afrikaaner
UK[ˌæfrɪˈkɑːnə]US[ˌɑːfrɪˈkɑːnər]
n
A white South African whose native language is Afrikaans and who is descended from Dutch settlers.
Morpheme Breakdown
afrikaan
er
afrikaan
er
Etymology
The term 'Afrikaaner' is a direct borrowing from Dutch, where it originally meant simply 'African'. It is formed from 'Afrikaan', a Dutch demonym for a person from Africa, combined with the agent suffix '-er'. The word's specific modern meaning emerged in the 19th and 20th centuries within the South African context, narrowing from a general term for a person born in Africa to denote specifically a member of the white, Afrikaans-speaking community descended primarily from 17th-century Dutch, German, and French Huguenot settlers. This semantic shift reflects the community's development of a distinct linguistic and cultural identity, rooted in Africa but separate from other African populations.
Analysis
Structure: afrikaan + er
'afrikaan' (from the name 'Africa', via Dutch 'Afrikaan', meaning a person from Africa) + 'er' (agent noun suffix, from Dutch, indicating a person associated with something).
Examples
The Afrikaaner community has a rich cultural heritage centered on the Afrikaans language.
Many traditional Afrikaaner recipes have Dutch and Malaysian influences.
The political history of South Africa is deeply intertwined with the Afrikaaner nationalist movement.