Sybrandus Adema

[Artikel in Afrikaans] Do you know why ‘djy’ (you) and ‘djou’ (your) are the original, correct Afrikaans pronunciation? Boeta Mogamat Alexander, author of, among others, The Cape Muslim Vernacular, spoke to SYBRANDUS ADEMA about why Arabic Afrikaans and the Cape Muslim/Malay vernacular should be preserved. And of course about the treasure trove of words, expressions, cultural customs and written Arabic Afrikaans that are related to the language's creation story. Weet jy waarom ‘djy’ en ‘djou’ die oorspronklike, korrekte Afrikaanse uitspraak is? Boeta Mogamat Alexander, skrywer van onder meer The Cape Muslim Vernacular, het met SYBRANDUS ADEMA gesels oor hoekom Arabiese Afrikaans en die Kaapse Moesliem-/Maleise vernakulêr behoue moet bly. En natuurlik oor die skatkis van woorde, uitdrukkings, kulturele gebruike en geskrewe Arabiese Afrikaans wat verband hou met ons taalskeppingsverhaal.

Qatar’s phenomenal economic growth in the last decade has had a major impact on the environment, with the country’s carbon footprint and water usage the highest per capita in the world, exacerbated by an increasingly consumer-orientated lifestyle. Sybrandus Adema takes a look at what the country is doing to incorporate the ‘3Rs’ – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – to lessen its impact on the natural world.

Millennia ago African artisans were highly regarded for their mosaic skills and were employed extensively during the Roman Empire’s building projects. Over time other African art forms stole the limelight, but now a group of South African mosaic lovers wish to see it take its rightful place again, writes Sybrandus Adema.