Idioom: In die bundu (boendoe). "Hy leef in die bundu, weg van alle beskawing." He lives in back of beyond, in the sticks, back of Bourke, the bush. He therefore lives far from the mainstream, far from the socalled civilizing presence of urban life. I have always associated the word "bundu" (which is also extensively used in SA English) with forested areas. I was therefore surprised to learn that the word comes from the Shona word for "grasslands." Although the languages of the various black tribes of southern Africa did not exert as much influence on the vocabulary of Afrikaans as did the Khoisan group of languages, there are many words from these languages in common use all over South Africa. Here are a few widely used ones: bonsella/pasella/basela: a present, token of gratitude (Zoeloe: ibhanselo, Xhosa: ukubasele indaba: a tribal meeting (North American pow-wow) now come to mean a meeting between two political or power groups. hamba: "go!" usually used offensively. Like Canadian "mush" (from French "marchez.") khaya/kaia : basically just used by Africans for "house," but in Afrikaans come to mean a humble make- shift house. mampoer: home distilled spirits (from Sotho "mampuru" for "strongest man.") muti : medicine, African medicine, witchcraft) There are many more such words from African languages in Afrikaans. They are spoken with greater frequency in certain parts of South Africa, especially in the Eastern Cape and in Natal and parts of the north. I would think that we will also see a greater influx of these words into Afrikaans in the next few decades, as the Afrikaans of the "Coloured" people of South Africa becomes more widely used by the general Afrikaans speaking population. I suspect that the non-white speakers of Afrikaans during the apartheid years borrowed much more liberally from the black languages than the "officialê Afrikaans that had to toe the party line. Gloudina Bouwer
Izak Bouwer wrote: > > Idioom: In die bundu (boendoe). > " Hy leef in die bundu, weg van alle beskawing." > > He lives in back of beyond, in the sticks, back > of Bourke, the bush. He therefore lives far > from the mainstream, far from the socalled > civilizing presence of urban life. > > I have always associated the word "bundu" (which > is also extensively used in SA English) with forested > areas. I was therefore surprised to learn that the word > comes from the Shona word for "grasslands." (snip,snip) I once heard that it was a localised form of *boondocks*. Willem