The problem is that Afrikaans was derived from Netherlands but over the centuries Dutch evolved and changed the sound of its vowels while Afrikaans kept the old way of pronunciation. Today Afrikaans is more similar to modern Flemish which also retained the old vowel sounds. Harold At 07:24 AM 11/26/2011, you wrote: >This is really scurrilous, but I was told by a Dutch friend who emigrated >to South Africa that the local language was like a cross between that spoken >by a docker and a kindergarten child. > >Paul >Kent >UK >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/