Resumen de Ethnicity markers in Afrikaans

Barbara Bosch

• This article examines the role of the Afrikaans language in creating an ethnic identity for the Afrikaners within a post-1994 multilingual South African context. In particular, it investigates how the Afrikaans language per se acts äs a marker of Afrikanerness. Attention isfocusedon the ethnic consciousness surrounding the history and standardization of Afrikaans and the role assigned to various varieties of Afrikaans. Second, ethnicity markers in Afrikaans, such äs Afrikaans lexical items, naming practices, jokes, and politeness strategies are discussed to illustrate the fact that the social definitions of Afrikaans Speakers are bound up with their particular use of Afrikaans.