum) is washed,
soaked and placed in a stoneware vat, sprinkled liberally
with salt, and weighted down to marinate in their own juices
for about two weeks. Just before the rainy season sets in,
the freshly picked leaves of the red mintlike "shiso" are
rubbed in salt and added to the vat. The leaves and ume
marinate quietly during the rainy season. After the rains
are over, the stones are removed from the ume (now red),
which is then dried and stored in a new vat. Since it is
never attacked by bacteria or mold, it can be enjoyed for
many years.
How the word "umeboshi" emigrated to Southern Africa
as "mebos" is therefore the question. I suspect that the word
started being used in the Dutch possessions in the Far East
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and was brought
to the Cape by the Malay slaves and sailors on the Dutch
ships. Interestingly enough, during the Tokugawa period
in Japan (1615-1868) when Japan followed a policy of
extreme isolation from the outside world, only a handful of
Chinese and a small settlement of the Dutch on an island
near Nagasaki were allowed to remain. So there was direct
contact between the Dutch and Japanese there. In Japanese,
the word for a "scalpel" is "mesu" (but the -u- is silent, and
it is written in katakana, which indicates that it is considered
a foreign word. "Mes" is the Dutch word for a knife.)
I cannot say that I ever came in contact with the word
"mebos" in all my years living in South Africa. Where I
lived we had plenty of apricots, and made "tameletjie"
with it - a kind of dried fruit roll. I wonder if there are parts
of South Africa where this is a common practice : to make
"a confection of salted and sugared dried apricots" called
mebos. The word is quoted by the Dictionary of SA English
as appearing in the "Lady Duff Gordon Letters 1861-1862.)
Gloudina Bouwer
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